| List Unreferenced Paragraphs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Description | Goes through a list of articles and determines how many paragraphs lack references. |
| Author(s) | Phlsph7 |
| First released | July 27, 2023 |
| Updated | August 4, 2024 (3 months ago) |
| Browsers | all modern browsers |
| Skins | Vector (2022), Vector legacy (2010), MinervaNeue |
| Source | User:Phlsph7/ListUnreferencedParagraphs.js |
List Unreferenced Paragraphs is a user script to find articles with unreferenced paragraphs. The user enters a list of article titles and the script determines for each one how many paragraphs in it lack references. Its goal is to help editors improve verifiability. The script can also be used on a single article to highlight the paragraphs that lack references.
Not all paragraphs require references. For example, paragraphs in the lead do not need references if they only summarize material in the body of the article (see MOS:CITELEAD). And plot summaries of works of fiction do not require references (see MOS:PLOTSOURCE). The script ignores lead paragraphs and paragraphs in sections called "Plot" and "Synopsis". False detection can also happen for paragraphs that are artificially split into two parts because they use mathematical formulas.
The script only takes regular paragraphs into account. It ignores lists, tables, and similar elements. The script only counts paragraphs that have no reference at all. It ignores paragraphs in which only part of the material is referenced. The script also ignores very short paragraphs (less than 100 characters). The script is not able to identify some existing references, such as those using the deprecated parenthetical style. This means that if a paragraph uses only parenthetical style references then it will be falsely counted as unreferenced. The script cannot distinguish between references and explanatory footnotes. If a paragraph contains a footnote but no references, it will not be counted.