Editing Template:Attribution needed/doc (section)

==Primary application==

Use this template in the body of an article as a request for other editors to explicitly attribute a preceding passage, sentence or phrase to a person. This will be an author of a cited work or a person referred to in a source in which they have been directly or indirectly quoted. The passage tagged may indicate [[Wikipedia:No original research|research]], be opinion, a [[Wikipedia:Describing points of view|point of view]] or contain [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch|words to watch]] which may be appropriate to retain in the article if they are properly attributed. The tag can be resolved by attributing the identified passage, sentence or phrase as either a [[direct quote|direct]] or an [[indirect quote]]. Alternatively, the material may be rewritten in language which is not contentious.

===Examples===

====Example one====

::{{!xt|Opinion text}}
:Resolved as:
::{{xt|Author, ''Name'', stated: "Opinion text".}} (a direct quote)
::{{xt|Author, ''Name'', stated: Opinion text.}} (an indirect quote)

In making an in-text attribution to a person, it is usual (in the first instance) to establish their "[[credential]]s" and why their opinion is of consequence. Identifying them as an author, historian, critic, company president, manager or such, establishes their credentials and, the relevance and credibility of their opinion or other statement.

====Example two====

::{{!xt|It was clearly a matter of ...}} (in this case, ''clearly'' is [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch#Editorializing|editorialising]])
:Resolved as:
::{{xt|According to the author, ''Name'', it was clearly a matter of ...}} (attributing the editorial to a source)
:or
::{{xt|It was a matter of ...}} (removing the word that is editorial)
:Usage of the tag is similar to {{tl|Specify}} but differs, in how the issue might be resolved in these instances.