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Shortened footnotes are one method of citing sources for a Wikipedia article. They are a hybrid of standard footnotes and Harvard-style parenthetical referencing. Shortened footnotes, often with page numbers, appear in the reference section (wherever the reference list markup ((reflist)) is placed) and usually link (by ((Sfn))) to the full citation for a source. These full citations usually appear in another list separate from the footnotes. See rationale below.

Please read Help:Footnotes first, as this guide builds upon the methods described there.

Shortened footnotes are used for several reasons:

Multiple references

(a) They allow the editor to cite many different parts of the same source without having to repeat the entire citation.

Easier source-editing

(b) When full citations are gathered in a separate section the article text is uncluttered and easier to work with.

Single place for citations

(c) It is easier to edit all the full citations at once.

Other

(d) The full citations can be sorted or alphabetized.

The most common method of using shortened footnotes is with the ((sfn)) template for the short notes, and ((cite xxx)) templates for the full citation. The Citation Style 1 and Citation Style 2 templates automatically create an anchor for an ((sfn)) link, using the author last name and the year. An "anchor" is a landing place for a link to jump to. In the following example, an inline citation such as ^[1] links to the shortened footnote under "Notes", which in turn links to the full citation in the References list:

The brontosaurus is thin at one end.((sfn|Elk|1972|p=5)) Then it becomes much thicker in the middle.((sfn|Elk|1972|p=6))
The Norwegian Blue Parrot will not move if its feet are nailed to the perch.((sfn|Praline|1969|p=12)) Its metabolic processes are a matter of interest only to historians.((sfn|Praline|1969|p=16))
==Notes==
((reflist))

==References==
((refbegin))
* ((cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]] |date=November 16, 1972))
* ((cite book |last=Praline |first=Eric |title=[[Dead Parrot sketch]] |date=December 7, 1969))
((refend))

Using ((sfn))

There are several ways to create the shortened footnote. Most often, the ((sfn)) template is used to link to a full citation with simple markup:

((sfn|Elk|1972|p=5))

((reflist))

The link is normally created from the authors' last names and the year of publication. For sources with multiple authors, pass their last names (to a maximum of four) as multiple parameters to the template:

((sfn|Jones|Smith|Hawthorne|1980|p=1))

((reflist))

* ((cite book |last1=Jones |last2=Smith |last3=Hawthorne |title=Some Book |date=1980))

((sfn|Jones|Smith|Hawthorne|McDowell|1980|p=1))

((reflist))

* ((cite book |last1=Jones |last2=Smith |last3=Hawthorne |last4=McDowell |last5=Dangerfield |title=Some Other Book |date=1980))

The ((sfnp)) template works the same as the above example, except it places the date in parentheses:

((sfnp|Elk|1972|p=5))

((reflist))

Using ((harvnb))

The ((sfn)) template was developed to automate the older process of placing ((harvnb)) within <ref> tags. This method is still available and used in many existing articles:

<ref>((harvnb|Elk|1972|p=5)).</ref>

((reflist))

The above method will also work with other "harv" templates.^[i] These templates link to the full citation in the same way and accept the same parameters, but they each have slightly different formatting. For example, ((harvp)) places the date in parentheses:

<ref>((harvp|Elk|1972|p=5)).</ref>

((reflist))

Manual creation

You can manually create a link to the long citation by creating a custom reference anchor or concatenating #CITEREF, the author's last name, and the publication year.^[ii] This is rarely used:

<ref>[[#CITEREFElk1972|Elk 1972]], p. 5.</ref>

((reflist))

You can also place an unlinked shortened footnote within <ref> tags:

<ref>Elk 1972, p. 5.</ref>

((reflist))

Bundling citations

The ((sfnm)) template supports the inclusion of multiple sources in a single footnote. The ((harvnb)) template or other similar templates can be manually bundled in a single footnote, separated either with semicolons or the ((multiref)) template:

((sfnm |1a1=Elk |1y=1972 |1p=5 |2a1=Praline |2y=1969 |2p=12))

((reflist))

<ref>((harvnb|Elk|1972|p=5)); ((harvnb|Praline|1969|p=12)).</ref>

((reflist))

<ref>((multiref | ((harvnb|Elk|1972|p=5)) | ((harvnb|Praline|1969|p=12)) ))</ref>

((reflist))

The list of footnotes is created by using the ((reflist)) template or the <references /> tag. Some articles that use only shortened footnotes manually define narrower columns at ((reflist|20em)). References created via ((sfn)), ((sfnp)), ((sfnm)), the standard <ref /> tags, and list-defined references will all be included in the same list.

