Template:One source

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Purpose

This template alerts people to encyclopedic content which appears to rely on a single source.

A single source is usually less than ideal, because a single source may be inaccurate or biased. Without other sources for corroboration, accuracy or neutrality may be suspect. By finding multiple independent sources, the reliability of the encyclopedia is improved. For BLP articles that cite one source and need more, use {{BLP one source}} instead.

Citing only one source is not a violation of any policy. Consider not adding this tag to stubs, articles that are being actively expanded, or articles that have no apparent problems with verifiability and neutrality.

Parameters

Usage

{{One source|date=December 2024}}

{{One source|section|date=December 2024}}

{{One source|text=Alternate first sentence|date=December 2024}}

Subject

The first unnamed parameter replaces "This article relies" with "This PARAMETER relies".

For example, {{One source|section}} displays:

First sentence

You can replace the entire first sentence by specifying the text= parameter. This can be used when the standard wording is not applicable, but the general intent of the template is.

Date

As with most cleanup templates, the date= parameter sorts the article into subcategories of Category:Articles lacking sources, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. You do not need to specify the date manually; a bot will add it later automatically.

Editorial usage

This template should only be used for encyclopedic content which has a verified, cited source, but only the one source.

A single source is not automatically a problem. Good judgment and common sense should be used.

Please consider improving the article or making a good-faith attempt to find additional citations before adding this template.

It is considered good form to provide a rationale in your edit summary or on the talk page of the article. The more specifically you describe your concerns, the less likely other editors are to misunderstand.

If you believe problems exist beyond the sources themselves, address that issue with an appropriate template (see below), rather than simply questioning the sources.

Alternatives

• Inline version
  • {{Single Source-inline}} – same concept but used within the context of individual sentences or phrases.
• Sources and citations
  • {{Failed verification}} – Citation does not support the article's claim(s)
• Article content
  • {{POV}} – Neutrality, point-of-view, bias

Administrivia

This template will categorise tagged articles into Category:Articles needing additional references. If a date is supplied, a monthly category like Category:Articles needing additional references from December 2024 will be used instead.

Do not subst: this template.

Template data

This is the TemplateData documentation for this template used by VisualEditor and other tools; see the monthly error report for this template.

TemplateData for One source

This template alerts people to encyclopedic content which appears to rely on a single source.

Template parameters

This template prefers block formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Subject	1	The first unnamed parameter replaces "This article relies" with "This PARAMETER relies". Example section	Line	optional
First Sentence	text	You can replace the entire first sentence by specifying this parameter.	Line	optional
Month and year	date	As with most cleanup templates, the date= parameter sorts the article into subcategories of Category:Articles lacking sources, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. You do not need to specify the date manually; a bot will add it later automatically. Auto value {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	String	suggested

See also

• Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles