Wikiquote:Sourced and Unsourced sections
|This page is a guideline on Wikiquote.
It illustrates standards of conduct, which many editors agree with in principle, but it is not policy.
Feel free to update the page, but please discuss major changes on the talk page first.
|Wikiquote Policies and Guidelines|
|Working with others|
- In Wikiquote, many articles are divided into "Sourced" and "Unsourced" sections. This was due to a past practice that allowed "Unsourced" sections to remain in main-article space, to then allow them to be researched and sourced. This is no longer current practice.
- "Unsourced" sections should be speedily removed, or moved off the main-article page and onto the talk page. Unsourced quotes in general should also be removed or moved to the talk page.
Quotes that are obviously or extremely unlikely to have been made by or about the subject, and which are not commonly cited, can simply be removed. This includes prank edits and outright vandalism.
In all cases of moving or removing a quote, please include an explanation in the edit summary to inform other Wikiquotians why you feel this is appropriate. Example summaries include:
- "sourced quote"
- "moved to Misattributed after finding original quote"
- "removed likely prank edit"
"Attributed" is used to make a distinction for quotes that have reliable publications as sources, but which cannot confirm the quote is accurate. For example, Mark Twain might be credited in reliable publications with the quote "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme", but no Twain scholar has found this quote in any of his writings or correspondence. It might therefore be placed in an "Attributed" section with the source that cites the quote, but including a brief explanation of why it is not formally "sourced". This is a relatively new usage of the "Attributed" heading.