![]() | This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
Manual of Style (MoS) |
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The Manual of Style (abbreviated as MoS or MOS) is the style manual for all Wikipedia articles. This primary page of the guideline covers certain topics (e.g. punctuation) in detail and summarizes the key points of other topics. The detail pages, which are cross-referenced here and linked by this page's menu or listed at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Contents, provide specific guidance on those topics. If any contradiction arises, this page has precedence over all detail pages of the guideline, style essays, and the Simplified Manual of Style.[a]
The Manual of Style presents Wikipedia's house style. The goal is to make using Wikipedia easier and more intuitive by promoting clarity and cohesion, while helping editors write articles with consistent and precise language, layout, and formatting. Plain English works best. Avoid ambiguity, jargon, and vague or unnecessarily complex wording. Any new content added to the body of this page should directly address a style issue that has occurred in a significant number of instances.
Style and formatting should be consistent within an article, though not necessarily throughout Wikipedia. Where more than one style is acceptable under the Manual of Style, editors should not change an article from one of those styles to another without a good reason. Edit warring over optional styles is unacceptable.[b] If discussion cannot determine which style to use in an article, defer to the style used by the first major contributor. If a style or similar debate becomes intractable, see if a rewrite can render the issue irrelevant.
Discuss style issues on the MoS talk page.
Main page: Wikipedia:Article titles |
When choosing an article's title, refer to the article titles policy. A title should be a recognizable name or description of the topic that is natural, sufficiently precise, concise, and consistent with the titles of related articles. If these criteria are in conflict, they should be balanced against one another.
For guidance on formatting titles, see WP:Article titles § Article title format section of the policy. Note the following:
((italic title))
near the top of the article. The use of italics should conform to WP:ITALICS.The guidance contained elsewhere in the MoS, particularly § Punctuation (below) applies to all parts of an article, including the title. (WP:Article titles does not contain detailed rules about punctuation.)
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout |
An article should begin with an introductory lead section, which should not contain section headings sections, each with a section heading (see below) that can be nested in a hierarchy.
. The remainder of the article may be divided intoThe lead should be a concise summary. Newly added information does not always qualify as important enough for the lead; it should be placed in the most appropriate section or sections.
If there are at least four section headings in the article, a navigable table of contents is generated automatically and displayed between the lead section and the first heading.
If the topic of a section is also covered in more detail in a dedicated article, show this by inserting ((main|Article name))
directly under the section heading (see also Wikipedia:Summary style).
As explained in more detail in WP:Manual of Style/Layout § Standard appendices and footers, optional appendix and footer sections containing the following lists may appear after the body of the article in the following order:
Other article elements include disambiguation hatnotes (normally placed at the very top of the article) and infoboxes (usually placed before the lead section).
See also: Help:Section, WP:Manual of Style/Accessibility § Headings, and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout § Order of article elements |
Use equal signs to mark the enclosed text as a section heading: ==Title==
for a primary section; ===Title===
for the next level (a subsection); and so on to the lowest-level subsection, with =====Title=====
. (The highest heading level technically possible is =Title=
, but do not use it in articles, because it is reserved for the automatically generated top-level heading at the top of the page containing the title of the whole article.) Spaces between the equal signs and the heading text are optional, and will not affect the way the heading is displayed. The heading must be typed on a separate line. Include one blank line above the heading, and optionally one blank line below it, for readability in the edit window (but not two or more consecutive blank lines, which will add unnecessary visible white space in the rendered page). There is no need to include a blank line between a heading and sub-heading.
The provisions in § Article titles (above) generally apply to section headings as well (for example, headings are in sentence case, not title case). The following points apply specifically to section headings:
Before changing a section heading, consider whether you might be breaking existing links to that section. If there are many links to the old section title, create an anchor with that title to ensure that the links still work. Similarly, when linking to a section of an article, leave an invisible comment at that section, specifying the names of the linking articles so that if the title is altered, others can fix the links. For example:
==Evolutionary implications==
<!--This section is linked from [[Richard Dawkins]] and [[Daniel Dennett]] ([[MOS:HEAD]])-->
When placing an invisible comment on the same line as the heading, do not do this outside the == ==
markup:[d]
==Evolutionary implications==<!--This comment disrupts editing-->
<!--This comment disrupts display as well as editing-->==Evolutionary implications==
Several of the above provisions are also applicable to table headers, including: sentence case, redundancy, images, and questions. Table headers are often useful places for citations (e.g. the source of all the data in a column), and many do begin with or are numbers. Table headers do not automatically generate link anchors.
See also: Wikipedia:Article titles § National varieties of English, and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Spelling |
The English Wikipedia prefers no major national variety of the language over any other. These varieties (e.g., American English, British English, etc.) differ in many ways, including vocabulary (elevator vs. lift), spelling (center vs. centre), date formatting ("April 13" vs. "13 April"), and occasionally grammar (see § Plurals, below). The following subsections describe how to determine the appropriate variety for an article. (The accepted style of punctuation is covered in § Punctuation, below.)
Articles such as English plural and Comparison of American and British English provide information on the differences between these major varieties of the language.
Wikipedia tries to find words that are common to all varieties of English. Insisting on a single term or a single usage as the only correct option does not serve the purposes of an international encyclopedia.
See also Wikipedia:Consistency for additional policies and guidelines on consistency. |
While Wikipedia does not favor any national variety of English, within a given article the conventions of one particular variety should be followed consistently. The exceptions are:
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Strong national ties to a topic |
An article on a topic that has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation should use the English of that nation. For example:
In an article about a modern writer, it is often a good choice to use the variety of English in which the subject wrote, especially if the writings are quoted. For example, the article J. R. R. Tolkien follows his use of British English with Oxford spelling.
This guideline should not be used to claim national ownership of any article; see Wikipedia:Ownership of articles.
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Retaining the existing format |
When an English variety's consistent usage has been established in an article, maintain it in the absence of consensus to the contrary. With few exceptions (e.g., when a topic has strong national ties or a term/spelling carries less ambiguity), there is no valid reason for such a change.
When no English variety has been established and discussion does not resolve the issue, use the variety found in the first post-stub revision that introduced an identifiable variety. The established variety in a given article can be documented by placing the appropriate Varieties of English template on its talk page.
An article should not be edited or renamed simply to switch from one variety of English to another. The ((subst:uw-lang))
template may be placed on an editor's talk page to explain this to him or her.
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters |
Wikipedia article titles and section headings use sentence case, not title case; see WP:Article titles and § Section headings (above). For capitalization of list items, see § Bulleted and numbered lists. Other points concerning capitalization are summarized below; full information can be found at WP:Manual of Style/Capital letters.
Use italics, not capitals, to denote emphasis.
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Capitalization of "The" |
Generally, do not capitalize the in the middle of a sentence: an article about the United Kingdom (not about The United Kingdom). However there are some conventional exceptions, including most titles of artistic works: Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings (but Homer wrote the Odyssey), and public transport in The Hague. For the British golf tournament, capitalize The Open but not the in the British Open; both The Open Championship and the Open Championship are acceptable.
For treatment in band and album names, see WP:Manual of Style/Music § Names (definite article).
For complete guidance on the handling of titles of works, see (until the material is better consolidated):
|
The English-language titles of compositions (books and other print works, songs and other audio works, films and other visual media works, paintings and other artworks, etc.) are given in title case, in which every word is given an initial capital except for certain less important words (as detailed at WP:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Composition titles). The first and last words in an English-language title are always capitalized. Capitalization in foreign-language titles varies, even over time within the same language; generally, retain the style of the original for modern works, and follow the usage in English-language reliable sources for historical works. Many of these items should also be in italics, or enclosed in quotation marks.
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Titles of people |
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Calendar items |
For more detail on capitalization rules, see WP:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Animals, plants, and other organisms; on italicization rules, WP:Manual of Style/Text formatting § Italic face. See also WP:Lead section § Organisms for handling of first sentence. See WP:Naming conventions (fauna) and WP:Naming conventions (flora) for article title guidelines. |
When using taxonomic ("scientific") names, capitalize and italicize the genus: Berberis, Erithacus. (Supergenus and subgenus, when applicable, are treated the same way.) Italicize but do not capitalize taxonomic ranks at the level of species and below: Berberis darwinii, Erithacus rubecula superbus, Acacia coriacea subsp. sericophylla; no exception is made for proper names forming part of scientific names. Higher taxa (order, family, etc.) are capitalized in Latin (Carnivora, Felidae) but not in their English equivalents (carnivorans, felids); they are not italicized in either form.
