Guidelines:Citations

The citation policy of Megami Tensei Wiki defines how references should be cited and sourced.

Types of References

Citations

Citations are referential footnotes added to article statements to verify their truth with credible sources of information, especially for claims that seem dubious or would otherwise be difficult to verify offhand. Citations are often quotes by a person or from a piece of media, such as a character quote in a video game. They can also be referenced pages from books or links to websites. Citations should always be from a credible, primary source and relevant to the statement's claim.

An example of citing a reference: A page makes a statement about an obscure fact of a character from a video game. Because the fact is obscure, it should be accompanied with a cited reference to verify it. An appropriate citation for that would be a quote taken from the video game that confirms the fact.

Citations are created by wrapping the reference between <ref></ref> tags. In order for references to be properly displayed and sorted, the article will also need a "References" section with Template:Reflist {{Reflist}}. This section must be placed near the bottom of the page, after all other sections and just before any navigational templates and categories. It will look like:

==References==
{{Reflist}}

In order to ensure that information is properly cited and sourced, Megami Tensei Wiki has a couple of citation templates for different types of citations. These templates have several parameters for citing certain information about the source. Not every parameter needs to be filled when using these templates, but some are required or highly recommended to use. Be sure to pick the proper citation template for your reference and to carefully read over its usage documentation.

Citation templates

Template	Purpose	Code
Cite Book	Citing books, including guide books and manga	{{Cite Book|quote=|translquote=|des=|chapter=|book=|author=|publisher=|lang=|volume=|edition=|page=|transl=|isbn=}}
Cite Game	Citing text from a video game	{{Cite Game|quote=|translquote=|title=|developer=|publisher=|platform=|version=|lang=|transl=}}
Interview	Citing interviews	{{Cite Interview|quote=|translquote=|publ=|url=[]|archive=|published=|retrieved=|site=|type=}}
Cite Journal	Citing an article from an academic journal	{{Cite Journal|quote=|translquote=|article=|author=|journal=|volume=|issue=|page=|published=|lang=|transl=|doi=}}
Cite Web	Citing web pages and online documents	{{Cite Web|quote=|translquote=|author=|url=[]|archive=|published=|retrieved=|site=|type=}}

Reference footnotes are numbered in the order that citations appear on the page, from top to bottom. Clicking on a footnote on PC will jump down to that reference in the References section, while tapping it on mobile will bring up a pop up. Likewise, clicking or tapping on the arrow next to the reference will jump back to the statement being cited.

Notes

Notes are a type of reference that, instead of citing from an informative source, supplies context or a brief explanation to a statement without breaking the flow of the article. This can also be helpful if a cited reference alone lacks the necessary context to fully understand a claim.

Notes are created by assigning a reference tag to the "note" group, <ref group="note">like this</ref>. These are sorted in a separate "Notes" section with Template:Notelist {{Notelist}}. Notes can also created using Template:Note, formatted as {{Note|Comment here}}. The template is preferred as it allows notes themselves to be cited with references if necessary. For that reason, the Notes section should be placed just above the References section. This section will look like:

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

Notes are lettered in the order they appear on the page, from top to bottom. Like cited references, clicking on a footnote will jump down to that note in the Notes section on PC or bring up a pop up on mobile.

Usage

While not a hard rule, if a page does not presently cite any references or notes, its References or Notes sections should be omitted until they are needed.

Where to Add References

Both cited references and notes should always be added next to the relevant statement they are citing, immediately after punctuation. The exception to this is when citing a name, title, or release date, where the reference can be added immediately next to these without the need for punctuation.

Citing the Same Reference

The same reference or note can be used to cite multiple statements throughout a page by giving it a named identifier. This is strongly preferred over copy-pasting the exact same reference, which would list the reference twice in the References section. References are named by:

<ref name="name">Reference here.</ref>

Notes can be named in the following way. Bear in mind that the Note template cannot be assigned a name, thereby requiring that the following tags be used instead for naming notes.

<ref group="note" name="name">Note here.</ref>

To cite the named reference again, simply type <ref name="name"/> next to the statement. That statement will be cited with the exact same reference that matches the name entered. Both statements using the same reference will be accompanied by the same numbered or lettered footnote.

Named references are case-sensitive and must be spelled correctly to work, else it will result in an error message. Thus is it recommended to give references a short, descriptive identifier relevant to the information being cited. For examples: "dev history", "JP release", "birthday", etc. Numbers can also be used, but are discouraged as this can be difficult to keep track.

General References

A general reference can also be cited in an article without having to make a footnote. This requires that the reference be added directly in the References section, without ref tags, in a bullet point list under a "General" index. The {{Reflist}} template should still be included and listed under a "Specific" index. This should look like:

==References==
;General
* Reference
;Specific
{{Reflist}}

This same approach can also be done for general notes as well.

A reference should be listed as a general reference if a page uses it extensively as a source of information, where adding multiple footnotes of the same reference would become too impractical or cumbersome. For examples: an episode guide, a page detailing lost media content, etc.

Specific Citations

Book Citations

Out of respect to copyright holders, citations of books and manga should never cite entire pages or multiple paragraphs. When citing a quote from a book, it is preferred to only cite a sentence or two that directly correlates to the statement being cited.

Non-English and Translated Texts

Non-English texts and their translations can be cited by using the appropriate parameters in the citation templates. The original text must use the quote= parameter, while the text's translation must use the translquote= parameter. Using both parameters will display and format both texts.

Text translations should ideally never be cited alone and should always be accompanied with the original language text they are translated from.

Translations of any non-English texts should preferably be credible and authentic where possible, i.e. the use of machine translators should be avoided. Although it is preferred to provide a translation, citations of non-English texts do not need to be accompanied with a translation in order to use them on the wiki; if you do not have the means or confidence to provide an authentic or full translation yourself, simply cite the original text as-is. Another contributor may be able to provide a translation in your stead.

Fan Translations

Texts originating from fan translations should ideally be avoided when citing statements, in favor of the original Japanese text or an official localization where available (as per the canon guidelines). This is mainly because fan translations are not endorsed by Atlus or Sega and may take certain liberties that are not approved by either, and as such are not considered canon. If a text from a fan translation is cited, the transl= parameter must be used to clarify the text's translation source. The source must be attributed to the translator's or group's name, e.g. "Aeon Genesis", "DDSTranslation by Masakado", etc.