Project Mara Wiki:Verifiability

The Verifiability policy requires that all content in the mainspace of the be verifiable against reliable sources, referenced to by inline citations. Editors and readers should be reasonably able to check the accuracy of a claim and trace its origin. Comprehensive verifiability standards help ensure the authority of the site and its usefulness as a resource, as well as resolve or avoid content disputes.

Verifiability mostly concerns exact claims or potentially contentious material that may be challenged by a reasonable, scrutinous reader. This policy does not require that even truistic content be attributed to a source; rather, that it be simply attributable to a reliable source. For example, facts gathered simply by playing the games normally are attributable to said games, but they do not need to cite them.

Procedure
Unverifiable statements are liable to be removed at any time by any editor. However, be mindful of the difference between the unverifiable and the unverified. Statements that may be attributable to an appropriate source but do not yet cite one should first be tagged with citation needed for a courteous amount of time prior to removal.

Ultimately, the burden of proof (that is, the responsibility to provide a source) lies with the editor making or wishing to keep the claim in question. When determining whether a provided source does in fact support the statement citing it, use the Sagan standard: the weight of a claim requires at least the same as that of its evidence.

By the same token, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck—it's a duck. Sources need not spell out a concept for it to be understood. As an encyclopedia, the admits, encourages, and even depends on original research. While we prohibit baseless speculation and fan fiction, the ideal article helps connect the dots (while still leaving room for the reader to draw their own conclusions).

It is also important to assume good faith when scrutinizing a claim against a provided source. In some cases, information may be supported by a source with restricted or difficult access (as with offline sources or copyrighted material). While the makes every attempt to make all appropriate resources freely available online, it also operates on the principle of good faith.

Citing sources
Citations are created using footnotes, or bracketed superscript numbers or letters that are linked to a full reference. Citations are placed inline within the body text, while its references are listed in numerical or alphabetical order in a separate section at the bottom of the page.

This is done automatically using the cite extension. However, the uses and requires specialized implementations of the cite extension using citation templates (refer to the relevant documentation for instructions on how to use them).

There are two important kinds of footnotes: citations, which are used to reference direct sources that support a claim, and annotations, which explain incidental or tangential information to add context to a claim. The former uses bracketed numbers, while the latter uses bracketed letters.

All footnotes should be placed within close proximity to the claim they support, after all punctuation. They should be referred to under a "Citations" section (or "Notes" section with "Annotations" and "Citations" subsections, if both citations and annotations exist). Non-linked references should be listed in a subsequent "References" section (except in instances where only citations to a series release exist), with "Video games", "Websites", and "Bibliography" subsections (if necessary). Separating citations and references helps avoid repetition, and follows a standard encyclopedic format.