Cultivar and cultivar group names of plants are not italicized, and are capitalized (including the word "Group" in the name); cultivar names appear within single quotes (Malus domestica 'Red Delicious'), while cultivar groups do not (Cynara cardunculus Scolymus Group).
English vernacular ("common") names are given in lower case in article prose (plains zebra, mountain maple, and southwestern red-tailed hawk) and in sentence case at the start of article titles, sentences, headings and other places where the first letter of the first word is capitalized. They are additionally capitalized where they contain proper names: Przewalski's horse, California condor, and fair-maid-of-France. This applies to species and subspecies, as in the previous examples, as well as general names for groups or types of organisms: bird of prey, oak, great apes, Bryde's whales, mountain dog, poodle, Van cat, wolfdog. When the common name coincides with a scientific taxon, do not capitalize or italicize, except where addressing the organism taxonomically: A lynx is any of the four species within the Lynx genus of medium-sized wild cats. Non-English vernacular names, when relevant to include, are handled like any other foreign-language terms: italicized as such, and capitalized only if the rules of the native language require it. Non-English names that have become English-assimilated common names are treated as English (ayahuasca, okapi).
Create redirects from alternative capitalization and spelling forms of article titles, and from alternative names, e.g., Adélie Penguin, Adelie penguin, Adelie Penguin and Pygoscelis adeliae should all redirect to Adélie penguin.
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Celestial bodies |
See also: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (astronomical objects) |
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Compass points |
Do not capitalize directions such as north, nor their related forms (We took the northern road), except where they are parts of proper names (such as Great North Road, Great Western Drive or South Pole).
Capitalize names of regions if they have attained proper-name status, including informal conventional names (Southern California; the Western Desert), and derived terms for people (e.g., a Southerner as someone from the Southern United States). Do not capitalize descriptive names for regions that have not attained the status of proper names, such as southern Poland.
Composite directions may or may not be hyphenated, depending on the variety of English adopted in the article. Southeast Asia and northwest are more common in American English; but South-East Asia and north-west in British English. In cases such as north–south dialogue and east–west orientation use an en dash; see § En dashes: other uses, below.
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Institutions |
Names of particular institutions are proper names and require capitals, but generic words for institutions (university, college, hospital, high school) do not. For example: The university offers programs in arts and sciences, but The University of Delhi offers ....
The word the at the start of a title is usually uncapitalized, but follow the institution's own usage (a degree from the University of Sydney; but researchers at The Ohio State University).
Similar considerations apply to political or geographical units, such as cities and islands: The city has a population of 55,000, but The City of Smithville ... (an official name). (Note also the use of the City to refer to the City of London.)
Ligatures should be used in languages in which they are standard (hence Moreau's last words were clin d'œil is preferable to Moreau's last words were clin d'oeil) but not in English outside of names (Æthelstan was a pre-mediaeval king not Æthelstan was a pre-mediæval king).
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Abbreviations |
Abbreviations are shortened forms of words or phrases. In strict analysis, they are distinct from contractions, which use an apostrophe (e.g., won't, see § Contractions) and initialisms (including acronyms). An initialism is usually formed from some or all of the initial letters of words in a phrase. In some variations of English, an acronym is considered to be an initialism which is pronounced as a word (e.g., NATO), as distinct from the case where the initialism is said as a string of individual letters (e.g., US, for United States). Herein, general statements regarding abbreviations are inclusive of acronyms, and the term acronym applies collectively to initialisms, without distinction that an acronym is said as a word.
Correct (not a proper name): | We used digital scanning (DS) technology |
Incorrect: | We used Digital Scanning (DS) technology |
Correct (a proper name): | The film was produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) |
Like other nouns, acronyms are pluralized via addition of -s or -es: they produced three CD-ROMs; three different BIOSes were released. As always, use an apostrophe only when forming the possessive: one DVD's menu was wrong, and five CD-ROMs' titles were misspelled, not He bought two DVD's.
Abbreviations may or may not be closed with a period; a consistent style should be maintained within an article. Standard North American usage is to end all abbreviations with a period (Dr. Smith of 42 Drummond St.), but in standard British and Australian usage no stop is used if the abbreviation ends in the last letter of the unabbreviated form (Dr Smith of 42 Drummond St). This is also common practice in scientific writing. Regardless of punctuation, words that are abbreviated to more than one letter are spaced (op. cit. not op.cit. or opcit). There are some exceptions: PhD (see above) for "Philosophiae Doctor"; BVetMed for "Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine".
In American and Canadian English, U.S. (with periods [full stops] and without a space) is the dominant abbreviation for United States, though at least one major American style guide, The Chicago Manual of Style (16th ed.), now deprecates U.S. and prefers US (without periods). US is more common in most other national forms of English. Use of periods for abbreviations and acronyms should be consistent within any given article and congruent with the variety of English used by that article. In longer abbreviations (three letters or more) that incorporate the country's initials (USN, USAF), do not use periods. When the United States is mentioned with one or more other countries in the same sentence, U.S. or US may be too informal, especially at the first mention or as a noun instead of an adjective (France and the United States, not France and the U.S.). Do not use the spaced U. S. or the archaic U.S. of A., except when quoting. Do not use U.S.A. or USA, except in a quotation, or as part of a proper name (Team USA) or formal code (e.g., the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 codes and FIFA country codes).
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Uncertain, incomplete, or approximate dates for examples. |
To indicate approximately, the abbreviation c. (followed by a space and not italicized) is preferred over circa, ca., or approx. The template ((circa))
may be used.
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Units of measurement for when to abbreviate units of measurement. |
Avoid abbreviations when they might confuse the reader, interrupt the flow, or appear informal. For example, do not use approx. for approximate or approximately, except in a technical passage where the term occurs many times or in an infobox or a data table to reduce width.
Generally avoid making up new abbreviations, especially acronyms (World Union of Billiards is good as a translation of Union Mondiale de Billard, but neither it nor the reduction WUB is used by the organization; so use the original name and its official abbreviation, UMB). If it is necessary to abbreviate in a tight space, such as a header in a wide table of data, use widely recognized abbreviations (for New Zealand gross national product, use NZ and GNP, with a link if the term has not already been written out: NZ GNP; do not use the made-up initialism NZGNP).
Either the <abbr>
element or the ((abbr))
template can be used for abbreviations and acronyms: <abbr title="World Health Organization">WHO</abbr>
or ((abbr|WHO|World Health Organization))
will generate WHO; hovering over the rendered text causes a tooltip of the long form to pop up. MediaWiki, the software on which Wikipedia runs, does not support <acronym>
.
In normal text and headings, the word and should be used instead of the ampersand (&); for example January 1 and 2, not January 1 & 2. Retain ampersands in titles of works or organizations, such as Up & Down or AT&T. Ampersands may be used with consistency and discretion in places where space is extremely limited (i.e., tables and infoboxes). Quotations (see also MOS:QUOTE) may be cautiously modified, especially for consistency where different editions are quoted, as modern editions of old texts routinely replace ampersands with and (just as they replace other disused glyphs, ligatures, and abbreviations).
Further information: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting |
Whereas italics may be used sparingly for emphasis, boldface is normally not used for this purpose. Use italics when introducing or distinguishing terms. Overuse of emphasis reduces its effectiveness.
When emphasis is intended, versus other uses of italics as described below, the semantic HTML markup <em>...</em>
, or its template wrapper ((em))
, may be used: The vaccine is ((em|not)) a cure, but a prophylactic.
This helps editors understand the intent of the markup as emphasis, allows user style sheets to distinguish emphasis and handle it in a customized way, and is an aid to re-users and translators, especially since other languages have different conventions for delineating emphasis.[1]
For complete guidance on the handling of titles of works, see (until the material is better consolidated):
|
Use italics for the titles of works of literature and art, such as books, pamphlets, films (including short films), television series, named exhibitions, computer and video games (but not other software), music albums, and paintings. The titles of articles, chapters, songs, television episodes, research papers and other short works are not italicized; they are enclosed in double quotation marks. Italics are not used for major revered religious works (the Bible, the Quran, the Talmud). Many of these items should also be in title case.
Use italics when mentioning a word or letter (see Use–mention distinction) or a string of words up to one full sentence (the term panning is derived from panorama; the most common letter in English is e). When a whole sentence is mentioned, quotation marks may be used instead, with consistency (The preposition in She sat on the chair is on; or The preposition in "She sat on the chair" is "on"). Mentioning (to discuss grammar, wording, punctuation, etc.) is different from quoting (in which something is usually expressed on behalf of a quoted source).
