BattleTechWiki:Manual of Style/References

Overview

As it is the goal of BattleTechWiki to enable each Reader to find the original source for any fact found within an article, the proper citation of sources is critical. This page explains how to create references (with optional footnotes) using <ref>,</ref>, and <references/> syntax, which is the current best-practice method in most circumstances.

Readers and Editors of BattleTechWiki will find articles in one of three general states when it comes to referencing: non-cited, basic, and detailed. With few exceptions, ideally all articles should have detailed references displayed at the bottom of the page, demonstrating proper research has been done. Owing to the volunteer nature of BattleTechWiki, it is the intention that any articles that may fall short of standards will be improved by follow-on Editors over time.

Non-cited References

Non-cited articles can vary in length from a stub to being fully-scoped out with considerable detail. These articles, however, don't indicate where the information was taken from and may not be of much value to a Reader. Further, it stands to test BattleTechWiki's credibility and commitment to adhering to BattleTech canon.

Once identified, follow-on Editors will often add the {{refimprove}} tag, where the resulting banner indicates the article is lacking sufficient citations.

Basic References (Bibliography)

A Bibliography section lists all of the sources used in the creation of the article and indicates where the interested Reader may go to get more information. As it only lists the source titles, it's not very useful for verifying data or content on the page; still, it is better than nothing and the Editors at BTW implore their fellows to provide at least this much.

To get started, the following code is placed at the bottom of the page, above the Category tags:

 ==Bibliography==

Underneath that, use a separate line for each source being entered, as such:

 * ''[[Source Name]]''

The asterisk (*) creates a bullet point, the two brackets ([[ ]]) on each end create a link, and the two single quotes ('') on each end italicize it, as most sources are done (omit the quotes if not). The source name should be typed or copied in exactly as it is shown on its BTW page. Entries should be alphabetical.

For example, if you were to cite the two books Dominions Divided and AeroTech 2 by typing this:

   * ''[[AeroTech 2]]''
   * ''[[Dominions Divided]]''

When saved, it would look like this:

AeroTech 2 Dominions Divided

If the BTW article page being referenced has parentheses, it is because there was another similarly named article. Because this disambiguation is not actually part of the source title, it is preferred to hide or separate it from the list using the vertical bar (|).

For example, if you were to cite the following sources FedCom Civil War (sourcebook), Luthien (scenario pack), Exodus Road (novel), and BattleTech (Video Game) by typing this:

   * ''[[BattleTech (Video Game)|BattleTech]]'' (video game)
   * ''[[FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)|FedCom Civil War]]''
   * ''[[Luthien (scenario pack)|Luthien]]''
   * ''[[Mercenary's Star (novel)|Mercenary's Star]]'' (novel)

When saved, it would look like this:

BattleTech (video game) FedCom Civil War Luthien Mercenary's Star (novel)

Note that sourcebooks and scenario packs are so commonplace in bibliographies that Editors are allowed to omit the parentheticals after the link.

Detailed References

The perfect article would include detailed references. The more detail an Editor can provide an article, the more value that article has to readers and other Editors later on. While citing at least the title source used within an article is appreciated, providing a bit more detail offers so much more to the article and the BattleTechWiki project. Here, the Editor not only provides the title but he narrows down the source search considerably by offering more information to those that follow, with a minimum of page numbers comprising the information found in the article.

The format for a specified reference is title, followed by the page(s), and source section name. For example:

FedCom Civil War, p. 104: "Operation Scatter" AeroTech 2, pp. 35–37: "Strafing"

A solitary 'p' followed by a period is used if just a single page is used in the citation. If the relevant data spans several pages, it is indicated by a double 'p'. Use an en-dash (–) when indicating ranges of consecutive pages. Providing the section title from the source between two double quotes ("), while not required, is helpful in instances where readers might have difficulty finding the material for reasons such as mislabeled page numbers, inconsistent page numbering between print and digital editions, or even due to dense information or writing on the page.