The full citations are usually created with Citation Style 1 (CS1) and Citation Style 2 (CS2) templates. These templates automatically create a linkable anchor from the authors' last names and the year of publication. For example:

((cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |date=November 16, 1972 |title=[[Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses]]))

allows a "short" citation template, like ((sfn|Elk|1972)) in the article.

The anchor can be created manually with ((sfnref)) or ((harvid)) in situations where the automatic anchors would create issues including:

• Multiple authors with the same last name
• No known last name for the author
• Unusual characters in the author field
• Multiple works in the same year by the same author
• Year of publication unknown

For example, an article might cite psychoanalysts Anna Freud and Sigmund Freud. If there are two full citations with the same last name and the same year of publication, as below, then the full citations would need to set custom anchors in the |ref= parameter. The short inline citation can then be created using the same structure. Note the identical parameters for ((sfnref)) and ((sfn)):

In 1928, [[Sigmund Freud]] wrote that "religious influence" was one of the primary goals of education.((sfn|S. Freud|1928|pp=47-48)) In her first published book, [[Anna Freud]] proposed that the education of a child is never independent of the adults they depend upon.((sfn|A. Freud|1928))

===Notes===
((reflist))

===References===
((refbegin))
* ((cite book |last=Freud |first=Anna |date=1928 |title=Introduction to the Technique of Child Analysis |ref=((sfnref|A. Freud|1928))))
* ((cite book |last=Freud |first=Sigmund |date=1928 |title=The Future of an Illusion |ref=((sfnref|S. Freud|1928))))
((refend))

Citations templates outside of CS1 and CS2, like vcite templates, ((Cite court)), and ((cite comic)), may require the |ref= parameter. In rare cases, ((wikicite)) can be used to manually create the anchors for full citations written without templates. In the following example from the Bengal famine of 1943, an unpublished but publicly available manuscript by the Indian Government’s Regional Food Commissioner, is used as a primary source. As there are few acceptable places on Wikipedia to use unpublished memoirs as a source, no citation template directly matches the document:

((wikicite | ref = "((sfnref|Braund |1944))" | reference = Braund, H. B. L. (1944). ''Famine in Bengal'', typescript. British Library Doc D792.))

Full citations in the references list may be formatted manually or with citation templates. The reference list is formatted by placing the citations in an unordered list using the * markup. Entries may be sorted by the author's last name. The text size may be formatted with ((refbegin)) and ((refend)). The references list is normally displayed in one column with no indenting.

((refbegin))
*((cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses |date=November 16, 1972))
*((cite book |last=Praline |first=Eric |title=[[Dead Parrot sketch]] |date=December 7, 1969))
((refend))

Date

The inline citation should include only the year. The full citation may include the year only or the full date in the |date= parameter. Most citation templates will extract the year from a full date to form the anchor.

If an author has multiple works in the same year, regardless of whether it is a full date or only a year, then duplicate anchors will be generated. To resolve this, you can suffix the year with a lowercase letter. For example:

• ((cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses |date=November 16, 1972a))
• ((cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Further Theory on Brontosauruses |date=December 20, 1972b))

If the date is written in YYYY-MM-DD format, you can suffix a lowercase letter in the |year= parameter:

• ((cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses |date=1972-11-16 |year=1972a))
• ((cite book |last=Elk |first=Anne |title=Anne Elk's Further Theory on Brontosauruses |date=1972-12-20 |year=1972b))

No author

In the 1980s, [[Madonna]] was named "Artist of the Decade" by ''Billboard'' magazine.((sfn|Dayton Daily News|1990|p=23))

==Notes==
((reflist))

==References==
* ((cite news |title=Michael, Madonna Top 'Billboard' Poll |newspaper=[[Dayton Daily News]] |date=May 25, 1990 |ref=((sfnref|Dayton Daily News|1990)) ))

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is located in New York.((sfn|MoMA|2023))

==Notes==
((reflist))

==References==
* ((cite web |date=2023 |website=MoMA.org |ref=((sfnref|MoMA|2023)) |title=Locations, Hours, and Admission |url= https://www.moma.org/visit/ ))

Shortened footnotes can be placed inside explanatory notes in several ways. Explanatory or content notes add explanations, comments, or other information relating to the main content and often require their own citation. There are two technical approaches to using both types of footnotes. A shortened footnote can be placed inside an explanatory note; on Wikipedia, this is referred to as a nested footnote. There are also several ways to combine the contents of a short citation and explanatory note within a single footnote.

