Template:Onesource/doc

The simplest way to add this template to an article is to copy and paste one of the following at the top of the article:
 * When only certain sections have a problem:
 * This causes the template to display "This section relies largely or entirely upon a single source."


 * When an entire article has a problem:
 * This causes the template to display "This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source."


 * Greater precision is possible with:
 * This causes the template to display the caption specified with the text= parameter.

This template will categorise tagged articles into Category:Articles lacking reliable references or a monthly category like Category:Articles lacking reliable references from August 2024, if a date is supplied.


 * This template is a self-reference.
 * Please do not subst: this template.
 * There is currently no consensus as to where on the article to place templates such as this.

Usage
This template alerts readers that an article or section may be based largely or entirely on a single source. Examples include articles with only one citation or one listing under references.

When using this template the text should have:


 * Citation in footnote, Harvard referencing, or some other standard format.
 * One key citation that an editor can verify.

Please try to improve the article or make a good faith attempt to find additional citations before adding this template, and discuss the matter on the talk page. If the one citation is problematic consider using failed verification instead.

Articles that merely lack references or have POV problems should be flagged with some other template, such as unreferenced or refimprove

Note that some sections based on a single source may not be a problem, so no tag is necessary. For an example see this section.

Technical details
This template has two optional fields.

The first permits the user to specify what needs to be cited. For instance, if the entire article needs to be cited, a user would enter ; but should the user wish to be more specific on which section of the article needs to be cited, then the user could enter. Leaving the parameter undefined is acceptable, as it will print out the default text "article or section."

The second field is a date parameter, entered as. Adding this sorts the article into subcategories of Category:Articles lacking sources, allowing the oldest problems to be identified and dealt with first. If the date parameter is omitted, a bot will add it later.

Note that order does not matter with respect to the above optional parameters. Both and  will produce the same result.

Redirects

 * 1) One source
 * 2) Singlesource
 * 3) Single source