Template:Not verified in body

Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]

{{nvbTemplate:Nvb}}
{{nvibTemplate:Nvib}}

This template is specifically intended to challenge a fact in the lead section of an already well-sourced article, where that lead is clearly intended to function as a summary of the content, but the fact tagged is never verified in the body.

Usage

{{Not verified in body|date=June 2026}}

Use this template to indicate facts mentioned in the lead that are not verified somewhere in the article body.

More specifically, many articles, including the bulk of featured articles, do not contain any citations in the lead, because the lead section in them is used to summarize the content in the body of the article, which already contains citations for the summarized content. This is up to community consensus, please see WP:LEADCITE. Thus, this template should only be used:

In articles which already have substantial sourcing; and
The lead is clearly written as a summary of the content;
One of the facts in the lead is discussed in the article's body; but
This fact is not verified in the article's body and you seek verification of that fact.

By the same token, this template should not be used in poorly sourced articles, or articles whose leads are not clearly written as attempts to summarize the content. In such articles, {{citation needed}} may be more appropriate, or more generally, depending on context, {{unreferenced}}, {{unreferenced section}} or {{More citations needed}}. Note that any place you would want to use many instances of this tag (or of {{citation needed}}), that almost always means you should use one of the general tags above just once, rather than peppering the lead.

If the fact from the lead isn't discussed at all by the article's body (as opposed to merely not being verified there), {{Lead extra info}} is more appropriate.

Arguably you could use this template to indicate the fact is verified, but only in the lead (and not in the body). However, in this case, it is better if you simply move the citation down into the main body of the article yourself. Again, per MOS:LEADCITE it is not against policy to place citations in the lead, so only do this for articles where community consensus agree to keep citations out of the lead section. ({{Leadcite comment}} might be a useful tool in this regard.)

Do not substitute this template.

Adding this template to an article places the article into Category:Articles with unsourced statements or a dated subcategory thereof.

Please remove the template when a proper citation for the statement (whether in the lead or the body) has been added.

BLPs

The BLP policy for articles on living persons requires unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material about living persons to be removed immediately. (Do not tag it: immediately remove it.) See this section of the Biography of Living Persons policy.

Because of this, it might be a good idea to keep allowing citations in the lead sections of BLP articles. It helps prevent cases where well-meaning editors remove claims made in the lead section but where the verifying reference is put only in the main body of the article. Facts that are verified each time they are made are less prone to such edits.

Parameters

While it will not break the template if omitted, it is a good idea to include the date parameter. In fact, a bot (as of 2024^[update] AnomieBOT) will add the date for you a short while later if omitted.
The date parameter consists of the name of the current month and the year only (no day). The names of the months are capitalised in English.
Any deviation from these two rules will result in an "invalid date parameter" error.

TemplateData

An inline message intended to challenge a fact in the lead section of an already well-sourced article, where that lead is clearly intended to function as a summary of the content, but the fact tagged does not appear in the body.

Template parameters
This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Date	`date`	Month and year when the template was added to the article Example April 2017 Auto value `{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}`	String	suggested

Redirects

{{Citation needed lead}}
{{Citation needed (lead)}}
{{Cnl}}
{{Fact lead}} (this redirect could easily have been pointed to {{Lead extra info}} as well, but it points here)

{{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:Not verified in body/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.

v t e Introduction cleanup maintenance templates
{{Lead extra info}} {{Lead missing}} {{Lead rewrite}} {{Lead too long}} {{Lead too short}} {{Infobox too large}} {{Not verified in body}} {{Overview section}} {{Time-context}}
Category

Usage

BLPs

Parameters

TemplateData

Redirects

See also