Nesting footnotes is typically done with the ((efn)) or ((refn)) templates. Because of a technical limitation, some standard Wikipedia markup elements will not work within a set of <ref>...</ref> tags, including a second "nested" set of <ref>...</ref> tags. For example, <ref>Explanatory footnote<ref>Brown 2001</ref></ref> will generate an error.^[iii] Because the templates allow nesting, the same example written as ((efn|Explanatory footnote((sfn|Brown|2001)) )) works as expected.

Nested footnotes

The methods in this section can nest footnotes because the explanatory notes use templates designed to support nesting.

Nesting within ((efn))

This method uses ((efn)) to create the explanatory notes and ((sfn)) to create footnotes nested in the explanatory notes.

The Sun is pretty big.((sfn|Muller|2005|p=23))((efn|But Muller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.((sfn|Muller|2005|p=23)))) But the Moon((efn|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.((sfn|Braun|2001|p=63)))) is not so big.((sfn|Braun|2001|p=46))((efn|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.)) The Sun is also quite hot.((sfn|Schmidt|2005|p=334))

==Notes==
((notelist))

==Citations==
((reflist))

==References==
((refbegin))
* ((citation |last=Braun |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001))
* ((citation |last=Muller |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005))
* ((citation |last=Schmidt |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005))
((refend))

Nesting within ((refn))

This method uses ((refn)) to create the explanatory notes and ((sfn)) to create footnotes nested in the explanatory notes.

The Sun is pretty big.((sfn|Millerd|2005|p=23))((refn|group=lower-alpha|But Millerd points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.((sfn|Millerd|2005|p=23)))) But the Moon((refn|group=lower-alpha|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena.((sfn|Browne|2001|p=63)))) is not so big.((sfn|Browne|2001|p=46))((refn|group=lower-alpha|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.)) The Sun is also quite hot.((sfn|Smithe|2005|p=334))

==Notes==
((reflist|group=lower-alpha))

==Citations==
((reflist))

==References==
((refbegin))
* ((citation |last=Browne |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001))
* ((citation |last=Millerd |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005))
* ((citation |last=Smithe |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005))
((refend))

Combined footnotes

Explanatory notes containing shortened citations

This example creates a separate notes section using the ((sfn)) and ((efn)) templates. Because the explanatory footnotes do not contain footnote references, there are no technical hurdles.

The Sun is pretty big.((sfn|Miller|2005|p=23))((efn|But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.)) But the Moon((efn|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena – see, for example Jones, ''The Solar System'', MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.)) is not so big.((sfn|Brown|2001|p=46))((efn|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example, Peterson, ''Astronomy'', MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.)) The Sun is also quite hot.((sfn|Smith|2005|p=334))

==Notes==
((notelist))

==Citations==
((reflist))

==References==
((refbegin))
* ((cite book |last=Brown |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |date=2001))
* ((cite book |last=Miller |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |date=2005))
* ((cite book |last=Smith |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |date=2005))
((refend))

When the explanatory notes and shortened footnotes are separate and not nested, they can still be created using standard reference tags. This example creates a separate notes section by using <ref> and <ref group=>.

The Sun is pretty big.<ref name=Foot01/><ref group=Note name=Note01/> But the Moon<ref group=Note name=Note02/> is not so big.<ref name=Foot02/><ref group=Note name=Note03/> The Sun is also quite hot.<ref name=Foot03/>

==Notes==
((reflist|group=Note|refs=
<ref name=Note01>But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.</ref>
<ref name=Note02>The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena – see, for example Jones, ''The Solar System'', MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.</ref>
<ref name=Note03>Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example, Peterson, ''Astronomy'', MacMillan, 2005, p. 623.</ref>
))

==Citations==
((reflist|refs=
<ref name=Foot01>Miller, p. 23</ref>
<ref name=Foot02>Brown, p. 46</ref>
<ref name=Foot03>Smith, p. 334</ref>
))

==References==
((refbegin))
* Brown, ''The Moon'', Penguin. 2001.
* Miller, ''The Sun'', Oxford, 2005.
* Smith, ''The Universe'', Random House, 2005.
((refend))

The example below uses only basic wikitext syntax and single list of footnotes. Because the explanatory footnotes do not contain footnote references, there are no technical hurdles.