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting § Foreign terms |
Use italics for phrases in other languages and for isolated foreign words that are not common in everyday English. Proper names (such as place names) in other languages, however, are not usually italicized, nor are terms in non-Latin scripts.
Use italics for the scientific names of plants, animals and other organisms at the genus level and below (italicize Panthera leo but not Felidae). The hybrid sign is not italicized (Rosa × damascena), nor is the "connecting term" required in three-part botanical names (Rosa gallica subsp. officinalis).
For quotations, use only quotation marks (for short quotations) or block quoting (for long ones), not italics. (See Quotations below.) This means that (1) a quotation is not italicized inside quotation marks or a block quote just because it is a quotation, and (2) italics are no substitute for proper quotation formatting. To distinguish block quotations from ordinary text, you can use <blockquote>
or ((quote))
. (See § Block quotations, below.)
Use italics within quotations if they are already in the source material. When adding emphasis on Wikipedia, add an editorial note [emphasis added] after the quotation.
"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince: And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest" [emphasis added].
If the source has used italics (or some other styling) for emphasis and this is not otherwise evident, the editorial note [emphasis in original] should appear after the quotation.
Italicize only the elements of the sentence affected by the emphasis. Do not italicize surrounding punctuation.
For a link to function, any italics markup must be either completely outside the link markup, or in the link's "piped" portion.
He died with [[''Turandot'']] still unfinished.
He died with ''[[Turandot]]'' still unfinished.
The [[USS ''Adder'' (SS-3)]] was a submarine.
The [[USS Adder (SS-3)|USS ''Adder'' (SS-3)]] was a submarine.
See also: Wikipedia:Line-break handling and Template:Spaces |
It is sometimes desirable to force a text segment to appear entirely on a single line—that is, to prevent a line break (line wrap) from occurring anywhere within it.
19 kg
or 19((nbsp))kg
((nowrap))
, ((nobreak))
, or ((nobr))
(all equivalent). Markup: for 5° 24′ N code ((nobr|5° 24′ N))
(Unexpected results may occur if the text appearing within ((nowrap))
begins or ends with a space or nonbreaking space; or if a nonbreaking space appears immediately before or after ((nowrap))
.)It is desirable to prevent line breaks ...
June 23((nbsp))– June 29
or June 23((snd))June 29
or June 23((spaced ndash))June 29
(all equivalent).Whether a non-breaking space is appropriate depends on context: whereas it is appropriate to use 12((nbsp))MB
in prose, it may be counterproductive in a table (where horizontal space is precious) and unnecessary in a short parameter value in an infobox (where a break would never occur anyway).
A line break may occur at a thin space ( 
, or ((thinsp))
), which is sometimes used to correct too-close placement of adjacent characters. To prevent this, consider using ((nobr)).
Always insert hard/thin spaces symbolically (((nbsp))
, ((thinsp))
,
,  
), never by entering them as literal Unicode characters entered directly from the keyboard. (Note that inside wikilinks, a construction such as [[World War II]]
works as expected, but [[World War((nbsp))II]]
will not work.)
Adjacent quotation marks: The templates ((' "))
and ((" '))
will add a small amount of CSS kerning (and prevent linebreak) between adjacent quotation marks/apostrophes for better readability. Markup: He announced, "The answer was 'Yes!((' "))
or ((" '))Yes!' was the answer."
See also: § Italics and quotations, § Quotation marks, and Wikipedia:Quotations |
While quotations are an indispensable part of Wikipedia, try not to overuse them. Brief quotations of copyrighted text may be used to illustrate a point, establish context, or attribute a point of view or idea. It is generally recommended that content be written in Wikipedia editors' own words. Using too many quotes is incompatible with an encyclopedic writing style, and may indicate a copyright infringement. Consider minimizing the use of quotations by paraphrasing, as quotations should not replace free text (including one that the editor writes),
Quotations must be verifiably attributed, and the wording of the quoted text should be faithfully reproduced. This is referred to as the principle of minimal change. Where there is good reason to change the wording, enclose changes within square brackets (for example, [her father] replacing him, where the context identifying "him" is not included in the quotation: "Ocyrhoe told [her father] his fate"). If there is a significant error in the original statement, use [sic] or the template ((sic))
to show that the error was not made by Wikipedia. However, trivial spelling and typographic errors should simply be corrected without comment (for example, correct basicly to basically and harasssment to harassment), unless the slip is textually important.
Use ellipses to indicate omissions from quoted text. Legitimate omissions include extraneous, irrelevant, or parenthetical words, and unintelligible speech (umm, and hmm). Do not omit text where doing so would remove important context or alter the meaning of the text. When a vulgarity or obscenity is quoted, it should appear exactly as it does in the cited source; unless faithfully reproducing quoted text, Wikipedians should never bowdlerize words by replacing letters with dashes, asterisks, or other symbols. In carrying over such an alteration from a quoted source, [sic] may be used to indicate that the transcription is exact.
In direct quotations, retain dialectal and archaic spellings, including capitalization (but not archaic glyphs and ligatures, as detailed below).
Main page: Wikipedia:Neutral point of view |
Quotation should be used, with attribution, to present emotive opinions that cannot be expressed in Wikipedia's own voice, but never to present cultural norms as simply opinional:
Concise opinions that are not overly emotive can often be reported with attribution instead of direct quotation. Use of quotation marks around simple descriptive terms can often seem to imply something doubtful regarding the material being quoted; sarcasm or weasel words, like "supposedly" or "so called", might be inferred.
A quotation is not a facsimile, and in most cases it is not desirable to duplicate the original formatting. Formatting and other purely typographical elements of quoted text should be adapted to English Wikipedia's conventions without comment provided that doing so will not change or obscure the meaning of the text; this practice is universal among publishers. These are alterations which make no difference when the text is read aloud, such as:
However, national varieties should not be changed, as these may involve changes in vocabulary, and because articles are prone to flipping back and forth. For example, a quotation from a British source should retain British spelling, even in an article that otherwise uses American spelling. (See § Consistency within articles, above.)
Direct quotation should not be used in an attempt to preserve the formatting preferred by an external publisher, especially when the material would otherwise be unchanged:
Italics can be used to mark a particular usage as a term of art (a case of "words as words"), especially when it is unfamiliar or should not be reworded by a non-expert:
When quoting a complete sentence, it is recommended to keep the first word capitalized unless the quoted passage has been integrated into the surrounding sentence.
For quotations within quotations, use double quote marks outermost and, working inward, alternate single with double quote marks: He said, "That book claims, 'Voltaire said "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."'" For two or more quote marks in immediate succession, use the ((" '))
, ((' "))
, or (as in the example just given) ((" ' "))
templates, which add appropriate space between the quote marks (as well as making that space non-breaking).
The author of a quote of a full sentence or more should be named; this is done in the main text and not in a footnote. However, attribution is unnecessary with quotations that are clearly from the person discussed in the article or section. When preceding a quotation with its attribution, avoid characterizing it in a biased manner.
![]() | This section is the subject of a current discussion. Please feel free to join in. This doesn't mean that you may not be bold in editing this section, but that it would be a good idea to check the discussion first. |
As much as possible, avoid linking from within quotes, which may clutter the quotation, violate the principle of leaving quotations unchanged, and mislead or confuse the reader.
Format a long quote (more than about 40 words or a few hundred characters, or consisting of more than one paragraph, regardless of length) as a block quotation, indented on both sides. Block quotations can be enclosed in the ((quote))
template, or between a pair of <blockquote>...</blockquote>
HTML tags. The template also provides parameters for attribution. Do not enclose block quotations in quotation marks (and especially avoid decorative quotation marks in normal use, such as those provided by the ((pull quote))
a.k.a. ((cquote))
template, which are reserved for pull quotes). Block quotations using a colored background are also discouraged.
Poetry, lyrics, and other formatted text may be quoted inline if they are short, or presented in a block quotation. If inline, line breaks should be indicated by /
, and paragraph or stanza breaks by //
. Wikipedia's MediaWiki software does not normally render line breaks or indentation inside a ((quote))
or <blockquote>
, but the <poem>
extension can be used to preserve them:
<blockquote><poem>
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more."
</poem></blockquote>
This will result in the following, indented on both sides (it may also be in a smaller font, depending on browser software):
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visiter," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more."
Do not abuse block quotation markup to indent non-quotations. Various templates are available for indentation, including ((block indent))
, and (for inline use) ((in5)).
Quotations from foreign-language sources should appear with a translation into English, preferably a modern one. Quotations that are translations should be explicitly distinguished from those that are not. Indicate the original source of a translation (if it is available, and not first published within Wikipedia), and the original language (if that is not clear from the context).
