Template:Irrelevant citation

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Usage

You may use either one of the following:

{{irrelevant citation|{{subst:DATE}}|reason=Optional BRIEF explanation of the problem; if over 1 sentence, use talk page.}}

or

{{irrelevant citation|date=February 2026|reason=Optional BRIEF explanation of the problem; if over 1 sentence, use talk page.}}

The tag is used inline in the prose immediately after the questionable reference citation (after </ref>).

This inline template is similar to {{failed verification}}, but indicates that a verifiability check of a cited source found that the source simply is not relevant to the material that cites it as a reference (i.e., it is off-topic and fails to aid verifiability or to help establish notability), rather than blatantly falsified. A common case is when the article says one thing and the cited source says something superficially similar-seeming (and thus confusable) but actually quite different, e.g. the article says that an event caused a major public outcry in Canada, but the Canadian-published source actually reports on public outcry in Ireland, and a mild level of political commentary in Canada. Another common case is when the article say something about one narrow topic, and cites a source that says the same thing, but about another topic, e.g. the source says that hip dysplasia, common to some cat breeds, can be so debilitating that veterinarians may recommend euthanasia, while the source says this about some dog breeds and never mentions cats at all.

Citation problems that trigger the need for this template are most often good-faith attempts to provide source citations, that fail because of less than careful processing of the information in the source or because of assumptions and improper correlation. If it appears systemic and willful, consider use a tag relating to original research instead, such as {{OR}} (inline) or {{Original research}} (banner). In particularly bad cases, mark the article {{Disputed}}.

This template categorizes tagged articles into Category:All articles lacking reliable references and (when dated) into the appropriate subcategory of Category:Articles lacking reliable references. This is a milder categorization than {{failed verification}}'s Category:All articles with unsourced statements.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Irrelevant citation in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Irrelevant citation

This inline template indicates that, following an attempt to verify, a source is not relevant to the material that cites it as a reference, rather than blatantly falsified.

Template parameters[Edit template data]

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Reason	reason	An optional brief explanation of the problem. If it is over one sentence, use the talk page. Example The source never mentions the article topic.	String	suggested
Month and year	date	Provides the month and year of the citation request; e.g., 'January 2013', but not 'jan13' Auto value {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Unknown	suggested
Talk page	talk talk page	The section name for a related discussion on the talk page, which adds a link to the talk page discussion in the inline tag; e.g., [irrelevant citation (See discussion.)] Example Section name	String	optional

See also

• Template:Failed verification, for cases where the source does not say what the article claims it does
• Template:Verify credibility, for cases where reliability of the source is an open question
• Template:Relevance-inline, for cases where the irrelevancy is in the prose, and not a sourcing issue
• Wikipedia:Citing sources, especially Unsourced material
• Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup/Verifiability and sources
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles
• Wikipedia:Verifiability
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check

