Help:Find sources

"Help:Sources" redirects here. For information regarding how to cite sources, seeWikipedia:Citing sources.

Independentandreliablesources are vital for creating encyclopedia articles. Reliable sources allow editors toverifythat claims in an article areaccurate.The higher the quality of the source for the statement it backs up, the more likely that statement is to be accurate. Independent sources help editors to writeneutrallyand to prove that the subject hasreceived note.Wherever possible, editors should aim to use sources that are independent and highly reliable for the subjects they write about.

Many of the best sources are not available online, or are only available under subscription. For example, many books are not available online at all, and subscription to academic databases such asJSTORcan be fairly expensive. However, it is possible to use the open web to find many good sources to use in writing encyclopedia articles. Examples of such sources are news stories from newspapers with a reputation for accuracy, books which have previews on digital libraries, and academic papers which are availableopen accessinopen archives.

Types of sources

Many types of sources are available, although some are appropriate only in certain situations.

• Scholarly articles:short papers published inacademic journals.They may present original research or review the research of others. Many undergo a process ofpeer reviewbefore publication. Watch two short videos ontraditional peer reviewanda comparison to open peer review.
• Booksandmonographs:longer academic or popular works.
• Textbooks:an instructional or educational manual covering a particular subject area.
• Dictionariesandencyclopedias:reference works containing multiple entries for different words or topics. Wikipedia is an example of an encyclopedia.
• Archivaland otherprimary sources:historic documents.This pageoutlines appropriate use of primary sources.
• Magazinearticles: short papers in popular or trade publications.
• Newspaperarticles ornewsreports: writing or multimedia that discusses current events or editorial analysis.This pageassesses the reliability of news content.
• Reports and othergrey literature:a broad category that includes most government documents, conference proceedings, and other writings not provided by traditional publishers.
• Statistics:data, particularlycensusdata, and analysis.
• Thesesanddissertations:works created as a requirement for the completion of an advanced postsecondary degree.This pagedescribes some of the considerations in using these types of sources.
• Websites, blogs and other user-generated sources: online content from a variety of authors/publishers. Reliability depends on the editorial control of the website.This pagediscusses issues with user-generated content.

Where to look for sources

• DuckDuckGoor other generalsearch enginesare effective for finding online sources in particular, but can also be used for some other kinds of sources depending on the topic area.This videooutlines the fundamentals of "advanced search" techniques.
  • Google Custom Search enginescan help to efficiently find sources on certain websites that some Wikipedia editors have determined are generally reliable, overall. Because these searches only includes returns from a pre-determined list of candidates it could miss many others possible sources.
    • User:Superb Owl/Reliable Source Engine:onlyincludes perennial generally reliable sources, making search results easier to filter out (though some op-ed pages remain). Great option for beginners.
    • User:Syced/Wikipedia Reference Search:some websites included (in addition to opinion pages) may not comply withWP:RS,so extra judgment is needed.
• Severalgeneral search enginesexist for more academic material, particularly scholarly articles, although some content will be behind a paywall: examples areGoogle Scholar,BASEand theInternet Archive'shttps://scholar.archive.org/.This longer videooutlines the use of some Google Scholar features.
• Internet ArchiveandGoogle Booksindexes millions of books, both academic and popular; however, not all will be available in full text.
  • This videointroduces the use of Internet Archive for research.
  • Several publishers make multiple editions of their books available through Google Books. Sometimes, Google initially returns a link only to the e-book edition, but that edition may include links to alternate hardcover or softcover editions which do have original pagination. Google Books limits previews of copyrighted books to a certain number of pages. It is possible to jump ahead to exhaust that number from a later starting page by editing the browser URL. For example, adding "&pg=PA100" will usually jump to page 100.WP:GBOOKSexplains how to cite sources found through Google Books.
  • Installing theUnpaywallextension on your browser helps you find the full text of the articles wherever you found them.
• Public or research libraries have both books and research databases, covering a wide variety of subject areas.Find yours.
• See if anyfree resourcescover the topic area
  • Wikipedia:Free English newspaper sources(WP:FENS) provides a list of text-searchable, free (no-pay, non-subscription/-membership/-login) online English newspaper sources.
  • Search engine of free reliable sources(project)
• The Wikipedia Libraryis an initiative to help Wikipedians get access to subscription or paid sources to improve Wikipedia articles. Editors canapply for access to databases,request specific sources,orrequest help with research.
• Bibliographies on a topic outline the main scholarly sources in a subject area and provide a good starting point, where they are available.
• Once you have found one good scholarly source, you can see what sources it cites and what cited it (citation chaining).This videodescribes citation chaining using Google Scholar.
• If you are having trouble accessing a particular source, e.g. due toprivacy laws,try thislist of ways to get around IP-based restrictions.

Evaluating sources

Issues to consider in deciding whether a source isreliableinclude:

• Who is the author? What are their qualifications and reputation? Do they have any identifiable biases?
• Who is the publisher? Is the workself-published?Does the publisher have a history of editorial reputation? Does the publisher have any biases?
• When was the source published? Is the information outdated?
• Does the source cite its own sources? Is it based on facts or opinions?
• Is the sourceprimary, secondary, or tertiary?
• Are there any obvious errors or omissions?

For more information about how Wikipedia policy evaluates sources, seeWikipedia:Identifying reliable sources.

Templates

To help find sources, Wikipedians have developed a number ofsource-finding templateswhich link to searches most likely to find references suitable for use in articles. The most well-known of these is{{find sources}},an inline template which can be used almost anywhere. (Butplease don't use it in articles themselves.) This template allows editors to tweak search strings to find the best match for the subject; see thedocumentationfor details. Alternatively, users who desire more freedom can use the meta-template{{find sources multi}},which allows a choice of search engines.

Example of{{find sources}}:

{{find sources|human disguise}}produces:Find sources:Google(books·news·scholar·free images·WP refs)·FENS·JSTOR·TWL

Example of{{find sources multi}}:

{{find sources multi|human disguise|link1=g|link2=gnews|link3=ddg}}produces:Google·Google News·DuckDuckGo

For subjects that have several names or spellings, it may be desirable to use more than one search. This can be as simple as using several{{find sources}}templates.