If the original, untranslated text is available, provide a reference for it or include it, as appropriate.
When editors themselves translate foreign text into English, care must always be taken to include the non-English source material, in italics (except for non-Latin-based writing systems), and to use actual and (if at all possible) common English words to translate. Beware linguistic "false friends": Portuguese Federativo should never be rendered as Federative but always as Federal, for example, while Spanish raro should usually be translated as strange or weird and only in limited contexts as rare.
<nowiki>
tags, or use '
entity.
"MOS:QUOTEMARKS" redirects here. For the guideline on the use of quotation marks in titles of works in particular, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles § Quotation marks. |
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style § Quotations |
The primary use of quotation marks is to identify and enclose speech or text which is reported verbatim. The term quotation in the material below also includes other uses of quotation marks such as those for titles of songs, chapters, episodes, unattributable aphorisms, literal strings, "scare-quoted" phrases, and constructed examples. Quotation marks existing in other sources should be changed to match the format described below when being brought into Wikipedia.
Typographical, or curly, quotation marks and apostrophes might be read more efficiently, and many think they look better. However, for practical reasons the straight versions are used on the English Wikipedia.
Normally, double rather than single quotation marks should be used for primary or top-level quotations.
For complete guidance on the handling of titles of works, see (until the material is better consolidated):
|
Quotation marks should be used for the following names and titles:
For example: The song "Example" from the album Example by the band Example.
Do not use quotation marks or italics for:
Many, but not all, of the above items should also be in title case.
"Wikipedia:TQ" redirects here. For the desk for new editors to receive greetings and feedback, see Wikipedia:Teahouse/Questions. |
On the English Wikipedia, use the "logical quotation" style in all articles, regardless of the variety of English in which they are written. Include terminal punctuation within the quotation marks only if it was present in the original material, and otherwise place it after the closing quotation mark. For the most part, this means treating periods and commas in the same way as question marks: Keep them inside the quotation marks if they apply only to the quoted material and outside if they apply to the whole sentence. Examples are given below.
Did Darla say, "There I am"?(mark applies to whole sentence)
No, she said, "Where am I?"(mark applies to quoted material only)
If the quotation is a full sentence and it coincides with the end of the sentence containing it, place terminal punctuation inside the closing quotation mark. If the quotation is a single word or fragment, place the terminal punctuation outside.
Marlin said: "I need to find Nemo."
Marlin needed, he said, "to find Nemo".
If the quoted sentence has been broken up with an editorial insertion, still include the terminal punctuation inside the closing quotation mark.
"I need", said Marlin, "to find Nemo."
If the quoted sentence is followed by a clause that should be preceded by a comma, omit the full stop but other terminal punctuation, such as a question mark or exclamation mark, may be retained. A question should always end with a question mark.
Dory said, "Yes, I can read", which gave Marlin an idea.
Dory said, "Yes, I can read!", which gave Marlin an idea.
If the quoted sentence is followed by a clause identifying the speaker, use a comma outside the quotation mark instead of a full stop inside it, but retain any other terminal punctuation, such as question marks.
"Why are you sleeping?", asked Darla.
"Fish are friends, not food", said Bruce.
Do not follow quoted words or fragments with commas inside the quotation marks, except where a longer quotation has been broken up and the comma is part of the full quotation.
"Fish are friends," said Bruce, "not food."
"Why", asked Darla, "are you sleeping?"
The rules in this section apply to both round brackets ( ), often called parentheses, and square brackets [ ].
If a sentence contains a bracketed phrase, place the sentence punctuation outside the brackets (as shown here). However, where one or more sentences are wholly inside brackets, place their punctuation inside the brackets. (For examples, see § Sentences and brackets, below.) There should be no space next to the inner side of a bracket. An opening bracket should usually be preceded by a space, for example. This may not be the case if it is preceded by an opening quotation mark, another opening bracket, or a portion of a word:
There should be a space after a closing bracket, except where a punctuation mark follows (though a spaced dash would still be spaced after a closing bracket) and in unusual cases similar to those listed for opening brackets.
If sets of brackets are nested, use different types for adjacent levels of nesting; for two levels, it is customary to have square brackets appear within round brackets. This is often a sign of excessively convoluted expression; it is often better to recast, linking the thoughts with commas, semicolons, colons, or dashes.
Avoid adjacent sets of brackets. Either put the parenthetic phrases in one set separated by commas, or rewrite the sentence:
Incorrect: | Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919) (also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv) was a Ukrainian insurgent leader. |
Correct: | Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919, also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv) was a Ukrainian insurgent leader. |
Correct: | Nikifor Grigoriev (c. 1885–1919) was a Ukrainian insurgent leader. He was also known as Matviy Hryhoriyiv. |
Square brackets are used to indicate editorial replacements and insertions within quotations, though this should never alter the intended meaning. They serve three main purposes:
If the text of a link needs to contain one or more square brackets, "escape" these using <nowiki>...</nowiki>
tags or the appropriate numerical character reference, or use the ((bracket))
template.
He said "I spoke to [[John Doe|John [Doe]]] that morning." |
He said "I spoke to John [Doe] that morning." |
He said "I spoke to [[John Doe|John ((bracket|Doe))]] that morning." |
He said "I spoke to John [Doe] that morning." |
*Branwen, Gwern (2009). [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2009-November/105182.html <nowiki>[WikiEN-l]</nowiki> Chinese start caring about copyright]. |
|
If a URL itself contains square brackets, the wiki-text should use the url-encoded form something.php?query=%5Bxxx%5Dyyy&whatever=else
rather than ... query=[xxx]yyy&
... to avoid truncation of the link text after "xxx".
Use an ellipsis (plural ellipses) to indicate an omission of material from quoted text or some other omission, perhaps of the end of a sentence, often in a printed record of conversation. The ellipsis is represented by ellipsis points: a set of three dots.
…
character entity or as a literal "…
". This is harder to input and edit and too small in some fonts. Not recommended.
) as needed to prevent improper line breaks, for example,
we are still worried"; "Are we going to France
...?").
... and Belgium", not "France, Germany,
...
and Belgium").Commas are the most frequently used punctuation marks and can be the most difficult to use well. Some important points regarding their use follow below and at § Semicolons.
Incorrect: | John Smith, Janet Cooper's son is a well-known playwright. |
Correct: | John Smith, Janet Cooper's son, is a well-known playwright. |
Correct: | Janet Cooper's son John Smith is a well-known playwright. (when Janet has multiple sons) |
Correct: | Janet Cooper's son, John Smith, is a well-known playwright. (when Janet has only one son) |
Incorrect: | Burke and Wills, fed by locals (on beans, fish, and ngardu) survived for a few months. |
Correct: | Burke and Wills, fed by locals (on beans, fish, and ngardu), survived for a few months. |
Awkward: | Mozart was, along with the Haydns, both Joseph and Michael, and also Beethoven, one of Schubert's heroes. |
Much better: | Schubert's heroes included Mozart, Beethoven, and Joseph and Michael Haydn. |
Incorrect: | He set October 1, 2011 as the deadline for Chattanooga, Oklahoma to meet his demands. |
Correct: | He set October 1, 2011, as the deadline for Chattanooga, Oklahoma, to meet his demands. |
Incorrect: | She said, "Punctuation styles on Wikipedia change too often," and made other complaints. |
Correct: | She said, "Punctuation styles on Wikipedia change too often", and made other complaints. |
A serial comma (also known as an Oxford comma or a Harvard comma) is a comma used immediately before a conjunction (and or or, sometimes nor) in a list of three or more items: the phrase ham, chips, and eggs includes a serial comma, while the variant ham, chips and eggs omits it. Editors may use either convention so long as each article is internally consistent; however, there are times when the serial comma can create or remove confusion:
Sometimes omitting the comma can lead to an ambiguous sentence, as in this example: The author thanked her parents, Sinéad O'Connor and President Obama, which may list either four people (the two parents and the two people named) or two people (O'Connor and Obama, who are the parents).
Including the comma can also cause ambiguity, as in this example: The author thanked her mother, Sinéad O'Connor, and President Obama, which may list either two people (O'Connor, who is the mother, and Obama) or three people (the first being the mother, the second O'Connor, and the third Obama).
In such cases of ambiguity, there are three ways to clarify:
Recasting the first example:
Recasting the second example:
A colon (:) informs the reader that what comes after it demonstrates, explains, or modifies what has come before, or is a list of items that has just been introduced. The items in such a list may be separated by commas; or, if they are more complex and perhaps themselves contain commas, the items should be separated by semicolons:
A colon may also be used to introduce direct speech enclosed within quotation marks (see § Quotation marks above).
