Mikhail Gorbachev

Main page		Discussion		How to guide		Resources		Mistagged articles		June 2025 backlog drive (talk)

Welcome to the WikiProject Unreferenced Articles June 2025 backlog drive! When the drive began, there were approximately 58,500 articles tagged as entirely without references on Wikipedia. By the end of the drive, we hope to reach 50,000, a net decrease of 8,500 articles.

Reducing the number of unsourced articles improves the quality of Wikipedia as a whole, verifying accurate information in articles and helping to remove the inaccurate.

To participate: (§ Detailed instructions)

1. Find an unreferenced article. These can be found in the backlog of articles tagged as unreferenced.
2. Add at least one inline citation of a reliable source to the article, then accurately update its tags.
3. Include #JUN25 in the edit summary (once per article) to have your contributions counted in this drive. There must not be any immediately preceding characters before the hashtag.^[a]

Reviewers will check submissions. 1 point will be awarded for adding references, and 0.5 points for each review. Mass deletion or tag removals are strictly prohibited.

The referencing portion of the drive runs from June 1, 00:00 UTC until July 1, 23:59 UTC. Only submissions made in this period will be counted. The review period of the drive extends until July 7, 23:59 UTC to allow time for additional reviews.

For advice on adding references, read the § Tips on this page and the helpful guide at Wikipedia:Citing sources, or ask at the WikiProject Unreferenced Articles talk page.

If you have questions or concerns about the drive, please use the backlog drive talk page or contact the organizers, Kazamzam, Cielquiparle and ARandomName123. For technical issues, contact DreamRimmer, who is providing technical support for this drive.

1. 1 point for adding at least one inline citation from a reliable source to an unreferenced article, usually tagged with {{Unreferenced}} or {{BLP unsourced}}. Untagged, but unreferenced articles are also acceptable.
   • No points for simply listing references in a section.
   • To keep this drive focused, no points for adding additional citations to one article, though editors are encouraged to do so whenever possible.
   • Primary sources are permitted so long as they are only used to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts. Please see WP:PRIMARY.
   • If the article is not fully supported by the new reference, add {{citation needed}} as needed.
2. 0.5 points for reviewing submissions of the drive. See more at /Reviews.
   • The point is less because reviewing submissions is easier than finding reliable sources. Nevertheless, reviewers have an extremely important job of verifying submissions and require a high level of trust.
3. No points for deleting an article via AfD, PROD or blank and redirect. (See this discussion)
4. All citing contributions without #JUN25 in the edit summary will not be counted. There must not be any immediately preceding characters before the hashtag.^[a]
   • If making multiple edits to an article, include #JUN25 in only one edit summary.
   • If the editor forgets to put that summary, they may add it retroactively using a dummy edit.
5. Problematic behaviors are grounds towards disqualification and blocks. Examples are:
   • Spamming articles to AfD/PROD/blank and redirect
   • Mass-removal of {{Unreferenced}}
   • Adding fake references and content
   • Being disruptive by being uncivil, wikilawyering, etc.

Find an article in Category:Articles lacking sources (credits to User:Ajpolino and User:Ipigott). Here are some ways to search:

• By search term: go to the search bar and type [search term] incategory:"All articles lacking sources".
• By WikiProject: go to Bambot's WikiProject Cleanup Listings, find the project name and click "by cat", then scroll to find the category "Cites no sources".
• By article topic: use the navbox on Category:Articles lacking sources, or search articletopic:[topic] incategory:"All articles lacking sources".
• By category: use WP:PetScan to find the intersection between "All articles lacking sources" and a chosen category by entering both in "Categories" on separate lines, without the "Category:" part.
• By popularity: see § Popular articles

Then, find a reliable source.

• Familiarize yourself with reliable sources on Wikipedia.
• For tips, see § Some tricks and § Determining what sources are usable.

If at least one reliable source is found, follow these steps:

1. Cite it inline. Be sure to include all the needed citation data including the title, date, and author/publisher (see WP:CITE). Page numbers and ISBN are strongly recommended wherever present. Place the citation after the punctuation, with no space.
2. Add {{reflist}} and ==References== if not yet present (see MOS:ORDER).
3. Remove {{Unreferenced}} or {{BLP unsourced}}. It is recommended to replace it with {{More citations needed}} if large parts of the article are still unreferenced, or add {{cn}} to short chunks of text.
4. Add an edit summary including #JUN25. Do this only once per article, even if you make multiple edits.

