Help:Citation Style 2

This help page is a how-to guide.

It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of consensus and vetting.

Shortcuts

Citation Style 2 (CS2) is a style applied to citations on Wikipedia. It is used by default in the general purpose citation template {{Citation}}, and available as an option in many other templates. The commonly-used citation templates have two style modes.^[1] These modes change how the citation is punctuated when it's rendered. CS2 primarily uses the comma as a separator, and it does not have a punctuation mark at the end of the citation. Citation Style 1 (CS1) uses the full stop as a separator and for terminal punctuation.^[2] For example:

CS2: Carroll, Lewis (1866), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, London: Macmillan
CS1: Carroll, Lewis (1866). Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. London: Macmillan.

When you use any template, please consider reviewing its documentation. You can find it at the template's page in the template namespace by searching for Template: plus the name of the template; for example, to find the documentation for {{Citation}}, enter Template:Citation in the Search box.

^ This covers all templates that directly invoke Module:Citation/CS1, including the general purpose CS2 template {{Citation}}. It also includes the Citation Style 1 (CS1) templates {{cite web}}, {{cite news}}, {{cite book}}, {{cite journal}}, {{cite magazine}}, and templates that are wrappers for these templates like {{cite CE1913}}, {{cite Google Maps}}, {{cite tweet}}, or {{cite ADB}}. There are some templates with "cite xxx" names, like {{cite patent}}, that are technically unrelated, do not invoke Module:Citation/CS1, and cannot use the CS2 style mode.
^ There are various benefits to using a template, most notably that doing so produces a consistent look. You are not required to use CS2 or any other citation template. As of October 2016^[update], Wikipedia:Citing sources § Variation in citation methods (WP:CITEVAR) states:
Editors should not attempt to change an article's established citation style merely on the grounds of personal preference, to make it match other articles, or without first seeking consensus for the change.

[1] This covers all templates that directly invoke Module:Citation/CS1, including the general purpose CS2 template {{Citation}}. It also includes the Citation Style 1 (CS1) templates {{cite web}}, {{cite news}}, {{cite book}}, {{cite journal}}, {{cite magazine}}, and templates that are wrappers for these templates like {{cite CE1913}}, {{cite Google Maps}}, {{cite tweet}}, or {{cite ADB}}. There are some templates with "cite xxx" names, like {{cite patent}}, that are technically unrelated, do not invoke Module:Citation/CS1, and cannot use the CS2 style mode.

[2] There are various benefits to using a template, most notably that doing so produces a consistent look. You are not required to use CS2 or any other citation template. As of October 2016^[update], Wikipedia:Citing sources § Variation in citation methods (WP:CITEVAR) states:
Editors should not attempt to change an article's established citation style merely on the grounds of personal preference, to make it match other articles, or without first seeking consensus for the change.

[1]

[2]