MarioWiki:Citations

This policy covers the guidelines of citing sources and references in articles.

Why sourcing? What needs it?

On the Super Mario Wiki, we take most of our information directly from the Mario games, TV shows, movies, publications and the like. However, in some cases, we also take information from guide books and magazines, as well as official, fan-run and press websites reporting on unreleased games. In order to ensure that all information covered is official, and not speculation by fans, we need to cite our sources.

For the most part, you don't need to provide a reference for basic information taken directly from the games. This includes level layouts, gameplay mechanics, item and enemy descriptions, characters, the plot of the game, etc. However, if information is more obscure and its validity may be questioned, citing specific text found in the game (i.e. dialogue in an RPG), its manual or some other official guide book will help maintain the wiki's credibility. Similarly, controversial and/or complex topics benefit from having direct quotations, especially if any translation work or other analysis is performed. However, even backed up with solid references, excessive speculation should be avoided, with only the most straightforward and logical coverage of ambiguous or inconsistent information being permitted (see here for more info). For translations, the original writing should be provided along with a translation, and whenever possible, translations should be done by members of the wiki, rather than relying on third parties.

As well as games and their manuals, information may come from official websites, guide books and magazines, as well as third party print and internet sources, all of which must be cited when used. Rumours and misleading info is commonplace online, so showing readers that we are not fabricating our info and in turn, letting them evaluate the trustworthiness of our sources is especially important. Users should also be aware of the dangers of using internet sources and must use care in choosing what websites to reference: whenever possible, stick to reputable, well-known and/or official sites, and always try to track down the original source, rather than citing something that, in turn, is citing something different. Also, while some sources are more reliable than others, even professional outlets may make mistakes sometimes (see here for an example), and it is important to be vigilant about the information you're bringing to the wiki, especially if it concerns specialized fields such as game development or internal policies. Using the games themselves or otherwise getting information directly from Nintendo is ideal, however this is not always possible, such as when dealing with upcoming games, in which case, citing something is still better than nothing.

Finally, keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive summary of where references should be used: no matter what you are writing about, it is always best to err on the side of caution and when in doubt, cite your sources.

What to Put into References

To cite a written source, which you cannot provide a link to, you only need to state it exactly. Remember that a reference section does not always need a link. For example:

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisici elit, sed eiusmod tempor incidunt ..." ~ Super Mario Sunshine manual, page 9.

To cite external websites, you add an external link to the page, a date when the info became published (when available), the name of the publisher, the author (when available), the date in which the reference was retrieved, and the page's title as the link name:

Smash Bros. DOJO!!. Nintendo. Retrieved 10 March 2024.

How to add References

We have a system of references that is quite similar to Wikipedia, if you are familiar with it. (This does not mean we go to the same scale as Wikipedia, but rather we use the same code.) The special tags you will need are <ref></ref> and <references/>.

Using the Reference System

Take the Bowser Crush article as an example. It features a paragraph of information which was not present in the game at all, but came from Nintendo's official guide. A reference is given in the first sentence of this paragraph:

The gigantic Bowser Crush Mecha-Koopa was developed by Koopa researchers in a top-secret laboratory located deep within Bowser's Keep^[1]. These Koopas worked long shifts for months on end designing this powerful weapon. However, their ultimate goal was to not to create a battlefield weapon, but to create a device that could crush flowers and frighten butterflies. This giant Mecha-Koopa was finished just as the Smithy Gang invaded Bowser's Keep and the Mushroom World. Initially, King Bowser was disappointed he could not immediately use his new weapon to squish flowers as he had more pressing matters to attend to, such as reclaiming his keep, rebuilding the Koopa Troop, and defeating Smithy. However, he soon discovered that the Mecha-Koopa could be used to smash enemies and members of Smithy's gang. Bowser enjoyed this revelation immensely, and took pleasure in crushing opponents after learning to summon this giant Mecha-Koopa.

The end of the page features the reference section, where the reader can see the source of this text:

1. ^ As portrayed in the Official Nintendo Player's Guide of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

When looking at the code of this example, you can see that the content of the note is not given at the end of the article under the References header, but directly in the text:

The gigantic Bowser Crush Mecha-Koopa was developed by [[Koopa]]
researchers in a top-secret laboratory located deep within [[Bowser's Keep]]
<ref>As portrayed in the Official Nintendo Player's Guide of ''Super Mario
RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars''.</ref>.

The end of the article, the Reference header, just features a single line:

==References==
<references/>

As you can see, the reference given between the <ref></ref> text is automatically placed at wherever <references/> is put in the text. This allows you to keep the overview of where you have put your sources. You do not have to care about the links that are provided to the footnote, they are automatically created by the system.

Multiple Citations of the Same Source

In long articles, you could come across the problem of needing to give the same source twice. To do this, you do not need to say the same things twice and add it to the References list two times, but can reuse your previous reference and give it again. For this, you need to give names to your references:

If you give two or more references the same name<ref name="test">Only
the description in the first ref with the name (that is, a) is
shown</ref>, they will have the same number<ref name="test"/>

The first time you give the reference, you have to use the name= parameter to give a specific, preferably descriptive name (e.g. "official_guide"). The second time you use the reference, you simply use an empty <ref/> tag with the same name given as your previous. Both references will then share the same number, and in the list of references at the bottom of the page, there will only be one entry, with links back to each part of the article from where it is linked, so that the reader can continue to read exactly where they have clicked on the reference:

If you give two or more references the same name^[2],

they will have the same number^[2]
[...]

2. ^ ^{a b} Only the description in the first ref with the name (that is, a) is shown

Requesting a Source

To request a source, we use a workaround. Add {{refneeded}} (Template:Refneeded) to statements which seem source-worthy for you:

Mario is able to fly in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' {{refneeded}}.

The result is this:

Mario is able to fly in Super Smash Bros. Brawl .

...with a link to this very page.