Editing Template:Citation needed/doc (section)

== When not to use this template ==

The <nowiki>{{Citation needed}}</nowiki> template is intended for use when there is a general question of the verifiability of a statement, or when an editor believes that a reference verifying the statement should be provided.

Within an intro that is clearly written as a summary of a substantially sourced article, statements that are supported with citations within the body of the article should not be tagged.

If you have the time and ability to find an authoritative reference, please do so. Then add the citation yourself, or correct the article text. After all, the ultimate goal is not to merely identify problems, but to fix them.

While an editor may add this template to any uncited passage for any reason, many editors object to what they perceive as overuse of this tag, particularly in what is known as "[[drive-by]]" tagging, which is applying the tag without attempting to address the issues at all. Consider whether adding this tag in an article is the best approach before using it, and use it judiciously. Wikipedia's [[WP:Verifiability|verifiability policy]] requires neither reliable sources for [[Common knowledge|common well-known facts]] (e.g., "the Moon orbits the Earth"), nor that citations be repeated through every sentence in a paragraph. All direct quotations and facts whose accuracy might be challenged (e.g., statistics) require citations. See [[WP:MINREF]] for the list of material that is absolutely required to be followed by an [[Wikipedia:Inline citation|inline citation]], rather than a [[Wikipedia:General references|general reference]] or no citation at all. Also note that the burden of evidence lies with the editor who adds or restores material.

Do not use this template to tag policies or guidelines.