Is not uncommon for page numbers to be missing from stories formatted for E-readers. In that case, Editors should provide the chapter(s) numbers. For example:

The Damocles Sanction, ch. 8 Wolf Pack, chs. 32–35

When source material is scattered throughout one book, it is preferred that the Editor create separate citations for each relevant source section. But, the Editor also has the choice of simply listing the various pages (without the section titles), or combining both together (separated by semi-colons), as show below:

FedCom Civil War, pp. 104, 120–121, 133 AeroTech 2, pp. 35–37: "Strafing"; p. 107: "Combat Drops"; pp. 116–117: "Basic Jump Procedure"

An Editor may also make use of the reference to provide some details that would not be appropriate within the article itself, as a footnote after a colon (:), following the actual citation. For example:

FedCom Civil War, pp. 104, 120–121, 133: the book suggests it was actually Peter, not Victor, that made this statement, as indicated on p. 133; this editor presumes it was just an editorial mistake, as Peter was in a coma at that specific point in time. AeroTech 2, pp. 35–37: "Strafing"; p. 107: "Combat Drops"; pp. 116–117: "Basic Jump Procedure": this book says passengers are more likely to see green clovers and blue diamonds while jumping thru hyperspace, while the original AeroTech was clear that they would only have seen pink hearts and purple horseshoes.

The purpose of adding details is to offer information for something not obvious in the source itself. The Editor does not need to mention that a character profile has the year of birth listed; on the other hand, if the profile provides the character's age without giving the birth year, noting the in-universe year of the sourcebook as an explanation for how the birth year was determined would be appropriate.

Formatting

Detailed references get listed in a section at the bottom of the page above the Bibliography. To enable citations, use the following code:

 ==References==
 <references />

Detailed referencing gets into the "guts" of the article in order to provide the most comprehensive source citing possible. If the data from a complete paragraph can be found on one page (or one range of pages) from a single source, the reference is generally added to the end of the paragraph. However, if the paragraph combines facts compiled from multiple pages or sources, the citations may be found within the paragraph itself, generally following a sentence (though sometimes within sentences, when clarity is most valued). The MediaWiki software BattleTechWiki utilizes is very capable at providing the depth necessary for this in-depth citation work.

We'll use the format for detailed references learned above to cite the following example:

The first project of the congress to be published was the Unfinished Book, a ten-volume collection of scripture from numerous religions, released in 2959. It received its name from the concept that spiritual wisdom was extremely vast and therefore the project would take an undetermined amount of time to accumulate it in totality. Father Ovidon held the belief that if the project could be completed, then all of humanity would enjoy peaceful coexistence, either from divine intervention or possibly from the intellectual elevation of mankind.

In this case, the two books House Davion (The Federated Suns) and Handbook: House Davion are used for this paragraph. Because the first sentence uses data from both books, the Editor wants to cite both of them following the sentence. He takes the relevant citations:

House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 117: "Unfinished Book Movement" Handbook: House Davion, pp. 146–147: "Unfinished Book Movement"

...and wraps each one in-between the following codes: <ref name="ReferenceName"> & </ref>, so that it looks like the following when typed into the edit box:

    <ref name=HD(TFS)p117>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', p. 117: "Unfinished Book Movement"</ref>
    <ref name=H:HSp146-147>''Handbook: House Davion'', pp. 146–147: "Unfinished Book Movement"</ref>

The two references will be snugged up against each other, unbroken by a space or line return. This is so the citation numbers the wiki creates follow directly after the sentence it pertains to, without breaking up the flow of the text. In this case, the rest of the paragraph comes from only the first source, so the Editor inserts the code for the first source at the end of the paragraph also, but this time in an abbreviated form:

   <ref name=HD(TFS)p117/>

The unsaved paragraph would look like this:

The first project of the congress to be published was the Unfinished Book, a ten-volume collection of scripture from numerous religions, released in 2959.<ref name=HD(TFS)p117>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', p. 117: "Unfinished Book Movement"</ref><ref name=H:HSp146-147>''Handbook: House Davion'', pp. 146–147: "Unfinished Book Movement"</ref> It received its name from the concept that spiritual wisdom was extremely vast and therefore the project would take an undetermined amount of time to accumulate it in totality. Father Ovidon held the belief that if the project could be completed, then all of humanity would enjoy peaceful coexistence, either from divine intervention or possibly from the intellectual elevation of mankind.<ref name=HD(TFS)p117/>

Very cluttered and confusing, isn't it? However, the results are worth it, as the saved paragraph would look like this:

The first project of the congress to be published was the Unfinished Book, a ten-volume collection of scripture from numerous religions, released in 2959. It received its name from the concept that spiritual wisdom was extremely vast and therefore the project would take an undetermined amount of time to accumulate it in totality. Father Ovidon held the belief that if the project could be completed, then all of humanity would enjoy peaceful coexistence, either from divine intervention or possibly from the intellectual elevation of mankind.

