Citation

A citation is a pointer from a claim or quotation to a source that supports it. In encyclopedic writing, citations make articles verifiable and separate original research from reported facts.

Forms

Citations may be footnotes, parenthetical references, or hyperlinks. Good practice records enough detail (author, title, date, publisher/URL, archive URL) that a reader can still find the source after the live page moves—a defence against Link rot and Reference rot.

Archived citations

Many wiki and journal communities encourage pairing live URLs with captures from the Wayback Machine or similar services, and using Persistent identifiers such as DOIs when available.

See also

• Primary source
• Link rot
• Dead link
• Persistent identifier

Sources

• Style guides (Chicago, MLA) and Wikimedia citation documentation (general).
• Pew Research Center reporting on disappearing online sources (context for why archive links matter).