This page contains a reference example for a Wikipedia entry.
- Use this format to cite any wiki page, including pages for Wikipedia entries.
- If you are a student, ask your professor whether Wikipedia is an appropriate source for you to use in your paper. Wikipedia reports information from other sources, making it a secondary source. Many professors prefer that students cite primary sources.
- When citing Wikipedia, cite an archived version of a Wikipedia page so that readers can retrieve the version you used.
- Access the archived version on Wikipedia by selecting “View history” and then the time and date of the version you used.
- If a wiki does not provide permanent links to archived versions of the page, include the URL for the entry and a retrieval date.
This guidance is new to the 7th edition.
Date created: February 2020
Answered By: Alyssa Mitchell
Last Updated: Jun 30, 2020 Views: 297666
When citing Wikipedia in-text, all you need is the article title. This is because Wikipedia is a collaborative website and there is no author or published date. The citation, which will be in parentheses, will have the title of the page or article in quotations. In place of the published date the common practice is to use n.d., which stands for no date.
To put an in-text citation for Wikipedia in APA, you would use the following format: ("Title of article," n.d.)
An example would be:
("World War II," n.d.)
If you want to direct your reader to a specific section of the Wikipedia article, you can include the paragraph number at the end of your citation. For example:
("World War II," n.d., para. 5)
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Published on June 10, 2022 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on June 28, 2022. Wikipedia is a useful source of background information that students often use in the early stages of research. However, it’s often
not considered a reliable source to cite in your academic writing. If you’re certain you’re allowed to cite Wikipedia, the citation usually includes: The specific format differs depending on what citation style you’re
following: APA, MLA, and Chicago style are three of the most commonly used. In
APA Style (7th edition), only the first word of the title is capitalized, and there is no period after the URL. The in-text citation includes the title of the article (with title-case capitalization, and shortened if necessary) and the year. APA recommends linking to a specific archived version of the Wikipedia article so that the reader can be sure they are accessing the same version. This can be accessed by clicking the “View history” tab at the top of the article and selecting the latest revision: The date you include is therefore the date of the revision you accessed, the URL that of the specific revision. APA Citation Generator In MLA style, the title takes headline capitalization, the publisher is included, and there is a period after the URL. The date of last modification can be found at the very bottom of the article (“This page was last edited on…”). MLA Citation Generator Chicago style recommends against citing Wikipedia as a source.
However, if you do need to cite it, the format depends on which of Chicago’s two styles of citation you’re following: In notes and bibliography style, Chicago recommends only citing Wikipedia in your footnotes, and leaving it out of your bibliography. Use the short note format if you need to cite the same article again. In author-date style, a parenthetical citation appears in the text, and full details are given in the reference list. Using Wikipedia as a source is generally discouraged in academic writing, and your institution may even have a specific rule against doing so.How to cite Wikipedia in APA Style
APA format Article title. (Year, Month Day). In Wikipedia. URL
APA reference entry Statistical hypothesis testing. (2022, May 28). In Wikipedia. //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Statistical_hypothesis_testing&oldid=1090223185
APA in-text citation (“Statistical Hypothesis Testing,” 2022)
How to cite Wikipedia in MLA style
MLA format “Article Title.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Date of last modification, URL.
MLA Works Cited entry “Statistical Hypothesis Testing.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 May 2022, //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Statistical_hypothesis_testing&oldid=1090223185.
MLA in-text citation (“Statistical Hypothesis Testing”)
How to cite Wikipedia in Chicago style
Notes and
bibliography
Full note format 1. “Article Title,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified Date, URL.
Full note example 1. “Statistical Hypothesis Testing,” Wikimedia Foundation, last modified May 28, 2022, 05:52, //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_hypothesis_testing.
Short note format 1. “Shortened Article Title.”
Short note example 1. “Statistical Hypothesis Testing.”
Chicago author-date format Wikipedia. Year. “Article Title.” Wikimedia Foundation. Last modified Date. URL.
Chicago reference entry Wikipedia. 2022. “Statistical Hypothesis Testing.” Wikimedia Foundation. Last modified May 28, 2022, 05:52. //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_hypothesis_testing.
Chicago author-date citation (Wikipedia 2022)
Is Wikipedia a reliable source?
There is disagreement about whether Wikipedia can be considered a reliable source, but most academics agree that you shouldn’t cite it in your writing, for two main reasons:
- As an online encyclopedia, Wikipedia is a tertiary source, which means it doesn’t provide original insights or analysis. Usually, only primary and secondary sources are cited in academic writing.
- Because Wikipedia can be edited by anyone and its articles are constantly updated, it’s possible for unreliable information to be added without you knowing. It’s better to cite a source with a clearly defined author whose information can be verified.
However, there’s no problem with using Wikipedia for background information and to find other sources, especially in the early stages of your research.
Using Wikipedia effectively
Wikipedia can be a good starting point, since many of its articles comprehensively cite the primary and secondary sources used. You can often find useful sources under the headings “References,” “Further reading,” and “External links” at the bottom of an article. Look for credible sources like scholarly journals and books.
You may occasionally want to cite a piece of general (rather than specialist) information from Wikipedia. When doing so, it’s good practice to independently verify any information you are not sure about before citing it (also called lateral reading).
Look out for warning signs that the article contains unreliable or incomplete information:
- Orange or yellow boxes at the top of the article indicating general issues
- Warnings such as “[citation needed]” in the text indicating a lack of evidence
- Very short articles (sometimes called “stubs”) that don’t provide much depth
- Articles that have only been worked on by a single contributor (you can check this under “View history” or “Talk”), indicating a lack of editorial oversight
If you spot one one or more of these issues, it’s probably not a good idea to use the article even for background information.
Example: Poor-quality Wikipedia article
Frequently asked questions about citations
How do I cite a source with no page numbers?
When you want to cite a specific passage in a source without page numbers (e.g. an e-book or website), all the main citation styles recommend using an alternate locator in your in-text citation. You might use a heading or chapter number, e.g. (Smith, 2016, ch. 1)
In APA Style, you can count the paragraph numbers in a text to identify a location by paragraph number. MLA and Chicago recommend that you only use paragraph numbers if they’re explicitly marked in the text.
For audiovisual sources (e.g. videos), all styles recommend using a timestamp to show a specific point in the video when relevant.
Cite this Scribbr article
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2022, June 28). How to Cite a Wikipedia Article | APA, MLA & Chicago. Scribbr. Retrieved November 8, 2022, from //www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/how-to-cite-wikipedia/
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