The three blue numbers would then, when clicked upon, shift the browser page down to the References section of the article, right to the specific reference with which it is associated. So, once the page is saved it would appear thusly:

References

Rather snazzy, no? Notice, how the first and last citations from the same source are shown on the same line. This gives it a cleaner look compared to having a separate line for each instance. This is sometimes referred to as citation consolidation. To view this example in its full article context, click here.

The Editor will have to take note, however, that each individual citation will require its own name even if it shares the same title source. Initially this may cause some confusion, especially in lengthier articles where one source may provide numerous but differing pages of data for the article. For example:

    <ref name=H:HSp145a>''Handbook: House Davion'', p. 145: "Hinduism"</ref>
    <ref name=H:HSp145b>''Handbook: House Davion'', p. 145: "Islam"</ref>
    <ref name=H:HSp146>''Handbook: House Davion'', p. 146: "Judaism"</ref>

Here, the Editor chose to differentiate the first two sources with 'a' and 'b' in the reference name, but you are free to pick any name, subject to a few rules. They are case sensitive and may not be a numeric integer. The quotes are optional unless the name or group includes a space, punctuation or other mark. Names and groups should be kept simple and restricted to the standard English alphabet and numerals. The reference name is internal and will not be displayed anywhere when the page is viewed.

Ideally, the full, written-out reference should be used in its first appearance in the text, followed by the abbreviated ones. While it's understandable that it might feel a bit "crowded" at the top of the page where many different sources are being introduced together, this practice makes it easier for all Editors to find source information more quickly.

Simplified method

Though not preferred, Editors having difficulty formatting detailed citations can used a simplified version as a placeholder until a later time in which it can be sorted out and updated. Rather than requiring a reference name, the Editor need only use <ref> & </ref> as such:

    <ref>''Handbook: House Davion'', p. 145: "Hinduism"</ref>
    <ref>''Handbook: House Davion'', p. 145: "Islam"</ref>
    <ref>''Handbook: House Davion'', p. 146: "Judaism"</ref>

This method, however, does not allow for consolidation and each citation will create a new line in the References section, even if they are copied and pasted throughout the article.

Note regarding Reference and Bibliography sections

Reference and Bibliography sections are used in tandem. Both sections should be included, though are handled in a rather different manner.

Reference section

With the use of Detailed citations, the References section serves a means to indicate where certain information provided within the article can be found in official sources. In that case, it is no longer appropriate to include title-only entries (ex: ''[[FedCom Civil War]]'') in the References section. Instead, these should be added to the following Bibliography section. A reasonable exception might be made for short stories that don't have page numbers or chapters, especially those accessed by an E-reader.

Bibliography section

Once a Bibliography section is added to an article, the article should also have a functional References section. The Bibliography section provides a quick means of identifying official (and, rarely, unofficial) sources of material that coincide with the article. For clarity's sake, entries should be in alphabetical order, by series title and then specific titles within it — e.g. Field Report: Fluffy Bunny Kingdom should precede Field Report 2765: Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy Thunderdominion.

It should be clear, however, that the inclusion of a source's title within the Bibliography section does not necessarily indicate that source has been used yet (or will at all) within the above article. Oftentimes, Editors may recognize that a source exists that also provides information on the subject of the article, but has not been included within the article itself. This identifies for Readers the additional source they can use to learn more about the subject and allows follow-on Editors to identify additional sources to utilize in expanding the article. By providing the linked title within the Bibliography section, it allows both Readers and Editors to go the BTW article about that source.

Additionally, the Bibliography section should not simply be a recitation of the sources listed in the References section. If a source cited in the article does not address the subject of the article, it does not warrant inclusion in the Bibliography section.

For example, in an article about the 10th Star League Army, a quote describing the unit's invasion target, Acamar, as "a constant winter wonderland" is cited as coming from a page about Acamar in the sourcebook Dark Age: Republic Worlds (3130). The citation will be listed in the References section, but the sourcebook should not be listed in the Bibliography section—because it does not address the article's subject, the Tenth Army.