Template:Original research/doc

For the template that tags inline statements, see Template:Original research inline.

When to use

On Wikipedia, calling something "original research" means that you believe the contents of the Wikipedia article were just made up by a Wikipedia editor, and that you believe that no published reliable source – anywhere in the world, in any language, whether or not it is reachable online, even if it is not (yet) cited in the Wikipedia article – has ever said that.

Y Use this for:

• Something that was taken from unpublished sources: "I checked the payroll spreadsheet at work, and it says we have 123 employees now. The corporate website is out of date."
• Something that isn't in the cited source and you reasonably suspect that it's not in any reliable source: "The Wikipedia article says 1976, but the cited source says 1975, and I can't find anything that says 1976 except a Reddit post."
• Something that was just made up by an editor: "My friends and I made up this game at lunch today."
• Something that seems to go beyond the source and you reasonably suspect that it's not in any reliable source: "The Wikipedia article says this is the most important cancer charity in the world, but the source only says that cancer is an important disease for researchers, and that this charity is one of several doing research, and I don't think we're going to find a list of charities ranked by global importance in any reliable sources."

N Do not use this for:

• Uncited content: "Well, I can't tell if it's made up, because it's not cited." – Use {{unreferenced}}, {{more references}}, or {{citation needed}} instead of this one.

How to use

This template will categorize articles into Category:Articles that may contain original research or one of the dated sub-categories.

• Note: This template should not be applied without explanation on the talk page, and should be removed if the original research is not readily apparent when no explanation is given.

The default word "article" is replaceable: {{Original research|table}} produces:

The |date= parameter can be used to inform other editors of the time the tag has been in place: {{Original research|date=October 2026}} produces:

The |discuss= parameter can be used to specify a custom talk link: {{Original research|discuss=Template talk:Original research#discuss parameter}} produces:

which links to the specified section on the talk page (not just the talk page).

The |reason= parameter can be used to specify a custom reason: {{Original research|reason=Paragraph two is unsourced content on a niche subject.}}

Redirects

1. {{OriginalResearch}}
2. {{Originalresearch}}
3. {{Original Research}}
4. {{Original-Research}}
5. {{Original-research}}
6. {{or1}}

TemplateData

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

TemplateData for Original research

This template generates a tag to indicate that the article possibly contains original research.

Template parameters

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Affected area	1 part	Text to replace the word "article", usually "section". Suggested values section Example section	Line	optional
Month and year	date	The month and year that the template was placed (in full). "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" inserts the current month and year automatically. Example June 2013 Auto value {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Line	suggested
Talk page section	discuss talk	Section name on the talk page for further discussion.	Line	optional
Make template small	small	Enter any text here to make the template box small and aligned to the left. Example y	Line	optional
Reason	reason	Additional information about the specific issues with original research in the article. Example Paragraph two is unsourced content on a niche subject.	String	suggested

See also

• {{Synthesis-inline}} — Inline Synthesis tag
• {{OR}} — Inline Original Research tag