Inline cleanup tags
Attribution
{{According to whom}} {{Among whom}} {{Attribution needed}} {{By what}} {{By whom}} {{For whom}} {{From whom?}} {{Like whom?}} {{To whom?}} {{Who}} {{Whose}} {{With whom}}
Clarity
{{Ambiguous}} {{Circular definition}} {{Clarify}} {{Clarify span}} {{Clarify timeframe}} {{Context inline}} {{Expand acronym}} {{Incomprehensible inline}} {{Incomprehensible span}} {{Key needed}} {{Non sequitur}} {{Sentence fragment}} {{Sic?}} {{Which calendar}} {{Which lang}}
Miscellaneous
{{Chinese script needed inline}} {{Chinese script needed inline span}} {{Cleanup inline}} {{Copyvio}} {{Copyvio link}} {{Data missing}} {{Disambiguation needed}} {{External links inline}} {{Improve caption}} {{Japanese script needed inline}} {{MisleadingNameLink}} {{Needs IPA}} {{Not English inline}} {{Not in body}} {{Original research inline}} {{Original research span}} {{Pronunciation needed}} {{Qualify evidence}} {{Romanization needed}} {{Script needed inline}} {{Spam link}} {{Synthesis inline}} {{Synthesis span}} {{Typo help inline}} {{Under discussion inline}} {{Verify spelling}} {{Whose translation}}
Neutrality
{{Buzzword inline}} {{Compared to?}} {{Contentious label inline}} {{Editorializing}} {{Fact or opinion}} {{Opinion}} {{Peacock inline}} {{POV statement}} {{Promotion inline}} {{Unbalanced opinion}} {{Weasel inline}}
Precision
* {{By how much}} * {{Definition}} * {{Definition span}} * {{Definition needed}} * {{Example needed}} * {{Example needed span}} * {{Explain}} * {{Explain-wrap}} * {{From where}} * {{How}} * {{How often}} * {{Misquoted}} * {{More detail needed}} * {{Of what}} * {{Quantify}} * {{Specify}} * {{Vague}} * {{When}} * {{Where}} * {{Where-geo}} * {{Which}} * {{Who else}} * {{Why}} * {{Year needed}} Excessive * {{Duplication span}} * {{Globalize inline}} * {{Importance example}} * {{Importance inline}} * {{Infobox clutter}} * {{List entry too long}} * {{Long quote}} * {{Off topic paragraph}} * {{Off topic sentence}} * {{Overly detailed inline}} * {{Over-explained}} * {{Relevance inline}} * {{Undue weight inline}} * {{By how much}} * {{Definition}} * {{Definition span}} * {{Definition needed}} * {{Example needed}} * {{Example needed span}} * {{Explain}} * {{Explain-wrap}} * {{From where}} * {{How}} * {{How often}} * {{Misquoted}} * {{More detail needed}} * {{Of what}} * {{Quantify}} * {{Specify}} * {{Vague}} * {{When}} * {{Where}} * {{Where-geo}} * {{Which}} * {{Who else}} * {{Why}} * {{Year needed}} Excessive * {{Duplication span}} * {{Globalize inline}} * {{Importance example}} * {{Importance inline}} * {{Infobox clutter}} * {{List entry too long}} * {{Long quote}} * {{Off topic paragraph}} * {{Off topic sentence}} * {{Overly detailed inline}} * {{Over-explained}} * {{Relevance inline}} * {{Undue weight inline}}
Time-sensitivity
{{Anachronism inline}} {{As of?}} {{Clarify timeframe}} {{Current event inline}} {{Is this date calibrated?}} {{Outdated statistic}} {{Until when}} {{Update after}} {{Update inline}} {{Update span}}
Verifiability
Dubious * {{Contradictory inline}} * {{Discuss}} * {{Disputed inline}} * {{Dubious}} * {{Dubious span}} * {{Inconsistent}} * {{Needs independent confirmation}} * {{Speculation inline}} Bare URLs * {{Bare URL inline}} * {{Bare URL AV media}} * {{Bare URL DOC}} * {{Bare URL image}} * {{Bare URL non-HTML}} * {{Bare URL PDF}} * {{Bare URL plain text}} * {{Bare URL spreadsheet}} Incomplete or broken citation * {{Author incomplete}} * {{Author missing}} * {{Broken footnote}} * {{Date missing}} * {{Dead link}} * {{Dead YouTube link}} * {{Deep link needed}} * {{Edition needed}} * {{Episode needed}} * {{Full citation needed}} * {{Incomplete short citation}} * {{ISBN missing}} * {{Missing long citation}} * {{Moved resource}} * {{Page needed}} * {{Pages needed}} * {{Permanent dead link}} * {{Place missing}} * {{Publisher missing}} * {{Season needed}} * {{Time needed}} * {{Title incomplete}} * {{Title missing}} * {{Unused source}} * {{Volume needed}} * {{Year missing}} Missing or problematic reference * {{Additional citation needed}} * {{AI-generated inline}} * {{AI-generated source?