Template:Verify source

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This is a documentation subpage for Verify source. It contains usage information, categories, and other content that is not part of the original template.

Inline editorial tag for claims that carry a citation but where the cited source may not actually support the claim. Renders as [verification needed] in superscript with a link to the project policy page.

Usage

Place the tag immediately after the existing citation, not at the end of the sentence.

Cannabis was first documented in Cambodia in the seventeenth century.<ref>Some Source 1850.</ref>{{Verify source}}

Renders as:

Cannabis was first documented in Cambodia in the seventeenth century.^[1]^{[verification needed]}

Parameters

date: Optional. Month and year the tag was added, surfaced as a muted suffix.

{{Verify source|date=May 2026}}

When to use

The citation looks wrong: cited page or chapter unlikely to discuss the claim.
The citation is to a survey or review and the specific claim seems unlikely to be in it.
The citation has been copied across pages and may not have been checked in this context.
The claim is specific (a date, a name, a quantity) but the cited source is general.

When not to use

The claim has no source at all. Use {{Citation needed}}.
The source has been checked and clearly does not support the claim. Either rewrite to match what the source says, replace the source, or remove the claim.
The claim is interpretive synthesis the source could not plausibly support. Use {{Original research}}.
The attribution itself is vague ("some scholars say^[1]"). Use {{Weasel}}.

Resolution

Three paths, in order of preference:

Read the cited source. If it supports the claim, remove the tag.
If the source does not support the claim, find one that does and replace the citation.
If no source supports the claim as written, demote to {{Citation needed}} or rewrite to match what an available source actually says.