Template:UN document
Usage edit
This Citation Template Structure is to be used for referring to UN documents from a Wikipedia article. Detailed instructions are available on w:WP:CITE#HOW. But for a very brief introduction by way of an example, see the Water for Life Decade page and click on "edit" to see the source text.
Example edit
<ref>{{UN document |docid=A-RES-58-217 |body=A |session=58 |type=R |resolution_number=217 |title=International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”, 2005-2015 |page=2 |accessdate=13 November 2007 |date=23 December 2003}}</ref>
This is a generic representation of the document containing its official symbol, and several parameters, such as body, session number, type, resolution number, title, and a page number. The <ref>
and </ref>
tags cause it to appear as a footnote.
In the References section, this appears as:
- United Nations General Assembly Session 58 Resolution 217. International Decade for Action, “Water for Life”, 2005-2015 A/RES/58/217 page 2. Retrieved 13 November 2007.
Note that the page number is not part of the link; it is not possible to link directly to a specific page or section of a document hosted at the United Nations.
For an explanation of the format of the docid (known as the document symbol), see United Nations Document Codes.
Parameters edit
Some of these values are mutually redundant, but alternatives are necessary.
Parameter name | Description / usage |
---|---|
docid | Document code (e.g. A/58/PV.12). This format must match what is on the UN website. |
body | Source of the document at the U.N. Shortcuts: A=General Assembly; S=Security Council; T=Secretariat; E=Economic and Social Council; H=Human Rights Campaign. |
type | Shortcuts: A=Agenda item; D=Document; M=Meeting; R=Resolution; S=Summary Report; V=Verbatim Report. Entries are not limited to these options. |
session | session number (e.g. 58). |
resolution_number | when type=Resolution. |
document_number | when type=Agenda item or other value. |
title | title of section or document being referenced. |
page | page number. |
pages | page numbers—use for a range of pages, not for total number of pages. |
date | date of publication (the one on the document). |
year | include only if date is unavailable. |
meeting | meeting number (e.g. 12) (when type=Verbatim Report or Meeting). |
meetingtime | time of meeting (sometimes several happen on one day). |
speakername | name of the speaker who gave the speech. |
speakernation | nation of the speaker who gave the speech. |
language | language of the speaker; all documents on the website are in English. |
accessdate | date you viewed the document. |
A page of codes is at http://www.library.yorku.ca/ccm/ScottReference/govpubs/guides/unindex.htm
For reasons best known to itself, the UN site does not support links on their website that go directly to these documents. For now everything is factored through http://www.undemocracy.com
It's possible to decode it into english without reference to all the fields, but it will require http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/StringFunctions to be installed.
You can get to the documents through http://documents.un.org/simple.asp or through http://www.undemocracy.org
Best practice edit
If you are viewing a document on the undemocracy.com site and you want to reference it in a wikipedia article, it is recommended that you find the line at the top of a holding page which says:
- wiki [(some greyed text here)]
and cut and paste from the text box. This will give provide a citation to the document in a correct form for use by this template.
If you are reading transcripts of a speech, then you can click on the
- [link to here]
box to the side of the text and be presented with a similar text box as above from which to cut and paste the fully formed template citation.
Every official United Nations document has a unique ID. An outline of the coding system is at United Nations Document Codes.