Can You Cite Wikipedia? How to Do It Properly in APA, Harvard, MLA & Chicago

It’s the question every student Googles at least once: can I actually cite Wikipedia in my essay? The short answer is that it depends on your professor and your assignment level. The longer answer involves understanding why Wikipedia has the reputation it does, when it genuinely is acceptable, and how to cite it correctly if you’re allowed to.

Why Do Professors Ban Wikipedia?

Wikipedia isn’t banned because it’s inaccurate — plenty of studies have shown that well-maintained Wikipedia articles are comparable in accuracy to traditional encyclopaedias. The issue is more nuanced:

1. It’s a tertiary source. Wikipedia summarises information from other sources. At university level, you’re expected to engage with primary and secondary sources directly, not rely on someone else’s summary.

2. Anyone can edit it. While Wikipedia has extensive editorial processes, the open editing model means content can change at any time. The article you read today might say something different tomorrow.

3. It lacks the depth expected in academic work. A Wikipedia article gives you an overview. Your professor wants you to demonstrate that you’ve gone deeper — reading the original research, understanding the debates, and forming your own analysis.

4. It signals surface-level research. Rightly or wrongly, citing Wikipedia can suggest you didn’t look beyond the first Google result. This affects how your professor perceives the quality of your work.

When Is Citing Wikipedia Acceptable?

There are situations where citing Wikipedia is genuinely fine:

• Background or general knowledge claims — if you need to briefly establish that the French Revolution began in 1789, a Wikipedia citation is reasonable (though many professors would say this is common knowledge that doesn’t need a citation at all).

• The article itself is your subject — if you’re writing about Wikipedia’s editorial processes, online knowledge communities, or digital encyclopaedias, then Wikipedia is a primary source for your research.

• Informal or lower-stakes assignments — some first-year courses or reflective journals are more relaxed about source quality. Check your rubric.

• Your professor explicitly says it’s fine — some academics have no issue with Wikipedia as a supporting source. If they’ve said so, take them at their word.

When you should never cite Wikipedia:

• Any assignment that specifies “peer-reviewed sources” or “scholarly sources”
• Dissertations, theses, or major research papers
• Any claim that is central to your argument (use the original source instead)

How to Cite Wikipedia Properly

If you’ve determined that citing Wikipedia is appropriate for your assignment, here’s how to do it correctly in each major citation style. Wikipedia articles are treated as online encyclopaedia entries.

APA 7th Edition

Because Wikipedia articles have no individual author and are updated constantly, APA treats them as entries in a group-authored, continuously updated reference work.

In-text citation:

(“Title of Article,” year)

(“French Revolution,” 2025)

Reference list:

French Revolution. (2025, March 10). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_Revolution&oldid=XXXXXXX

Note: APA recommends linking to the permanent version (oldid) of the article, not the live page. You can find this by clicking “View history” on any Wikipedia article and copying the URL of the version you accessed.

Harvard

French Revolution 2025, Wikipedia, accessed 10 March 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_Revolution&oldid=XXXXXXX.

Harvard formats vary by university, so check your institution’s specific guide. The key elements are the article title, the year of the version you accessed, and the permanent URL.

MLA 9th Edition

MLA treats Wikipedia as a website with the Wikimedia Foundation as the publisher.

In-text citation:

(“French Revolution”)

Works Cited:

“French Revolution.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Mar. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_Revolution&oldid=XXXXXXX.

For more on MLA formatting, see our full MLA guide.

Chicago Notes-Bibliography

Footnote:

¹ “French Revolution,” Wikipedia, last modified March 10, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_Revolution&oldid=XXXXXXX.

Bibliography:

Wikipedia articles are often omitted from the bibliography in Chicago style and cited only in footnotes. Check with your professor — some want it in the bibliography, others don’t.

For a deeper comparison of the two Chicago citation systems, see our Chicago guide.

The Permanent URL: Why It Matters

Every citation style recommends or requires linking to the specific version of the Wikipedia article you read, not the current live page. This is because Wikipedia changes constantly — the information you cited might be edited or removed after you accessed it.

To get the permanent URL:

1. Go to the Wikipedia article
2. Click “View history” in the top-right area
3. Find the date you accessed the article (or the nearest revision before that date)
4. Click the date/time link
5. Copy the URL from your browser — it will contain “oldid=” followed by a number

This URL will always show the exact version you read, no matter how many edits happen afterwards.

A Better Strategy: Use Wikipedia to Find Real Sources

Here’s the approach most academics would actually recommend: use Wikipedia as a starting point, not a destination.

Every good Wikipedia article is full of footnotes. Those footnotes point to books, journal articles, news reports, and other sources that you can cite in your essay. This is one of the fastest ways to find credible sources for an assignment.

How to Do It

1. Read the Wikipedia article to get an overview of your topic
2. Scroll to the “References” section at the bottom
3. Identify the sources behind the claims that are most relevant to your essay
4. Find those original sources — search for the journal article title in Google Scholar, or look up the book in your university library catalogue
5. Read and cite the original source in your essay

This gives you the benefit of Wikipedia’s broad coverage while meeting academic source requirements. You’ll also understand the topic more deeply because you’re reading the actual research, not a summary.

What If Your Professor Checks?

Some students worry about whether professors can tell they started with Wikipedia. Realistically:

• If you cite Wikipedia directly, they’ll see it in your reference list. Whether that’s a problem depends on the rules above.
• If you use Wikipedia to find sources and then cite the original sources, that’s not a problem at all. It’s actually good research practice. Professors care about what you cite, not how you found it.
• If you paraphrase Wikipedia without citing it, that’s plagiarism — even though Wikipedia is free and publicly available. Always cite your sources, regardless of where they come from.

The Bottom Line

Wikipedia is a useful tool for academic work, but usually as a research aid rather than a cited source. If your assignment allows it, cite it correctly using the permanent URL. If your assignment requires scholarly sources, use Wikipedia’s own references to find them.

Need to format Wikipedia citations — or any other source — in the right style? RefFinder supports APA, Harvard, MLA, and Chicago, and handles the tricky formatting details like permanent URLs and access dates automatically.

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