Hi Everyone,
We've previously talked about our upcoming changes to referencing. We're a wiki that is well known for our standards, and as such I have a proposed draft reference policy. Its my hope we can implement this without a vote, but alternative methods of community consensus.
Please read through it, and comment. Agent c (talk) 04:32, January 30, 2014 (UTC) (and thanks to The Ever Ruler for his work on this too).
Policy Working Draft
General Principle
All but the most trivial and obvious of facts should be referenced where possible. The sources for these facts should be included on the wiki, and indexed for ease of verification and for future use.
Facts which are controversial or non obvious should have the Verification Required template added unless there is adequate referencing. This should be added to any new edits before a page is patrolled.
New Content
Sourcing
- Acceptable sources, depending on the context include dialogue files, developer statements, manuals and guidebooks. This list is non exhaustive.
- Care should be taken when using out-of-game sources (such as developer statements) as they are not mirrored through in-game content in many cases and are subject to particular developer opinion. Later developers may or may not also feel bound by their choices and/or take into account other developers' choices.
- Care should be used with dialogue files, as these reflect the knowledge that the character of the dialogue file has and may be incorrect or incomplete.
- Care should be used with supplementary items such as Comics and Strategy guides. These are often completed before development is complete (so some things may have changed between sign off and release), and as out of game future developers may or may not feel bound by them.
- First hand research (that is to say, asking a developer a question, extracting game files or experimentation in game) is permitted. However the source, as much as possible must be uploaded to the wiki and included in the reference library. If using a developer email, you should ensure that you receive permission to copy their communication to the wiki in complete state.
- Facts which are added without adequate sourcing should have appropriate "Update", "Citation Required" or "Verification Required" templates added. Unproven items may be removed after a certain period (not less than 2 weeks unless contradictory information is known)
Referencing
- The "Short Term" referencing format is for where use of dialogue files or adding the primary source is not immediately possible. The intention is that any content with this type of reference should be replaced when practical.
- The "Long Term" referencing option is for where primary sources are available. This is the preferred referencing format, and all references should be converted to this form where practical.
- Not all items have both types, the short term is an interim format. Any item type displaying just one should be taken to understand the format given is the long term format.
- The Extended reference format can be used for more complicated claims.
Dialogue/Game Files
- The correct short term referencing format for dialogue is:
- (Character name), (Game name), (Location - only if found in multiple locations), (Preceding Player Character Dialogue Option), (Character Response in full).
- The correct Long term referencing format is:
- (Character name), (Game name), (File extracted from), (Complete dialogue line as found in the file).
- For other files (not holodisks, or in game books, etc)
- (File name), (Game name), (location/snippet)
- It is preferred that the file be linked, ideally to a direct link to the dialogue line.
In game events
- Where an event is demonstrated in game, the correct referring format is
- Events of (Game Name), (location and trigger information if a triggerable event).
- Cut scenes or other Full motion video should be
- (File Title), (Game Name), (Any timing relevant information), (any relevant dialogue).
- If possible, dialogue or cut scenes should be preferred over an "events of" reference.
Written Words
- Where the document is present, or can be uploaded to the wiki, it should be linked.
- The correct format for out of game books, bibles, or other documents are:
- (Book or document name), (page or heading if possible), sample of text.
- In game books, holodisks, etc, should be formatted similarly to dialogue files
- Short Term format:
- (Document name), (Game name), (Document Location), (Heading or other information to identify its location), (Sample of text)
- Long Term format
- (Document name), (Game name), (File name), (Sample of Text).
- Do not upload game guides (for copyright reasons).
Developers
- Website Q+As should be copied and uploaded with as much of a snippet to confirm the information only included (not the whole page - care should be taken just to include the relevant forum post or paragraphs only to ensure that this is valid fair use) where possible, and formatted thusly
- (Website name, with link to original page), (Developer name), Sample of text, (Link to local sample).
- Emails should be uploaded to the wiki, and referenced as
- (Developer name), Email with (collectors name), (Sample), (link to uploaded copy).
- Podcasts and video should be referenced as
- (File Title), (Game Name), (Any timing relevant information), (any relevant dialogue).
- It is permissible (and perhaps recommended) to redact personal information included, or any off topic information in the email, as long as the source and information can be included.
- It is not permissible to add a footnote from a developer email that is not uploaded for future verification. We can't "take your word for it" that Y said X no matter how reliable you may otherwise be as an editor.
How to footnote
- References are included in REF tags <ref>Your reference here</ref>. They should be placed at the end of the block of information (paragraph) that makes claims referable by sources.
- At the end of the page, you should include {{References}} under its own heading (==References==) to make the footnotes display.
- If a later block of information uses the same text or has its claims reorganized, it is permitted to use the same footnote. If new information is added the footnotes must be updated to reflect the new information.
- Ibid and other common footnote shorthands should never be used, as our footnotes are automatically generated and future edits may place other footnotes in later. Content organization also relies upon our footnote information.
- Footnote style is crucial to implement but not necessarily to-the-letter. If you are unsure how it works, just place the source and location in the source to the best of your abilities for the claim it supports and another editor will verify/refine it themselves.
Extended reference format
For more complex claims, it may be required to point to either multiple documents, multiple places in the same document, or perhaps even both. The extended reference format deals with these issues.
As an example, here's a citation for a paragraph with a total of four claims and three sources that provide support for various claims in the paragraph: <ref>
[[First source (dialogue file Fallout 1/Fallout 2)]]: (Core reference as above)
- For claim 1, see Lines 116 & 166.
- For claim 2, see Lines 52 - 56, 70, & 90.
[[Second source (dialogue file Fallout: Tactics)#header of character who says it]]: (Possible source information)
- For claim 1, see Situation A01
- For claim 4, see Situation B02
[[Third source (Fallout Bible)#header closest to information]]: (Possible source information)
- For claim 2, see response to, "What happened...".
[[Third source (Fallout Bible)#header closer to -this- information]]:(Possible source information. If information has not changed for the same source listed above, do NOT reiterate)
- For claim 3, see paragraph 2, sentence 3.
</ref>
Note: dialogue files for Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas have yet to be compiled and organized in a standard format. Footnote style will be updated upon implementation of these dialogue files.
Legacy Content
Legacy content is any information that was added to the wiki before the implementation of this policy.
Much of the Wiki's content, as this policy was implemented, is not up to these standards.
- Existing content where possible should be verified rather than removed
- Unnaceptable references should be updated to current standards where possible or otherwise removed. The content itself however should remain until/unless contradicting information is located.
- This is particularly true for references that only refer to a previous admin's email. As these are not verifiable they are not acceptable.
- The {{Verification needed}} template should not be used on legacy content at this time - this would just create too much clutter in articles. Use {{Citation needed}} instead. This may be reviewed later on as referencing standards improve.