View source for Wikisimpsons:Sourcing and Referencing

{{Shortcut|WS:SR}}
{{Policy}}
Wikisimpsons '''sources and references''' its information in order to make the wiki a reliable source of information. All information should be sourced and referenced.

== In-universe content ==
=== Hierarchy ===
There is a simple hierarchy of sources used for in-universe information. The hierarchy goes, in order:
#Episodes, shorts and [[The Simpsons Movie|the movie]]
#Comics
#Books
#Video games
#All other media

Some sources are more "trusted" than others. Episodes, shorts and the movie come before all other sources, as they're the main media source in the franchise. If something is stated in an episode, but something else is stated in a comic that contradicts the episode, the episode statement is counted as true, whilst the comic statement is false. The comic is then not a useful source. Comics come after episodes, being the second main media in the franchise. Books are generally canon and generally build up on information from the episodes, therefore they come next. Video games are often non-canon and should only be used as sources of information if there is no information given elsewhere. All other media come after video games.

=== What should be sourced ===
All information on the wiki should be sourced. Everything in articles needs to be sourced, with references to the episodes, comics, books, games etc. that the information came from. The only exception is those articles that are about something that has only happened in one single episode, as the only appearance is the only source needed.

Behind the scenes information, such as voice actors, don't usually need to be sourced. Voice actor sources often come from the producers, writers, voice actors themselves, and some sources, such as ''[[Simpsons World: The Ultimate Episode Guide]]''. Otherwise, voice actors can be heard because characters can sound similar to other characters voiced by them.

Behind the scenes information should be sourced too. If the information comes from a website, referencing the website via a link in the reference tags will work. If it's a DVD commentary, you need to use {{T|Com}} to properly reference it.

== Real-world media and merchandise ==
Episode names, air dates and release dates need to be sourced. We only use reliable sources for these. This is a list of reliable sources:

*Official ''The Simpsons'' social media sites
*Producers and crew members on Twitter, Facebook, other social media sites
*Official Fox Press Releases and FoxFlash
*[http://cocatalog.loc.gov United States Copyright Office]
*Certain trusted websites, such as [http://insidetv.ew.com/ Inside TV], [http://www.thefutoncritic.com The Funton Critic] and [http://www.tvguide.com TV Guide],...

Unreliable sources are:
*Word of mouth (a friend said he heard this)
*Non-official ''Simpsons'' fan sites
*Other wikis (in particular Simpsons Wikia and Wikipedia)
*IMDb. It can be edited by anyone and information there is usually added without providing a source.

If you have a source for an airdate, episode name etc. which isn't listed above, bring it up on the episode's or season's talk page. The Wikisimpsons staff will decide on whether it is reliable enough.

=== Wikipedia ===
Whilst above it's started Wikipedia should NOT be used as a source, Wikipedia generally sources its information in a similar way. If you can get the source used by Wikipedia, and it falls into one of the above reliable sources, it can be used on the article on Wikisimpsons.

== Unsourced content ==
Unsourced content will be removed, unless a source for it is found and added to the article. If a user keeps adding unsourced information to an article, they will be warned about it, and eventually blocked if they still carry on.

== How to reference ==
=== Website URLs ===
Simply put <code><nowiki><ref>[URL link to episode Website Name - "Article name"]</ref></nowiki></code> next to the information you want to source. 

=== DVD commentaries ===
Put <code><nowiki><ref>{{Com|SpeakerLastName, SpeakerFirstName|Episode Name|Season Number (in words, i.e. Fifth)|(Year of DVD release).}}</ref></nowiki></code> next to the information you want to source.

=== References section ===
If there isn't one already, a references section should be added to the page. This should be before the external links and before the navboxes. Simply type the following code onto the page:

<pre>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
</pre>

{{Wikisimpsons Policies}}