RH Wiki:Citations
This policy covers the guidelines of citing sources and references in articles.
Why sourcing? What needs it?
On Rhythm Heaven Wiki, we take most of our information directly from the Rhythm Heaven games. However, in some cases, we also take information from less known features such as Reading Material, information from versions of the games in other languages, guide books and magazines. In order to ensure that all information covered is official, and not speculation by fans, we need to cite our sources.
For the most part, you don't need to provide a reference for basic information taken directly from the games. This includes gameplay mechanics, descriptions, characters, the plot of a game, etc. However, if information is more obscure and its validity may be questioned, citing specific text found in the game (i.e. dialogue in the Practice or unlockable Reading Material), its manual or some other official guide book will help maintain the wiki's credibility. Similarly, controversial and/or complex topics benefit from having direct quotations, especially if any translation work or other analysis is performed. However, even backed up with solid references, excessive speculation should be avoided, with only the most straightforward and logical coverage of ambiguous or inconsistent information being permitted. For translations, the original writing should be provided along with a translation, and whenever possible, translations should be done by members of the wiki, rather than relying on third parties.
As well as games and their manuals, information may come from official websites, guide books and magazines, as well as third party print and internet sources, all of which must be cited when used. Rumours and misleading info is commonplace online, so showing readers that we are not fabricating our info and in turn, letting them evaluate the trustworthiness of our sources is especially important. Users should also be aware of the dangers of using internet sources and must use care in choosing what websites to reference: whenever possible, stick to reputable, well-known and/or official sites, and always try to track down the original source, rather than citing something that, in turn, is citing something different. Also, while some sources are more reliable than others, even professional outlets may make mistakes sometimes (see here for an example), and it is important to be vigilant about the information you're bringing to the wiki, especially if it concerns specialized fields such as game development or internal policies. Using the games themselves or otherwise getting information directly from Nintendo is ideal, however this is not always possible, such as when dealing with upcoming games, in which case, citing something is still better than nothing.
Finally, keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive summary of where references should be used: no matter what you are writing about, it is always best to err on the side of caution and when in doubt, cite your sources.
What to put as references
To cite a written source, which you cannot provide a link to, you only need to state it exactly. Remember that a reference section does not always need a link. For example:
"I am a samurai traveling the lands of old to complete my training." ~ Dialogue in Super Samurai Slice, Rhythm Heaven Megamix
To cite external websites, generally it is enough to put an external link with the page title as the name. For example:
キャラクターアルバム ステージ２ (Character Album Stage 2)
How to add references
We have a system of references that is quite similar to Wikipedia, if you are familiar with it (this does not mean we go to the same scale as Wikipedia, but rather we use the same code). The special tags you will need are <ref></ref> and <references/>.
Using the reference system
Take the Munchy Monk (character) article as an example. It features a paragraph of information which is not confirmed in the game at all, but came from a cameo appearance in another game. A reference is given at the end of this paragraph:
While it is unconfirmed who the baby belongs to within Rhythm Heaven Megamix, the Spirit Board event Father Figures for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is themed around father characters, includes the Munchy Monk as one[1].
As shown above, it's preferred to insert the <ref></ref> tag before some punctuations such as a comma or period. The end of the page features the references section, where the reader can see the source of this text:
When looking at the code of this example, you can see that the content of the note is not given at the end of the article under the References header, but directly in the text:
While it is unconfirmed who the baby belongs to within ''[[Rhythm Heaven Megamix]]'', the [[ssbwiki:Spirit Board|Spirit Board]] event [[ssbwiki:Father Figures|Father Figures]] for ''[[ssbwiki:Super Smash Bros. Ultimate|Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', which is themed around father characters, includes the Munchy Monk as one<ref>[https://www-aaaba-lp1-hac.cdn.nintendo.net/en-US/e5c56f2e/index.html (Event) Father Figures - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]</ref>.
The end of the article, the References header, just features a single line:
==References== <references/>
As you can see, the reference given between the <ref></ref> text is automatically placed wherever <references/> is put in the text. This allows you to keep the overview of where you have put your sources. You do not have to care about the links that are provided to the footnote, they are automatically created by the system. Additionally, readers can hover over the footnote to see a popup showing the reference itself, without having to scroll the page.
Multiple citations of the same source
In long articles, you could come across the problem of needing to give the same source twice. To do this, you do not need to say the same things twice and add it to the References list two times, but can reuse your previous reference and give it again. For this, you need to give names to your references:
If you give two or more references the same name,<ref name="test">Only the description in the first ref with the name (that is, a) is shown.</ref> they will have the same number<ref name="test"/>.
The first time you give the reference, you have to use the name= parameter to give a specific, preferably descriptive name (e.g. "official_guide"). The second time you use the reference, you simply use an empty <ref/> tag with the same name given as your previous. Both references will then share the same number, and in the list of references at the bottom of the page, there will only be one entry, with links back to each part of the article from where it is linked, so that the reader can continue to read exactly where they have clicked on the reference:
If you give two or more references the same name,[2] they will have the same number.[2] [...]
2. ^ a b Only the description in the first ref with the name (that is, a) is shown.
Requesting a source
{{ref needed}}
- Use this template to mark any statements that require properly documented source material. This includes information from non-English versions of games, supplementary material (i.e. game manuals or websites), secondary sources (i.e. news outlets, game review sites or other wikis), media (i.e. interviews or advertisements), obscure in-game facts, any information about glitches, upcoming or pre-release content, or any disputed and/or controversial subject matter. The template is used like this:
According to a Japanese database, the source of Marshal's name is that he looks like a marshmallow{{Ref needed}}.
The result is this:
According to a Japanese database, the source of Marshal's name is that he looks like a marshmallow[citation needed].
{{dead link}}
- Except in cases of newly released titles making most of their information easily accessible in-game, references should never be removed. If a link being used as a reference stops working, either replace it with a new ref, or if you are unable to do so yourself, add this template after the reference.
{{better source}}
- Having some sort of reference is better than nothing, however some sources are more trustworthy than others. In order to ensure that we are transparent about where we are getting our info, and how reliable that info is, this template can be used (once again, following the reference in the text) to flag any iffy references.
{{source needed}}
- This is to be used for images that haven't been provided a source. In the past, Rhythm Heaven Wiki has had a large amount of images (character artwork in particular) which weren't provided a source, were edited without being marked as such, or were redrawn, which has created a situation in which it is difficult, if not impossible, to tell if a piece of artwork is genuine or not. To combat this, the {{aboutfile}} template was created, which emphasises providing the exact source of a file and a field to detail edits made if any. While it may be preferable to, say, crop an image and remove the background to make it transparent, and in some cases correct the colors, it is important to be upfront about these edits. Note that if an image is uploaded without a source, it is likely to get deleted.