The Sun is pretty big.<ref>Miller, p. 23. But Miller points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars.</ref> But the Moon<ref>The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena - see, for example Jones, ''The Solar System'', MacMillan, 2005, p 623.</ref> is not so big.<ref>Brown, p. 46. Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large, see, for example Peterson, ''Astronomy'', MacMillan, 2005, p 623.</ref> The Sun is also quite hot.
<ref>Smith, p. 334.</ref>

==Notes==
<references />

==References==
* Brown, ''The Moon'', Penguin. 2001.
* Miller, ''The Sun'', Oxford, 2005.
* Smith, ''The Universe'', Random House, 2005.

Explanatory notes containing parenthetical citations

This method uses ((sfn)) to create the main footnotes, ((efn)) to create the explanatory notes and ((harv)) to create the parenthentical references in the explanatory notes. The use of inline parenthetical referencing has been deprecated for an article's body text.

The Sun is pretty big.((sfn|Mahler|2005|p=23))((efn|But Mahler points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars ((harv|Mahler|2005|p=23)).)) But the Moon((efn|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena ((harv|Brauner|2001|p=63)).)) is not so big.((sfn|Brauner|2001|p=46))((efn|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.)) The Sun is also quite hot.((sfn|Ferrero|2005|p=334))

==Notes==
((notelist))

==Citations==
((reflist))

==References==
((refbegin))
* ((citation |last=Brauner |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001))
* ((citation |last=Mahler |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005))
* ((citation |last=Ferrero |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005))
((refend))

List-defined explanatory notes containing citations

This method uses ((sfn)) to create the main footnotes, ((efn)) to create list-defined explanatory notes using ((notelist)) in the "Notes" appendix, and ((harv)) to create links nested within the explanatory notes:

The Sun is pretty big.((sfn|Mailer|2005|p=23))((efn|name="sun size")) But the Moon((efn|name="Selena")) is not so big.((sfn|Brawn|2001|p=46))((efn|name="moon size")) The Sun is also quite hot.((sfn|Smythe|2005|p=334))

===Notes===
((notelist |refs=

((efn|name="sun size"|But Mailer points out that the Sun is not as large as some other stars. ((harv|Mailer|2005|p=23))))

((efn|name="Selena"|The Moon goes by other names, such as Selena. ((harv|Brawn|2001|p=63))))

((efn|name="moon size"|Historically the Moon was not always considered to be large.))

))
((notelist))

===Citations===
((reflist))

===References===
((refbegin))
* ((citation |last=Brawn |title=The Moon |publisher=Penguin |year=2001))
* ((citation |last=Mailer |title=The Sun |publisher=Oxford |year=2005))
* ((citation |last=Smythe |title=The Universe |publisher=Random House |year=2005))
((refend))

Errors involving <ref> tags will be automatically displayed in article, user, template, category, help and file pages. To show error messages on talk and other pages, see Help:Reference display customization.

It is very possible to create an inline citation that does not link to the full citation and to create full citations that do not have a matching inline citation. Often the link and anchor may not match for some reason. To catch these errors, use the User:Trappist the monk/HarvErrors script. When an inline citation does not have a matching full citation and cannot be readily resolved, then it can be tagged with ((Citation not found)).

It is also possible to create duplicate IDs for the inline citation, resulting in invalid HTML. See Help:Markup validation for help in validating and resolving issues.

These featured articles exemplify the use of shortened footnotes:

This article illustrates improperly implemented shortened footnotes:

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (14:53, February 22, 2012)

The article uses ((sfn)) (#10, 11, 12) to point to Rothenburg1976, which is a manually defined citation with no anchor (#9); the footnotes and shortened footnotes are mixed.

• Wikipedia:Citation templates and reference anchors
• Help:References and page numbers