In most cases a colon works best with a complete grammatical sentence before it. There are exceptional cases, such as those where the colon introduces items set off in new lines like the very next colon here. Examples:
Correct: | He attempted it in two years: 1941 and 1943. |
Incorrect: | The years he attempted it included: 1941 and 1943. |
Correct (special case): | Spanish, Portuguese, French: these, with a few others, are the West Romance languages. |
Sometimes, more in American than British usage, the word following a colon is capitalized, if that word effectively begins a new grammatical sentence, and especially if the colon serves to introduce more than one sentence:
No sentence should contain more than one colon. There should never be a hyphen or a dash immediately following a colon. Only a single space follows a colon.
For usage in marking up description (definition) lists, see Help:List § Description lists. |
A semicolon (;) is sometimes an alternative to a full stop (period), enabling related material to be kept in the same sentence; it marks a more decisive division in a sentence than a comma. If the semicolon separates clauses, normally each clause must be independent (meaning that it could stand on its own as a sentence); in many cases, only a comma or only a semicolon will be correct in a given sentence.
Correct: | Though he had been here before, I did not recognize him. |
Incorrect: | Though he had been here before; I did not recognize him. |
Above, "Though he had been here before" cannot stand on its own as a sentence, and therefore is not an independent clause.
Correct: | Oranges are an acid fruit; bananas are classified as alkaline. |
Incorrect: | Oranges are an acid fruit, bananas are classified as alkaline. |
This incorrect use of a comma between two independent clauses is known as a comma splice; however, in very rare cases, a comma may be used where a semicolon would seem to be called for:
Accepted: | "Life is short, art is long." (citing a brief aphorism; see Ars longa, vita brevis) |
Accepted: | "I have studied it, you have not." (reporting brisk conversation, like this reply of Newton's) |
A sentence may contain several semicolons, especially when the clauses are parallel in construction and meaning; multiple unrelated semicolons are often signs that the sentence should be divided into shorter sentences, or otherwise refashioned.
Unwieldy: | Oranges are an acid fruit; bananas are classified as alkaline; pears are close to neutral; these distinctions are rarely discussed. |
One better way: | Oranges are an acid fruit, bananas are alkaline, and pears are close to neutral; these distinctions are rarely discussed. |
Semicolons are used in addition to commas to separate items in a listing, when commas alone would result in confusion.
Confusing: | Sales offices are located in Boston, Massachusetts, San Francisco, California, Singapore, and Millbank, London, England. |
Clear: | Sales offices are located in Boston, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California; Singapore; and Millbank, London, England. |
As seen in the examples above, a semicolon does not automatically require the word that follows it to be capitalized.
The meaning of a sentence containing a trailing clause that starts with the word "however" depends on the punctuation preceding that word. A common error is to use the wrong punctuation, thereby changing the meaning to one not intended.
When the word "however" is an adverb meaning "nevertheless", it should be preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma. Example:
It was obvious they could not convert these people; however, they tried. | |
Meaning: | It was obvious they could not convert these people. Nevertheless, they tried. |
When the word "however" is a conjunction meaning "in whatever manner", or "regardless of how", it may be preceded by a comma but not by a semicolon, and should not be followed by punctuation. Example:
It was obvious they could not convert these people, however they tried. | |
Meaning: | It was obvious they could not convert these people, regardless of how they tried. |
In the first case, the clause that starts with "however" cannot be swapped with the first clause; in the second case this can be done without change of meaning:
However they tried, it was obvious they could not convert these people. | |
Meaning: | Regardless of how hard they tried, it was obvious they could not convert these people. |
If the two clauses cannot be swapped, a semicolon is required.
A sentence or clause can also contain the word "however" in the middle, if it is an adverb meaning "although", which could have been placed at the beginning but does not start a new clause in mid-sentence. In this use the word may be enclosed between commas. Example:
He did not know, however, that the venue had been changed at the last minute. | |
Meaning: | However, he did not know that the venue had been changed at the last minute. |
Hyphens (-) indicate conjunction. There are three main uses:
).Incorrect: | 9-mm gap |
Correct: | 9 mm gap (entered as 9 mm gap )
|
Incorrect: | 9 millimetre gap |
Correct: | 9-millimetre gap |
Correct: | 12-hour shift |
Correct: | 12 h shift |
Multi-hyphenated items: It is often possible to avoid multi-word hyphenated modifiers by rewording (a four-CD soundtrack album may be easier to read as a soundtrack album of four CDs). This is particularly important where converted units are involved (the 6-hectare-limit (14.8-acre-limit) rule might be possible as the rule imposing a limit of 6 hectares (14.8 acres), and the ungainly 4.9-mile (7.9 km) -long tributary as simply 4.9-mile (7.9 km) tributary).
For optional hyphenation of compound points of the compass such as southwest/south-west, see § Compass points, above.
Do not use a capital letter after a hyphen except for a proper name: Graeco-Roman and Mediterranean-style, but not Gandhi-Like. In titles of published works, follow the capitalization rule for each part independently (resulting in, e.g., The Out-of-Towners), unless reliable sources consistently do otherwise in a particular case (The History of Middle-earth).
Hyphenation rules in other languages may be different. Thus, in French a place name such as Trois-Rivières ("Three Rivers") is hyphenated, when it would not be in English. Follow reliable sources in such cases.
Spacing: A hyphen is never followed or preceded by a space, except when hanging (see above) or when used to display parts of words independently, such as the prefix sub- and the suffix ‑less.
Image filenames and redirects: Image filenames are not part of the encyclopedic content; they are tools. They are most useful if they can be readily typed, so they always use hyphens instead of dashes. Similarly, article titles with dashes should also have a corresponding redirect from a copy of the title with hyphens: for example, Michelson-Morley experiment redirects to Michelson–Morley experiment, because the latter title, although correct, is harder to search for.
Non-breaking: A non-breaking hyphen (‑
or ((nbhyph))
) will not be used as a point of line-wrap.
Soft hyphens: Use a soft hyphen to indicate optional locations where a word may be broken and hyphenated at the end of a line of text. Use of soft hyphens should be limited to special cases, usually involving very long words or narrow spaces (such as captions in tight page layouts, or column labels in narrow tables). Widespread use of soft hyphens is strongly discouraged, because it makes the wikitext very difficult to read and to edit (for example, This Wi­ki­source ex­am­ple is dif­fi­cult to un­der­stand
). An alternative syntax improves readability:
((shy|This al|ter|na|tive syn|tax im|proves read|a|bil|ity))
Hyphenation involves many subtleties that cannot be covered here; the rules and examples presented above illustrate the broad principles that inform current usage.
Two forms of dash are used on Wikipedia: en dash (–) and em dash (—). Type them in as –
(–) and —
(—) or click on them to the right of the "Insert" tab under the edit window; or see How to make dashes.
Sources use dashes in varying ways, but for consistency and clarity Wikipedia adopts the following principles.
Dashes are often used to mark divisions within a sentence: in pairs (parenthetical dashes, instead of parentheses or pairs of commas); or singly (perhaps instead of a colon). They may also indicate an abrupt stop or interruption, in reporting direct speech.
There are two options. Use either unspaced em dashes or spaced en dashes consistently in an article.
Do not use spaces with em dashes.
To ensure correct linewrap handling, the ((spaced ndash))
template (or its ((snd))
shorthand) can be used:
Another "planet" was detected((spaced ndash)) but it was later found to be a moon of Saturn.
However, do not use the template where the en dash is unspaced (see § En dashes: other uses, below).
Dashes can clarify the sentence structure when there are already commas or parentheses, or both.
Use dashes sparingly. More than two in a single sentence makes the structure unclear; it takes time for the reader to see which dashes, if any, form a pair.
The en dash (–) has other roles, beyond its use as a sentence-punctuating dash (see immediately above). It is often analogous to the hyphen (see § Hyphens, above), which joins components more strongly than the en dash; or the slash (see the section below), which separates alternatives more definitely. Consider the exact meaning when choosing which to use.
Here the ranges are ranges of numbers, dates, or times. For other ranges, such as ranges of physical locations, see § In compounds when the connection might otherwise be expressed with to, versus, and, or between. |
A change from a general preference for two digits, to a general preference for four digits, on the right side of year–year ranges was implemented in July 2016 per this RFC. For more information see MOS:DATERANGE. |
Do not change hyphens to dashes in filenames, URLs or templates like ((Bibleverse))
, which formats verse ranges into URLs.