}} * {{AI-retrieved source}} * {{Better source needed}} * {{Better source needed example}} * {{Check quotation}} * {{Chronology citation needed}} * {{Circular reference}} * {{Circular reporting}} * {{Citation needed}} * {{Citation needed span}} * {{Citation needed paragraph}} * {{Citation not found}} * {{Close paraphrasing inline}} * {{COI source}} * {{Deprecated inline}} * {{Excessive citations inline}} * {{Failed verification}} * {{Failed verification span}} * {{Image reference needed}} * {{Independent source inline}} * {{Irrelevant citation}} * {{Marketing material}} * {{Medical citation needed}} * {{Medical citation needed span}} * {{Misplaced footnote}} * {{Nonspecific}} * {{Not verified in body}} * {{Not verified in body span}} * {{Obsolete source}} * {{Page range too broad}} * {{Primary source inline}} * {{Promotional source}} * {{Quote without source}} * {{Request quotation}} * {{Request quotation span}} * {{Retracted}} * {{Scientific citation needed}} * {{Self-published inline}} * {{Self-published source}} * {{Shallow reference inline}} * {{Tertiary source inline}} * {{Text-source inline}} * {{Unreliable source?}} * {{Unreliable fringe source}} * {{Unreliable medical source}} * {{Unreliable scientific source}} * {{User-generated inline}} * {{User-generated source}} * {{Verify quote}} * {{Verify source}} * {{Whose quote}} Dubious * {{Contradictory inline}} * {{Discuss}} * {{Disputed inline}} * {{Dubious}} * {{Dubious span}} * {{Inconsistent}} * {{Needs independent confirmation}} * {{Speculation inline}} Bare URLs * {{Bare URL inline}} * {{Bare URL AV media}} * {{Bare URL DOC}} * {{Bare URL image}} * {{Bare URL non-HTML}} * {{Bare URL PDF}} * {{Bare URL plain text}} * {{Bare URL spreadsheet}} Incomplete or broken citation * {{Author incomplete}} * {{Author missing}} * {{Broken footnote}} * {{Date missing}} * {{Dead link}} * {{Dead YouTube link}} * {{Deep link needed}} * {{Edition needed}} * {{Episode needed}} * {{Full citation needed}} * {{Incomplete short citation}} * {{ISBN missing}} * {{Missing long citation}} * {{Moved resource}} * {{Page needed}} * {{Pages needed}} * {{Permanent dead link}} * {{Place missing}} * {{Publisher missing}} * {{Season needed}} * {{Time needed}} * {{Title incomplete}} * {{Title missing}} * {{Unused source}} * {{Volume needed}} * {{Year missing}} Missing or problematic reference * {{Additional citation needed}} * {{AI-generated inline}} * {{AI-generated source?}} * {{AI-retrieved source}} * {{Better source needed}} * {{Better source needed example}} * {{Check quotation}} * {{Chronology citation needed}} * {{Circular reference}} * {{Circular reporting}} * {{Citation needed}} * {{Citation needed span}} * {{Citation needed paragraph}} * {{Citation not found}} * {{Close paraphrasing inline}} * {{COI source}} * {{Deprecated inline}} * {{Excessive citations inline}} * {{Failed verification}} * {{Failed verification span}} * {{Image reference needed}} * {{Independent source inline}} * {{Irrelevant citation}} * {{Marketing material}} * {{Medical citation needed}} * {{Medical citation needed span}} * {{Misplaced footnote}} * {{Nonspecific}} * {{Not verified in body}} * {{Not verified in body span}} * {{Obsolete source}} * {{Page range too broad}} * {{Primary source inline}} * {{Promotional source}} * {{Quote without source}} * {{Request quotation}} * {{Request quotation span}} * {{Retracted}} * {{Scientific citation needed}} * {{Self-published inline}} * {{Self-published source}} * {{Shallow reference inline}} * {{Tertiary source inline}} * {{Text-source inline}} * {{Unreliable source?}} * {{Unreliable fringe source}} * {{Unreliable medical source}} * {{Unreliable scientific source}} * {{User-generated inline}} * {{User-generated source}} * {{Verify quote}} * {{Verify source}} * {{Whose quote}}
Wording
{{Buzzword inline}} {{Colloquialism}} {{Copy edit inline}} {{Idiom}} {{Neologism inline}} {{Technical inline}} {{Tone inline}}
General advice
Citing sources Reliable sources Maintenance template removal Citation needed Find sources Combining sources Referencing styles
Inline cleanup templates WikiProject Inline Templates

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Irrelevant citation/doc. (edit | history)
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Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.