If no reliable source can found with the best of your effort, according to WP:BEFORE, there are a few options:

• PROD the article if it is obvious that the article should be deleted.
• AFD the article if it is not obvious that the article should be deleted.
• Merge discussion and redirect the article if the article has some useful content but it is not notable.
• Make a new thread at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Unreferenced articles if you are unsure.

Goal: Bring the backlog down to below 50,000.

Progress Chart

Date	Participants	Articles	Change since previous day	Change since beginning
1 June 2025	103	58,537	—	—
2 June 2025	112	58,061	476	476
3 June 2025	117	57,635	426	902
4 June 2025	119	57,118	517	1419
5 June 2025	119	56,770	348	1767
6 June 2025	121	56,407	363	2130
7 June 2025	123	56,144	263	2393
8 June 2025	124	55,889	255	2648
9 June 2025	124	55,581	308	2956
10 June 2025	127	55,343	238	3194
11 June 2025	128	55,070	273	3467
12 June 2025	131	54,764	306	3773
13 June 2025	132	54,482	282	4055
14 June 2025	134	54,266	216	4271
15 June 2025	134	54,024	242	4513
16 June 2025	135	53,588	436	4949
17 June 2025	136	53,423	165	5114
18 June 2025	136	53,233	190	5304
19 June 2025	136	53,023	210	5514
20 June 2025	136	52,789	234	5748
21 June 2025	136	52,616	173	5921

• 8 June 2025: August 2009, the oldest category at start of drive, is completed
• 10 June 2025: Added citations to more than 3,000 articles
• 12 June 2025: Total number of unreferenced articles below 55,000
• 16 June 2025: Total number of unreferenced articles below 54,000
• 17 June 2025: September 2009, the second oldest category at the start, is cleared
• 20 June 2025: Total number of unreferenced articles below 53,000
• 21 June 2025: November 2009, the fourth oldest category at the start, is cleared

Category:Articles lacking sources from December 2009 Started at June 1, 2025 with 7,760 articles. 6,488 left.

1,272 / 7,760 (16%)

Category:Articles lacking sources from January 2010 Started at June 1, 2025 with 132 articles. 68 left.

64 / 132 (48%)

Category:Articles lacking sources from February 2010 Started at June 8, 2025 with 249 articles. 176 left.

73 / 249 (29%)

Category:Articles lacking sources from March 2010 Started at June 17, 2025 with 304 articles. 287 left.

17 / 304 (6%)

Category:Articles lacking sources from April 2010 Started at June 17, 2025 with 206 articles. 191 left.

15 / 206 (7%)

Category:Articles lacking sources from May 2010 Started at June 21, 2025 with 141 articles. 139 left.

2 / 141 (1%)