Do not mix en dashes with prepositions like between and from.
If negative values are involved, an en dash might be confusing. Use words instead.
The en dash in a range is always unspaced, except when either or both elements of the range include at least one space.
Here the relationship is thought of as parallel, symmetric, equal, oppositional, or at least involving separate or independent elements. The components may be nouns, adjectives, verbs, or any other independent part of speech. Often if the components are reversed there would be little change of meaning.
An en dash between nations; for people and things identifying with multiple nationalities, use a hyphen when applied as an adjective or a space as a noun.
A slash or some other alternative may occasionally be better to express a ratio, especially in technical contexts
.Use an en dash for the names of two or more entities in an attributive compound.
Generally, use a hyphen in compounded proper names of single entities.
Do not use an en dash for hyphenated personal names, even when they are used as adjectives:
Do not use spaces around en dash in any of the compounds above.
Use this punctuation when there are compelling grounds for retaining the construction. For example, from a speech that is simply transcribed and cannot be re-worded; or in a heading where it has been judged most natural as a common name. Otherwise recasting is better.
The en dash in all of the compounds above is unspaced.
Spaced en dashes are sometimes used between parts of list items. Below are two examples.
Do not use substitutes for em or en dashes, such as the combination of two hyphens (--). These were typewriter approximations.
For a negative sign or subtraction operator, use a minus sign (−, Unicode character U+2212 MINUS SIGN). Input by clicking on it in the insert box beneath the edit window or by typing −
.
Generally avoid joining two words with a slash, also known as a forward slash or solidus ( / ). It suggests that the two are related, but does not specify how. It is often also unclear how the construct would be read aloud. Replace with clearer wording.
An example: The parent/instructor must be present at all times. Must both be present? (Then write the parent and the instructor.) Must at least one be present? (Then write the parent or the instructor.) Are they the same person? (Use a hyphen: the parent-instructor.)
In circumstances involving a distinction or disjunction, the en dash (see above) is usually preferable to the slash: the digital–analog distinction.
An unspaced slash may be used:
⁄
): 7⁄8; the ((frac))
template uses fraction slash, and styles the fraction with super- and subscript: 7⁄8A spaced slash may be used:
Spaced slashes (and fraction slashes) should be coded with a leading non-breaking space and a trailing normal space, as in x / y
(which renders as x / y), to prevent improper line breaks.
Do not use the backslash character ( \ ) in place of a slash.
Prefer the division operator ( ÷ ) to slash or fraction slash when representing elementary arithmetic in general text: 10 ÷ 2 = 5. In more advanced mathematical formulas, a vinculum or slash is preferred: or xn/n!. (See WP:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Common mathematical symbols and Help:Displaying a formula.)
Avoid the construct and/or. In general, where it is important to mark an inclusive or, use x or y, or both, rather than x and/or y. For an exclusive or, use either x or y, and optionally add but not both, if it is necessary to stress the exclusivity.
Where more than two possibilities are presented, from which a combination is to be selected, it is even less desirable to use and/or. With two possibilities, at least the intention is clear; but with more than two it may not be. Instead of x, y, and/or z, use an appropriate alternative, such as one or more of x, y, and z; some or all of x, y, and z.
Sometimes or is ambiguous in another way: Wild dogs, or dingoes, inhabit this stretch of land. Are wild dogs and dingoes the same or different? For one case write: wild dogs (dingoes) inhabit ... or wild dogs, also known as dingoes, inhabit ... (meaning dingoes are wild dogs); for the other case write: either wild dogs or dingoes inhabit ....
Avoid using the # symbol (known as the number sign, hash sign, or pound sign) when referring to numbers or rankings. Instead use the word "number", or the abbreviation "No." (or "Nos." for plural). For example:
Incorrect: | Her album reached #1 in the UK album charts. |
Correct: | Her album reached number one in the UK album charts. |
Correct: | Her album reached No. 1 in the UK album charts. |
An exception is issue numbers of comic books, which unlike for other periodicals are given in general text in the form #1, unless a volume is also given, like volume two, number seven or Vol. 2, No. 7.
When using the abbreviations, type ((Abbr|Vol.|Volume))
or ((Abbr|No.|Number))
. Do not use the symbol №.
In normal text, never put a space before a comma, a semicolon, a colon, or a terminal punctuation mark (even in quoted material; see allowable typographical changes in § Typographic conformity, above). Put a space after these, unless they end a paragraph or are followed by a closing parenthesis, quotation mark, or similar.
The number of spaces following the terminal punctuation of a sentence in the wiki markup makes no difference on Wikipedia; the MediaWiki software condenses any number of spaces to just one when rendering the page (see Sentence spacing). For this reason, editors may use any spacing style they prefer on Wikipedia. Multiple spacing styles may coexist in the same article, and adding or removing a double space is sometimes used as a dummy edit.
Where a word or phrase that includes terminal punctuation ends a sentence, do not add a second terminal punctuation mark. If a quoted phrase or title ends in a question mark or exclamation mark, it may confuse readers as to the nature of the article sentence containing it, and so is usually better reworded to be mid-sentence. Where such a word or phrase occurs mid-sentence, new terminal punctuation (usually a period) must be added at the end.
Incorrect: | Slovak returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985 after growing tired of What Is This?. |
Acceptable: | Slovak returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985 after growing tired of What Is This? |
Better: | Slovak, after growing tired of What Is This?, returned to the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1985. |
See also: Wikipedia:Citing sources |
Ref tags (<ref>...</ref>
) are used to create footnotes (sometimes called endnotes or notes). The ref tags should immediately follow the text to which the footnote applies, with no intervening space (except possibly a hair space, generated by ((hsp))). Any punctuation (see exceptions below) must precede the ref tags. Adjacent ref tags should have no space between them. Ref tags are used for explanatory notes, but are more often used for citation footnotes.
When ref tags are used, a footnote list must be added, and is usually placed in the Notes and References section near the end of the article in the standard appendices and footers.
Note: Dummy note links in the examples below are not clickable. |
Exceptions: ref tags are placed before dashes, not after; and where a footnote applies only to material within parentheses, the ref tags belong just before the closing parenthesis.
A sentence that ends with a formula should have terminal punctuation (period, exclamation mark, or question mark) after the formula. Within a sentence, place other punctuation (such as commas or colons) after the formula just as if the text were not a formula. See WP:Manual of Style/Mathematics § Punctuation after formulae.
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Chronological items |
For ranges of dates and times, see § En dashes: other uses, above.
Dates should only be linked when they are germane and topical to the subject, as discussed at WP:Manual of Style/Linking § Chronological items.
Main article: MOS:TIME |
Time of day is normally expressed in figures rather than being spelled out. Use context to determine whether to use the 12- or 24-hour.
Main article: MOS:DATEFORMAT |
Main article: MOS:MONTH |
Main article: MOS:SEASON |
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Other periods |
More information on all of the above topics can be found at WP:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Dates, including the handling of dates expressed in different calendars, and times corresponding to different time zones.
See also: Wikipedia:As of and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch § Relative time references |
The term "current" should be avoided. What is current today may not be tomorrow; situations change over time. Instead, use date- and time-specific text. To help keep information updated use the ((as of))
template.
Incorrect: | He is the current ambassador to ... |
Correct: | As of March 2011, he is the ambassador to ... |
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Numbers |
WP:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers (MOS:NUM) § Numbers clarifies a number of situations, including the following:
((val))
template, which generates such expressions with the syntax ((val|5.8|e=7|u=kg))
."value ± uncertainty × 10<sup>n</sup> units",
e.g., (1.534±0.35)×1023 m. See MOS:NUM § Uncertainty and rounding for other acceptable formats.
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Currencies and monetary values |
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers § Units of measurement |
((convert))
template is useful for producing such expressions.
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Mathematics |
−
.×
. The letter x should not be used to indicate multiplication, but it is used (unspaced) as the substitute for "by" in terms such as 4x4.''a''<sup>''n''</sup>
or ((var|a))<sup>((var|n))</sup>
). Exponential notation can be spaced or unspaced, depending on circumstances.-
, the asterisk *
, and either the caret ^
or the double asterisk **
, and scientific notation is replaced by E notation.<var>...</var>
, or its template wrapper ((var))
can be used to distinguish variables from other uses of italics, as illustrated in the code example above.
For the apostrophe character, see § Apostrophes, above. For thorough treatment of the English possessive, see Apostrophe. |
Wikipedia articles must not be based on one person's opinions or experiences, so never use I, my, or similar forms (except in quotations).
