This page will help you to fix the cite error message:

A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

The last reference on a page will not show this error; instead, the code will appear as normal text, <ref>.

Overview

References are defined within <ref>...</ref> tags.

Issues and resolution

The closing </ref> tag is missing or malformed. Ensure that you are either using a closed pair of tags such as <ref>content</ref> or a single tag such as <ref name=refname />.

Extra spaces may also cause this, for example < /ref> or <ref name=foo / >.

This error will also show if <ref>...</ref> tags or a named reference are nested inside another set of <ref>...</ref> tags. <ref>...</ref> tags cannot be nested; see WP:REFNEST for details.

If a reference has not been initiated with a <ref> tag, the error will appear at the properly formed preceding reference. For example, if you code

<ref>reference 1</ref> ... reference 2</ref>

then the error message will appear at the location of reference 1, not reference 2.

When referring to an already named reference, ensure that the ref tag is in the following format. Note the final slash, which must be directly adjacent to the closing angle bracket.

<ref name="reference name" />

See WP:REFNAME for details.

Examples

Improperly closed ref tag

In this example, reference 2 is improperly closed with <ref>. Note how the content between the reference 2 <ref> and the reference 3 </ref> is missing: 

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.<ref>Reference 1</ref> Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.<ref>Reference 2<ref> Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.<ref>Reference 3</ref> Curabitur pretium tincidunt lacus. Nulla gravida orci a odio. Nullam varius, turpis et commodo pharetra, est eros bibendum elit, nec luctus magna felis sollicitudin mauris. Integer in mauris eu nibh euismod gravida.

==References==
((reflist))

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.[1] Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Curabitur pretium tincidunt lacus. Nulla gravida orci a odio. Nullam varius, turpis et commodo pharetra, est eros bibendum elit, nec luctus magna felis sollicitudin mauris. Integer in mauris eu nibh euismod gravida.

References
  1. ^ Reference 1

Nesting ref tags

For a guide to properly nesting ref tags, see WP:Nesting footnotes.

Here reference 2 is nested inside reference 1: 

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.<ref>Reference 1<ref>Reference 2</ref></ref> Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

==References==
((reflist))

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).</ref> Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

References

Technical

Pages with this error message are placed into Pages with incorrect ref formatting. The system message page is at Cite error included ref.

Bugs

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T23798
Tracked in Phabricator
Task T22707
Category