Last updated June 21, 2025, 16:13 UTC

Rank	User	Tally	References	Reviews	Total
1	JTtheOG	Tally	697	30.0	727.0
2	Davidindia	Tally	311	3.5	314.5
3	Liandrei	Tally	289	0.0	289.0
4	Silver seren	Tally	272	0.5	272.5
5	KhoaNguyen1	Tally	238	28.0	266.0
6	Cielquiparle	Tally	259	2.5	261.5
7	Lulusword	Tally	260	0.0	260.0
8	AwerDiWeGo	Tally	242	0.0	242.0
9	Frost	Tally	205	1.5	206.5
10	Nayyn	Tally	183	0.0	183.0
11	Luis7M	Tally	168	0.0	168.0
12	Suonii180	Tally	93	18.5	111.5
13	Local Internet User	Tally	111	0.0	111.0
14	The joy of all things	Tally	95	5.0	100.0
15	Toweli	Tally	93	0.0	93.0
16	Golem08	Tally	84	8.0	92.0
17	Cdjp1	Tally	32	48.5	80.5
18	Yiosie2356	Tally	77	0.0	77.0
19	Itzcuauhtli11	Tally	62	12.5	74.5
20	FictionWitch	Tally	72	0.0	72.0
21	Sleepytimecat	Tally	69	2.0	71.0
22	ARandomName123	Tally	61	2.0	63.0
23	Bearian	Tally	62	0.0	62.0
24	DeemDeem52	Tally	60	0.0	60.0
25	Suriname0	Tally	55	0.0	55.0
25	Coeusin	Tally	55	0.0	55.0
27	D-Flo27	Tally	51	0.0	51.0
28	Nick Number	Tally	49	0.0	49.0
29	ProtoKiwi	Tally	45	0.0	45.0
30	Visviva	Tally	44	0.0	44.0
31	Coldupnorth	Tally	42	0.0	42.0
32	Cakelot1	Tally	38	0.0	38.0
33	MrLinkinPark333	Tally	33	4.0	37.0
33	Lenticel	Tally	37	0.0	37.0
33	Dougal18	Tally	37	0.0	37.0
36	Wizardman	Tally	35	0.0	35.0
36	Penny Richards	Tally	35	0.0	35.0
38	Secretlondon	Tally	31	2.5	33.5
39	PamD	Tally	33	0.0	33.0
40	Spiderpig662	Tally	29	3.5	32.5
41	TheSlumPanda	Tally	32	0.0	32.0
42	1AmNobody24	Tally	27	3.0	30.0
42	Smallangryplanet	Tally	30	0.0	30.0
44	NorthernWinds	Tally	27	0.0	27.0
44	Lollipoplollipoplollipop	Tally	18	9.0	27.0
44	Yaaaaargh!	Tally	27	0.0	27.0
44	Feralcateater000	Tally	27	0.0	27.0
48	Vegantics	Tally	26	0.0	26.0
49	Giuliotf	Tally	25	0.0	25.0
50	Grumpylawnchair	Tally	24	0.0	24.0
50	Itdoesntmatteranymore	Tally	24	0.0	24.0
52	SunloungerFrog	Tally	23	0.0	23.0
52	Sariel Xilo	Tally	23	0.0	23.0
52	Mmemaigret	Tally	23	0.0	23.0
55	Engineerchange	Tally	22	0.0	22.0
55	Jengod	Tally	22	0.0	22.0
57	Pasados	Tally	21	0.0	21.0
57	Opm581	Tally	18	3.0	21.0
59	Victuallers	Tally	20	0.0	20.0
59	TheLiteraryLoon	Tally	20	0.0	20.0
61	R0paire-wiki	Tally	19	0.0	19.0
62	1ctinus	Tally	16	0.0	16.0
62	Paprikaiser	Tally	16	0.0	16.0
64	Moriwen	Tally	14	0.0	14.0
65	Ethmostigmus	Tally	13	0.0	13.0
65	Garsh2	Tally	13	0.0	13.0
65	Ayji	Tally	13	0.0	13.0
68	BaduFerreira	Tally	12	0.0	12.0
69	CosXZ	Tally	11	0.0	11.0
69	Hog Farm	Tally	11	0.0	11.0
69	DanGFSouza	Tally	11	0.0	11.0
72	Mrfoogles	Tally	10	0.0	10.0
72	HouseBlaster	Tally	10	0.0	10.0
72	Gobonobo	Tally	10	0.0	10.0
75	Valorrr	Tally	8	1.5	9.5
76	GranCavallo	Tally	9	0.0	9.0
76	Voorts	Tally	9	0.0	9.0
76	RandomMainstream	Tally	9	0.0	9.0
79	Spookyaki	Tally	8	0.0	8.0
80	MainlyTwelve	Tally	7	0.0	7.0
80	Kmccook	Tally	7	0.0	7.0
80	Suntooooth	Tally	7	0.0	7.0
80	ForsythiaJo	Tally	7	0.0	7.0
84	Bo-3903	Tally	6	0.0	6.0
85	Turtlecrown	Tally	5	0.0	5.0
85	Quxyz	Tally	5	0.0	5.0
85	ClaudineChionh	Tally	5	0.0	5.0
88	Kazamzam	Tally	4	0.0	4.0
88	Mox Eden	Tally	4	0.0	4.0
88	Samoht27	Tally	4	0.0	4.0
88	Ivebeenhacked	Tally	4	0.0	4.0
88	Meanderingbartender	Tally	4	0.0	4.0
93	CanonNi	Tally	3	0.0	3.0
93	Fade258	Tally	3	0.0	3.0
93	Clarityfiend	Tally	3	0.0	3.0
93	Wh67890	Tally	3	0.0	3.0
93	Whisperjanes	Tally	3	0.0	3.0
93	Geneseditor14454	Tally	3	0.0	3.0
99	TrademarkedTWOrantula	Tally	2	0.0	2.0
99	Whpq	Tally	2	0.0	2.0
99	History6042	Tally	2	0.0	2.0
99	Ajeeshkumar4u	Tally	2	0.0	2.0
99	Mellk	Tally	2	0.0	2.0
104	Voidxor	Tally	1	0.0	1.0
104	Imperatorhobbes	Tally	1	0.0	1.0
104	Goldsztajn	Tally	1	0.0	1.0
104	Aaron Liu	Tally	1	0.0	1.0
104	Scaledish	Tally	1	0.0	1.0
104	Muirjohnnyes	Tally	1	0.0	1.0
-	CycoMa2	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	DandelionAndBurdock	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Hwqaksd	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Yue	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	GraziePrego	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	GOAT Bones231012	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	PacificDepths	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	VastV0idInSpace0	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Calmkelp	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	WilliamMarkRock	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Timur9008	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Riley1012	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Sam Sailor	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Demt1298	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Endrabcwizart	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Mooonswimmer	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Poiuytrewq09876	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Destinyokhiria	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Nnev66	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Triptothecottage	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Merlinderhindergrinder	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Thefallguy2025	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	JavaHurricane	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Carlodivarga-s	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
-	Econterms	Tally	0	0.0	0.0
Total			5548	189.0	5737.0

