Current revision of LEADCITE
editThe lead must conform to verifiability, biographies of living persons, and other policies. The verifiability policy advises that material that is challenged or likely to be challenged, and direct quotations, should be supported by an inline citation. Any statements about living persons that are challenged or likely to be challenged must have an inline citation every time they are mentioned, including within the lead.
Because the lead will usually repeat information that is in the body, editors should balance the desire to avoid redundant citations in the lead with the desire to aid readers in locating sources for challengeable material. Leads are usually less specific than the body, and information in the lead section of non-controversial subjects is less likely to be challenged and less likely to require a source; there is not, however, an exception to citation requirements specific to leads. The necessity for citations in a lead should be determined on a case-by-case basis by editorial consensus. Complex, current, or controversial subjects may require many citations; others, few or none. The presence of citations in the introduction is neither required in every article nor prohibited in any article.
As editors are often unaware of this guideline, good faith should always be assumed when {{citation needed}} tags are erroneously added to lead sections. {{Leadcite comment}} can be added to article leads that often attract {{citation needed}} tags.
Diff
editThe lead must conform to verifiability, biographies of living persons, and other policies. The verifiability policy advises that material that is challenged or likely to be challenged, and direct quotations, should be supported by an inline citation. Any statements about living persons that are challenged or likely to be challenged must have an inline citation every time they are mentioned, including within the lead.
Any statements about a living person that have been challenged or are likely to be challenged require an inline citation; direct quotations also require a citation.
BecauseSince
the lead will usually repeat information that is in the body, is a summary of information already found in the body of the article,
editors should balance the desire to avoid redundant citations in the lead with the desire to aid readers in locating sources for challengeable material. non-controversial statements do not need to be cited, with the expectation that citations for the material can be found within the body.
Leads are usually less specific than the body, and information in the lead section of non-controversial subjects is less likely to be challenged and less likely to require a source; there is not, however, an exception to citation requirements specific to leads. as such,
[t]he necessity for citations in a lead should be determined on a case-by-case basis by editorial consensus. Complex, current, or controversial subjects may require many citations; others, few or none. The presence of citations in the introduction is neither required in every article nor prohibited in any article. Note that though there may be a desire to avoid redundant citations in the lead, there is no policy stating that they must be removed.
As editors are often unaware of this guideline, good faith should always be assumed when {{citation needed}} tags are erroneously added to lead sections. {{Leadcite comment}} can be added to article leads that often attract {{citation needed}} tags.
My version
editThe lead must conform to verifiability, biographies of living persons, and other policies.
Any statements about a living person that have been challenged or are likely to be challenged require an inline citation; direct quotations also require a citation. Since the lead is a summary of information already found in the body of the article, non-controversial statements do not need to be cited, with the expectation that citations for the material can be found within the body. Leads are less specific than the body, and information in the lead section of non-controversial subjects is less likely to be challenged; as such, the necessity for citations in a lead should be determined on a case-by-case basis. Complex, current, or controversial subjects may require many citations; others, few or none. Note that though there may be a desire to avoid redundant citations in the lead, there is no policy stating that they must be removed.
As editors are often unaware of this guideline, good faith should always be assumed when {{citation needed}} tags are erroneously added to lead sections. {{Leadcite comment}} can be added to article leads that often attract {{citation needed}} tags.
Improvement to {{leadcite comment}}
editNo citations are required in the article lead per MOS:LEADCITE, as long as the content is cited in the article body, as it should be. Do not add missing-citation tags like [citation needed] to the lead. If necessary, [not verified in body] can be used, or the content removed.
My version
editNo citations are required in the article lead per MOS:LEADCITE, in cases of non-controversial statements, with the expectation that the statement is verified by a citation elsewhere in the article. Missing-citation tags such as [citation needed] in the lead are rarely appropriate. If necessary, [not verified in body] can be used, or the content removed. When in doubt, leave a comment on this article's talk page or at the help desk.