Also avoid we, us, and our: We should note that some critics have argued against our proposal (personal rather than encyclopedic). But these forms are acceptable in certain figurative uses. For example:
"WP:YOU" redirects here. For "Wikipedia is not about you", see WP:NOTYOU. |
Avoid addressing the reader directly by using the second-person generic you or your; it is often ambiguous, and contrary to the tone of an encyclopedia (see also § Instructional and presumptuous language, below).
See also: English plurals and Collective noun |
For the page title guideline, see WP:SINGULAR. |
Use the appropriate plural; allow for cases (such as excursus or hanif) in which a word is now listed in major English dictionaries, and normally takes an s or es plural, not its original plural: two excursuses, not two excursus as in Latin; two hanifs, not two hanufa as in Arabic.
Some collective nouns—such as team (and proper names of them), army, company, crowd, fleet, government, majority, mess, number, pack, and party—may refer either to a single entity or to the members that compose it. In British English, such words are sometimes treated as singular, but more often treated as plural, according to context. Exceptionally, names of towns and countries usually take singular verbs (unless they are being used to refer to a team or company by that name, or when discussing actions of that entity's government). For example, in England are playing Germany tonight, England refers to a football team; but in England is the most populous country of the United Kingdom, it refers to the country. In North American English, these words (and the United States, for historical reasons) are almost invariably treated as singular; the major exception is when sports teams are referred to by nicknames that are plural nouns, when plural verbs are commonly used to match. See also § National varieties of English, above.
"MOS:PRESENT" redirects here. For the guideline on wording like "presently" and "current", see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Statements likely to become outdated, see MOS:PRESENT (disambiguation). |
By default, write all articles in the present tense, including for those covering products or works that have been discontinued. Articles discussing works of fiction are also written in the present tense
. Generally, do not use past tense except for deceased subjects, past events, and subjects that no longer meaningfully exist as such.Tense can be used to distinguish between current and former status of a subject: Dún Aonghasa is the ruin of a prehistoric Irish cliff fort. Its original shape was presumably oval or D-shaped, but parts of the cliff and fort have since collapsed into the sea. (Emphasis added for clarity.)
Avoid the use of contractions in encyclopedic writing; e.g., instead of the informal wasn't or it's, write was not and it is. However, contractions should not be expanded mechanically; sometimes, rewriting the sentence is preferable.
For an essay with suggestions and sample usage, see Wikipedia:Gender-neutral language. |
See also: Wikipedia:Writing about women |
Use gender-neutral language where this can be done with clarity and precision. For example, avoid the generic he. This does not apply to direct quotations or the titles of works (The Ascent of Man), which should not be altered, or to wording about one-gender contexts, such as an all-female school (When any student breaks that rule, she loses privileges).
Ships may be referred to using either feminine forms ("she", "her", "hers") or neutral forms ("it", "its"). Either usage is acceptable, but each article should be internally consistent and employ one or the other exclusively. As with all optional styles, articles should not be changed from one style to another unless there is a substantial reason to do so. See WP:Manual of Style/Military history § Pronouns.
Avoid words and phrases that give the impression of straining for formality, that are unnecessarily regional, or that are not widely accepted. See List of English words with disputed usage and Wikipedia:List of commonly misused English words; see also § Identity below.
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch § Editorializing |
Avoid such phrases as remember that and note that, which address readers directly in an unencyclopedic tone. They are a subtle form of Wikipedia self-reference. Similarly, phrases such as of course, naturally, obviously, clearly, and actually make presumptions about readers' knowledge, and call into question the reason for including the information in the first place. Do not tell readers that something is ironic, surprising, unexpected, amusing, coincidental, etc. Simply state the sourced facts and allow readers to draw their own conclusions. Such constructions can usually just be deleted (and letter case adjusted if necessary), leaving behind proper sentences, with a more academic and less pushy tone: Note that this was naturally subject to controversy in more conservative newspapers. becomes This was subject to controversy in more conservative newspapers.
A subset term identifies a set of members of a larger class. Common subset terms are including, among, and et cetera (etc.). Do not use redundant subset terms (so avoid constructions like: Among the most well-known members of the fraternity are included two members of the Onassis family. or The elements in stars include hydrogen, helium, etc.). Do not use including to introduce a complete list, where comprising, consisting of, or composed of would be more accurate.
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Biographies § Child named for parent or predecessor, and Wikipedia:Verifiability § Self-published or questionable sources as sources on themselves |
When there is a discrepancy between the term most commonly used by reliable sources for a person or group and the term that person or group uses for themselves, use the term that is most commonly used by reliable sources; if it isn't clear which is most used, use the term that the person or group uses.
Disputes over how to refer to a person or group are addressed by Wikipedia content policies, such as those on verifiability, and neutral point of view (and article titles when the term appears in the title of an article).
Use specific terminology. For example, it is often more appropriate for people or things from Ethiopia (a country in Africa) to be described as Ethiopian, not carelessly (with the risk of stereotyping) as African.
The adjective Arab refers to people and things of ethnic Arab origin. The term Arabic refers to the Arabic language or writing system, and related concepts (Not all Arab people write or converse in Arabic).
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting § Foreign terms |
See also: Help:Interlanguage links and Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (regional) |
Foreign words should be used sparingly.
Use italics for phrases in other languages and for isolated foreign words that are not current in English. See WP:Manual of Style/Text formatting § Foreign terms for details.
Loanwords and borrowed phrases that have common usage in English—Gestapo, samurai, vice versa—do not require italics. A rule of thumb is not to italicize words that appear unitalicized in general-purpose English-language dictionaries.
See also: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English), Wikipedia:Romanization, and Category:Romanization |
Names not originally written in one of the Latin-script alphabets (written for example in Greek, Cyrillic, or Chinese scripts) must be given a romanized form for use in English. Use a systematically transliterated or otherwise romanized name (Aleksandr Tymoczko, Wang Yanhong); but if there is a common English form of the name (Tchaikovsky, Chiang Kai-shek), use that form instead.
The use of diacritics (such as accent marks) for foreign words is neither encouraged nor discouraged; their usage depends on whether they appear in verifiable reliable sources in English and on the constraints imposed by specialized Wikipedia guidelines . Provide redirects from alternative forms that use or exclude diacritics.
Spell a name consistently in the title and the text of an article. See relevant policy at WP:Article titles; see also WP:Naming conventions (use English). For foreign names, phrases, and words generally, adopt the spellings most commonly used in English-language references for the article, unless those spellings are idiosyncratic or obsolete. If a foreign term does not appear in the article's references, adopt the spelling most commonly used in other verifiable reliable sources (for example other English-language dictionaries and encyclopedias). For punctuation of compounded forms, see relevant guidelines in § Punctuation, above.
Sometimes the usage will be influenced by other guidelines, such as § National varieties of English (above), which may lead to different choices in different articles.
((lang))
.
"Wikipedia:Jargon" redirects here. For an explanation of jargon used on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Glossary. |
Some topics are intrinsically technical, but editors should try to make them understandable to as many readers as possible. Minimize jargon, or at least explain it or tag it using ((Technical))
or ((Technical-statement))
for other editors to fix. For unavoidably technical articles, a separate introductory article (like Introduction to general relativity) may be the best solution. Avoid excessive wikilinking (linking within Wikipedia) as a substitute for parenthetic explanations such as the one in this sentence. Do not introduce new and specialized words simply to teach them to the reader when more common alternatives will do. When the notions named by jargon are too complex to explain concisely in a few parenthetical words, write one level down. For example, consider adding a brief background section with ((main))
tags pointing to the full treatment article(s) of the prerequisite notions; this approach is practical only when the prerequisite concepts are central to the exposition of the article's main topic and when such prerequisites are not too numerous. Short articles like stubs generally do not have such sections.
Places should generally be referred to consistently by the same name as in the title of their article (see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (geographic names)). Exceptions are made if there is a widely accepted historical English name appropriate to the given context. In cases where such a historical name is used, it should be followed by the modern name in round brackets (parentheses) on the first occurrence of the name in applicable sections of the article. This resembles linking; it should not be done to the detriment of style. On the other hand, it is probably better to provide such a variant too often than too rarely. If more than one historical name is applicable for a given context, the other names should be added after the modern English name, that is: "historical name (modern name, other historical names)".
