Assassin's Creed Wiki:Sourcing/Version 2

The following is the official Assassin's Creed Wiki Attribution policy. The main space of the Assassin's Creed Wiki is not a forum for personal or original thought. All and any information on the Wiki must be attributed to a verifiable source, the names of which are listed below.

In particular, editors must provide attribution for any material that is challenged or likely to be challenged, or it may be removed. The burden of evidence lies with the editor wishing to add or retain the material. If an article topic has no reliable sources, the Assassin's Creed Wiki should not have an article on it.

It must also be noted that the following policy applies only to the Wiki's main space articles, and not to the associated Forums.

No original thought
Original thought refers to material that is not directly attributable to a reliable, published source. This includes unpublished facts, arguments, ideas, statements, and personal opinion; as well as, by extension, unpublished analysis or synthesis of published material. It is forbidden to include such information, especially when accompanied with an introduction such as "This is pure speculation, but..."

All information on an article must be attributed to a reliable source (see below), and any material added to an article must be explicitly presented in said source.

Reliable sources as bases
In order to be classed as a "reliable source", a medium must meet the following criteria;
 * 1) The medium must be published or endorsed by Ubisoft, and relate explicitly to the Assassin's Creed series.
 * 2) Information given on an official Ubisoft forum should only be considered canon when it is published by an administrator of the forum (who should subsequently be an employee of Ubisoft), and confirmed as fact in said post.
 * 3) Information given in any medium must explicitly indicate a view before it is entered into the article. Assumptions cannot be derived from stated or ambiguous data.

Speculation or "news" posted on popular gaming websites does not constitute a reliable source, and cannot be included unless supported by one of the above.

Reliable sources
A list of reliable sources can be found here.

General standards
Once a source is found for the information to be added, the user who wishes to add the information must also cite it. In those instances where unsourced (or poorly sourced) information is already present in an article then the Fact template "Fact" can be used.

There are a few key points to observe before any information is placed into an article.

Specificity
References should be as specific as possible in order to limit the possibility of confusion as to the source in question. Simply citing the game or novel from which the information derives is, in most cases, not sufficient and would be in violation of this policy.

Furhter information regarding how to format a reference can be found below.]]

Canonicity
With the ever-growing amount of material available to the Assassin's Creed series, the possibility of conflicting information is present. As such, the following assumptions should be made before information is entered into any of the articles on the Wiki;
 * 1) In most cases, the main games are the highest tier of canon. If any information given in another medium explicitly contradicts that given in these games, it is considered non-canon. For example, if Assassin's Creed: Renaissance states that it took an individual three days to travel from Venice to Florence, while Assassin's Creed II clearly indicates it only took two, the article will cite the game over the novella.
 * 2) The canonicity of media is tiered. The highest tier contains the aforementioned main games, while the second tier contains the spin-off games. The third tier contains the films, novellas, the Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia and Assassin's Creed: The Essential Guide, and the comics.

Introduction
Ideally, the introduction or lede section of an article should not contain any references. Most if not all of the information in the introduction is mentioned again later in the article, and should be cited within the main text. This helps to limit congestion of the introductory text and keep the overall presentation respectable.

If, however, a sourced piece of information in the introduction is not mentioned again in the main text, it may be cited where required.

Positioning
Citations go immediately after punctuation and outside of quotation marks, with no space between the end of a sentence and a reference tag. It must be made directly after that which is being cited, so as to prevent confusion to the reader.

If an entire paragraph or section cites information from a single source, then simply place the citation at the end of the paragraph or section.

Formats
Upon confirming that both the information and citations to be used are valid, the citations must be properly formatted in accordance with the formats listed below. Typically, most articles will require the citation of several different sources. and the format required for each unique citation shall differ depending on the nature of the source.

References also need to be as specific as possible in order to limit the possibility of confusion as to the source in question. Simply citing the game or novel from which the information derives is, in most cases, not sufficient and would be in violation of this policy - instead, the mission name or supplementary flavour text should be linked in the references. In the case novels or comics, the chapter or issue in question should be referenced.

How to reference
References are typically made up of two parts. The first part, known as "ref name" is used within an article to easily reference the same specific source on multiple occasions and is written as below:

The [REF ARTICLE] must link to the wiki's corresponding article for the source in question and be italicised. The [MISSION NAME] must link to the wiki's corresponding article for the source mission in question and should not be italicised.

Once the full reference has been included in an article, it can be easily recalled simply by using the following code at subsequent insertion points:

PLEAE NOTE: Even in those instances where an article uses a specific reference only once, the complete format detailed above must still be used. Repeated failures to use the complete format will result in disciplinary action.

Example 1: Video game mission
When referencing a video game mission, the following format should be used:

For instance, when referencing the Assassin's Creed II mission In Bocca al Lupo, use the following:

In those cases where the source comes from downloadable content, the above needs to be expanded slightly:

For instance, when referencing the mission The Land of Turquoise from the The Hidden Ones downloadable content:

Example 2: Video game flavor text
Occasionally, information will be sourced from a video game that doesn't necessarily come from a mission. In these situations, the exact source of the information should be seperated from the rest of the source by way of a forward-slash and should not be italicised. For example:

For instance, when referencing an Isu codex from The Fate of Atlantis: Judgment of Atlantis:

or when referencing a specific database entry:

Example 3: Novel/Guide
When referencing a novel or encyclopaedic guide, use the following format:

For instance, when referencing chapter five of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag:

PLEASE NOTE: Because the precise page number the citable material is on can fluctuate dependant on the edition or version of the novel/guide in question, please do not include a page number.

Example 4: Comic
When referencing a comic, use the following format:

For instance, when referencing issue #3 of Assassin's Creed: The Fall:

Outside references
Outside references, or those external to the Assassin's Creed series, should be kept to a minimum, and preferably only mentioned in the "Trivia" section of an article. The references must be Relevant, add something constructive to the article, and come from a source reliable in relation to the field it is from.

For example, if sourced from, the line "Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince, a book which seems to counter the very ideals of the Assassins." should be written as such; Niccolò Machiavelli wrote The Prince, a book which seems to counter the very ideals of the Assassins.

Reference list
Whether the article makes use of multiple series references, multiple outside references, or a mixture of both, the "References" section must be included. At the bottom of the article, just before categories and appearance templates such as, the following must be inserted;

Questions?
If you have any questions or concerns about implementing this Sourcing policy, feel free to contact one of the site's moderators and they will be happy to answer any questions you have.