Template:Unreliable fringe source

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Usage

Use this template to "tag" dubious information or analysis which cites references produced by a fringe-theory or pseudo-science source, so that other editors can know to back up the statement with reliable citations or remove the claim, per Wikipedia:Verifiability.

It produces a superscripted notation like the following:

It is evidence of extraterrestrial life.^{[unreliable fringe source?]}

Articles tagged with this template will be categorized into Category:All articles lacking reliable references.

Place this template inline, {{Unreliable fringe source|date=December 2025}} following the questionable claim (and any punctuation attached to it). The template should be placed outside the reference (<ref> ... </ref>), within the article's text:

Potentially controversial statement.<ref>some alleged source for this</ref>{{Unreliable fringe source|date=December 2025}} Next sentence.

When to use and not use this template

This template should be used to express doubt about the credibility of a source for a claim that is or should be subject to scientific verification.

For improperly sourced medical claims, use the more specific {{Unreliable medical source}} instead.

This tag should not be used on unreliably sourced contentious statements about living persons; if the source is not reliable, the statement should be removed immediately.

For whole articles or article sections that rely on fringe sources, considering using just {{fringe theories}} or {{fringe theories|section}}, respectively, rather than individually tagging a large number of statements.

For sources unreliable for reasons other than promotion of fringe ideas, the more general template {{Unreliable source?}} can be used.

This tag should not be used to indicate that the sourced material could not be found within a given source. In that case, {{failed verification}} is a better template. For statements that have failed verification and have a questionable would-be source, consider removal of the source (and possibly the statement) over using both tags.

Parameters

The template has the following optional parameters:

date: should be set to the month and year when the article was tagged. Example: {{Unreliable fringe source|date=December 2025}}
reason: a note explaining why you think the source is unreliable as per WP:FRINGE and WP:RS. Displays as a tool tip. Keep it short (one sentence) as longer material belongs on the talk page. It is good to reiterate the reason in your edit summary. Example: {{Unreliable fringe source|reason=Your WP:FRINGE-based reason here.|date=December 2025}}
sure or certain: if set to "y" or "yes" will remove the question mark from the template's output to denote a degree of certainty that the source is unreliable. Please use this with a reason parameter. Example: {{Unreliable fringe source|sure=y|reason=your WP:RS-based reason here.|date=December 2025}}

{{Better source}}, an alternative to {{Unreliable source|certain=y}}; especially useful for tagging sources that are low-quality but not necessarily wrong
{{Obsolete source}}, for when a source has been surpassed by more recent works
{{Unreliable medical source}}, for fringe medical sources in particular
{{Unreliable source?}}, for unreliable but non-fringe sources
{{Primary source inline}}, for misuse of primary source material
{{Dubious}}, for questionable claims that seem unlikely to be properly sourceable

More templates

{{Fringe theories}}, a banner template for flagging an entire article or section as relying on fringe sources
{{More citations needed}}, a banner template for flagging entire article or section as needing better sourcing generally
Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup/Verifiability and sources
Wikipedia:Template messages/Sources of articles

Policies, guidelines, essays, and wikiprojects

Inline cleanup tags

Attribution

Clarity

Miscellaneous

Neutrality

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}}

Time-sensitivity

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}}

Wording

General advice

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Unreliable fringe source/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.