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images |
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility § Images, Wikipedia:Image use policy, and Wikipedia:Picture tutorial |
thumb
), or another size may be fixed. The default thumbnail width is 220 pixels; users can adjust this in their preferences. Lead-section images should be no wider than "upright=1.35" (by default this is 300 pixels, but may appear larger or smaller based on the thumbnail width setting in preferences). See Manual of Style/Images for information on when and how to use other sizes.|alt=
parameter. See WP:ALT for more information.
See also: Wikipedia:Videos |
Other media files include video and audio files. Style recommendations for such files largely follow recommendations for image files (as far as applicable).
Textual information should almost always be entered as text rather than as an image. True text can be colored and adjusted with CSS tags and templates, but text in images cannot be. Images are not searchable, are slower to download, and are unlikely to be read as text by devices for the visually impaired. Any important textual information in an image should also appear in the image's alt text, caption, or other nearby text.
For entering textual information as audio: see Wikipedia:WikiProject Spoken Wikipedia
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Captions |
Photographs and other graphics should always have captions, unless they are "self-captioning" images (such as reproductions of album or book covers) or when they are unambiguous depictions of the subject of the article. In a biography article no caption is necessary for a portrait of the subject pictured alone; but one might be used, to give the year, the subject's age, or other circumstances of the portrait along with the name of the subject.
Main pages: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Embedded lists |
Further information: Help:List |
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking |
See also: Help:Link |
Make links only where they are relevant and helpful in the context: Excessive use of hyperlinks can be distracting and may slow the reader down. Redundant links (like the one in the tallest people on Earth) clutter the page and make future maintenance harder. High-value links that are worth pursuing should stand out clearly.
Linking to sections: A hash sign (#
) followed by the appropriate heading will lead to a relevant part of a page. For example, [[Apostrophe#Use in non-English names]]
links to a particular section of the article Apostrophe.
Initial capitalization: Wikipedia's MediaWiki software does not require that wikilinks begin with an upper-case character. Only capitalize the first letter where this is naturally called for, or when specifically referring to the linked article by its name: Snakes are often venomous, but lizards only rarely (see Poison).
Check links: Ensure that the destination is the intended one; many dictionary words lead to disambiguation pages and not to complete or well-chosen articles.
Main page: Wikipedia:External links |
External links should not normally be used in the body of an article. Instead, articles can include an External links section at the end, pointing to further information outside Wikipedia as distinct from citing sources. The standard format is a primary heading, ==External links==
, followed by a bulleted list of links. Identify the link and briefly indicate its relevance to the article. For example:
* [http://history.nih.gov/exhibits/history/index.html History of NIH]
* [http://nih.gov/ National Institutes of Health homepage]
These will appear as:
Where appropriate, use external link templates such as ((Official website))
and ((URL))
.
Add external links with discretion; Wikipedia is not a link repository.
The simplest markup is often the easiest to edit, the most comprehensible, and the most predictable. Markup may appear differently in different browsers. Use HTML and CSS markup sparingly; in particular, do not use the CSS float
or line-height
properties because they break rendering on some browsers when large fonts are used.
An HTML character entity is sometimes better than the equivalent Unicode character, which may be difficult to identify in edit mode; for example, Α
is understood where Α
(the upper-case form of Greek α
) may not be.
Modifications in font size, blank space, and color (see § Color coding, below) are an issue for the Wikipedia site-wide style sheet, and should be reserved for special cases only.
Typically, the use of custom font styles will:
Outside article text, different font sizes are routinely used in navigation templates and infoboxes, tables (especially in larger ones), and some other contexts where alternatives are not available (such as table captions). Specify font sizes relatively (for example in CSS with font-size: 85%
) rather than absolutely (like font-size: 8pt
).
Information should be accessible to all. Do not use color alone to mark differences in text: they may be invisible to people with color blindness. Also, black-and-white printouts, older computer displays with fewer colors, and monochrome displays (older PDAs and cell phones) cannot show such distinctions.
Choose colors that can be distinguished by the readers with the commonest form of colorblindness (red–green), such as maroon and teal; and additionally mark the differences with change of font or some other means (maroon and alternative font face, teal). Avoid low contrast between text and background colors. Viewing the page with Wickline can help with the choice of colors. See also color coding.
In addition to vision accessibility problems, usage of only color to encode attributes in tables (for example, Gold, Silver, or Bronze achievement levels) instead of a separate sortable column, disables the use of the powerful Wikitable sortability feature on that attribute for all readers. Even for readers with unimpaired color vision, excessive background shading of table entries impedes readability and recognition of Wikilinks. Background color should be used only as a supplementary visual cue, and should be subtle (consider using lighter, less-dominant pastel hues) rather than a glaring spotlight.
See also: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility § Users with limited CSS or JavaScript support |
Scrolling lists, and collapsible templates that toggle text display between hide and show, can interfere with readers' ability to access our content. Such mechanisms are not to be used to conceal "spoiler" information. Templates are not normally used to store article text at all, as it interferes with editors' ability to find and edit it, and of all users with accounts to watchlist content for unconstructive changes.
When such features are used, take care that the content will still be accessible on devices that do not support JavaScript or CSS, and to the 45% (and climbing) of Wikipedia readers who use the mobile version of the site,[g] which has a limited set of features. Mobile ability to access the content in question is easy to test with the "Mobile view" link at the bottom of each page.[h]
Collapsible templates should not conceal article content by default upon page loading. This includes reference lists, tables and lists of article content, image galleries, and image captions. In particular, note that while some templates support a collapsible
parameter or manually-added CSS class, and this is permissible, the collapsed
, mw-collapsed
, and autocollapse
states should not be used in articles to pre-emptively force the closure of these elements, except as noted below. Any information hidden in this way when the page loads will be irreversibly invisible to the aforementioned classes of users, as well as a growing number of low-bandwidth users in Asia who reach a Wikipedia article via Google.[i] Several other CSS classes, used manually or by templates, will render content inaccessible to mobile users.[j]
Collapsed or auto-collapsing cells or sections may be used with tables if it simply repeats information covered in the main text (or is purely supplementary, e.g. several past years of statistics in collapsed tables for comparison with a table of uncollapsed current stats). Auto-collapsing is often a feature of navboxes. A few infoboxes also use pre-collapsed sections for infrequently accessed (usually navigational) details. If information in a list, infobox, or other non-navigational content seems extraneous or trivial enough to inspire pre-collapsing it, consider raising a discussion on the article (or template) talk page about whether it should be included at all. If the information is important and the concern is article density or length, consider dividing the article into more sections, integrating unnecessarily list-formatted information into the article prose, or splitting the article.
"WP:COMMENT" redirects here. For the expression of personal opinions in articles, see WP:COMMENTARY. |
For invisible control characters, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting § Private Use Area and invisible formatting characters. |
Main page: Help:Hidden text |
Editors use invisible comments to communicate with each other in the body of the text of an article. These comments are visible only in the wiki source and in VisualEditor; they are not visible in read mode.
Invisible comments are useful for flagging an issue or leaving instructions about part of the text, where this is more convenient than raising the matter on the talk page. They should be used judiciously, because they can clutter the wiki source for other editors. Check that your invisible comment does not change the formatting, for example by introducing white space in read mode.
To leave an invisible comment, enclose the text you intend to be read only by editors between <!--
and -->
. For example:
<!-- If you change this section title, also change the links to it on the pages .... -->
<!-- When adding table entries, remember to update the total given in the text. -->
This notation can be inserted with a single click in Wiki markup, just under the edit pane in edit mode.
Main page: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation |
Pronunciation in Wikipedia is indicated in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). In most situations, for ease of understanding by the majority of readers and across variants of the language, quite broad IPA transcriptions are best for English pronunciations. See Wikipedia:IPA for English and Wikipedia:IPA (general) for keys, and ((IPA))
for templates that link to these keys. For English pronunciations, pronunciation respellings may be used in addition to the IPA.
Template:Wikipedia books
For the major parts of the Manual of Style, see the sidebar at top right of this page (visible only in desktop view, not in mobile view). |
(Links to policy and guidelines on specific questions.)
en.wikipedia.org
in the address bar to en.m.wikipedia.org
and loading that version of the URL. Note also that viewing the normal "desktop" version of the website on a mobile device is not viewing the mobile version of the site, though (depending on mobile browser and what transcoding it is doing) this may be a worthwhile test for some broader accessibility matters, especially on tablets, which do not always use the mobile version of Wikipedia.
ambox
, navbox
, vertical-navbox
, topicon
, metadata
, nomobile
, collapsed
, mw-collapsed
, and (when triggered) autocollapse
.
Wikipedians are encouraged to familiarize themselves with other guides to style and usage, which may cover details not included in this Manual of Style. Among these are: