Help:Citations

A citation is a reference to a source. Citations should supply sufficient detail to identify the source uniquely.

Why sources should be cited

 * To credit a source for providing useful information and to avoid claims of plagiarism.
 * To show that your edit is not original research.
 * To ensure that the content of articles is credible and can be checked by any reader or editor.
 * To help users find additional reliable information on the topic.
 * To improve the overall credibility and authoritative character of NDWiki.
 * To reduce the likelihood of editorial disputes.

Single insertion of a reference
For the single insertion of a reference, the "name" parameter is not needed. On the Edit page, this is placed at the insertion point of citation (example):

Multiple insertion of the same reference
On the Edit page, this is placed at the first insertion point of citation:

This is placed at the second and all subsequent insertion points of citation:

Producing the reference list
Most importantly, add the following code after the "Sources" sections, but before the "See also" and "External links" sections. This code will automatically display the reference list, showing nearly everything tagged with ref tags.

Rules
This list only includes the basics for the rules. For more details, please follow the footnotes provided.
 * 1) Do not reference the introductory paragraph(s).
 * 2) References go immediately after punctuation and outside of quotation marks, with no space between the end of a sentence and a reference tag.
 * 3) Reference articles as sparingly as possible, while still sourcing all of the facts.
 * 4) Links should be used in references.

More information
In addition, you can read Wikipedia's policy at Wikipedia:Citing sources. While not all the rules are the same, most of the basics are explained in more detail on Wikipedia. Wikipedia:Footnotes explains more of the "how to" and technical aspects of sourcing.