All participants with experience in citing sources are encouraged to perform reviews. Reviewers will be awarded 0.5 points for each review. A tool is available to locate unreviewed submissions and simplify wikitext formatting.

Even if we are just citing one source for an article, that source must be chosen carefully. That source needs to:

• verify information in the article
• be reliable enough to be trusted

This is a lot to take in. And worse, sometimes you won't be able to find a source that meets these criteria! It can be very hard to determine whether you should go forward to cite the article or ask for its deletion, even for experienced WikiGnomers, and sometimes you have to follow through with your gut feelings.

Some suitable sources may be found at Wikipedia:WikiProject Unreferenced articles/Resources or Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources.

Examples of common not suitable sources include:

• Tabloids – Daily Mail, listicles at Hindustan Times, etc.
• Blogs – Wordpress, Blogger, personal websites
• Wikipedia mirrors, substantially duplicating existing content
• Books not under editorial control, print-on-demand, or self-published from groups such as Lulu.com, AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Trafford Publishing, Xlibris, PediaPress, etc. (tip: search Wikipedia for the publisher's name)
• Websites made up of user-generated content such as IMDb, Goodreads and Fandom

Searching for sources (detailed guide at Wikipedia:Advanced source searching)

• The {{Unreferenced}} template placed at the top of unreferenced pages contains many search links pre-filled with the article topic (and configured to exclude other Wikipedia articles).
• On Google and some other search engines:
  • Use "" (double quotes) to search for the term exactly. This means that "pinnochio" should only show pages containing "pinnochio", not pinocchio (but note that sometimes quotes are disregarded and the wrong term is shown anyway).
  • Use - (dash) to exclude pages containing unwanted terms, e.g. -wikipedia.
• Some articles, especially for more general topics, might have sources available with slightly different wording, e.g. "basketweaving" vs "basket weaving", "basket weaver", etc.
• Search millions of old and new books at Google Books and Archive.org. For Archive.org, go to https://archive.org/search, click the search bar, then click the "search text contents" radio button to search inside over 10 million books.
• Access to some pay-walled content, including academic journals, Newspapers.com and ProQuest, is provided to editors via The Wikipedia Library.
• Check for sources in related articles on Wikipedia but do not simply copy the reference. Only after you've checked that the source is reliable and does indeed verify the text, you may use the citation.

Reading and parsing sources

• Use the text searching feature to locate what you are looking for faster, such as Ctrl+F on Windows or ⌘ Cmd+F on macOS.
• Translation for reading:
  • You can use machine translation, either at a website or as built in to your web browser. However, these translations may be rough and should not be used indiscriminately in Wikipedia.
  • To translate text that cannot be copied, for example on Google Books, you can take a screenshot of a passage and upload the image to Google Translate.

Processing articles

• While you're there, you could expand the article with new information from your reliable sources, or clean up or tag other problems you find.
• Twinkle might be helpful for cleaning up article banners and nominating articles for deletion
• If you are familiar with AWB/JWB, you can use it to quickly add a "References" section and {{reflist}} template.

The articles below are some of the more popular pages on Wikipedia and thus might be easier to find sources for. Today's selection are all articles related roughly to Asia. They are queried from page views analysis at Wikimedia Cloud Services (WMCS). Please remove entries once references have been added. This section will be updated regularly.

The articles below are all the unreferenced biographies of living people that are not currently subject to a deletion process. Please remove entries once references have been added. This section will be updated regularly.

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  Top 3 of the drive
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  Top 2 of the drive
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