View source for Template:Citation Style documentation/registration

<span id="csdoc_access_level"></span>{{tracked|T225430}}Citations of online sources that require registration or a subscription are acceptable in Wikipedia as documented in [[WP:PAYWALL|Verifiability § Access to sources]]. As a courtesy to readers and other editors, editors should signal the access restrictions of the external links included in a citation.  {{lang|la|Nota bene}}: access icons do not display correctly for editors who use Modern skin.

Four access levels can be used:
*[[#Access indicator for named identifiers|access indicator for named identifiers]]:
** [[File:Lock-green.svg|9px|link=|alt=Freely accessible|Freely accessible]] <code>free</code>: the source is free to read for anyone
*[[#Access indicators for url-holding parameters|access indicators for url-holding parameters]]:
** [[File:Lock-gray-alt-2.svg|9px|link=|alt=Free registration required|Free registration required]] <code>registration</code>: a free registration is required to access the source
** [[File:Lock-gray-alt-2.svg|9px|link=|alt=Free access subject to limited trial, subscription normally required|Free access subject to limited trial, subscription normally required]] <code>limited</code>: there are other constraints (such as a cap on daily views) to freely access this source
** [[File:Lock-red-alt-2.svg|9px|link=|alt=Paid subscription required|Paid subscription required]] <code>subscription</code>: the source is only accessible via a paid subscription ("[[paywall]]")

As there are often multiple external links with different access levels in the same citation, these values are attributed to a particular external link.

=====Access indicators for url-holding parameters=====
Sources linked by {{para|url}}, {{para|chapter-url}}, {{para|entry-url}}, {{para|article-url}}, and {{para|section-url}} are presumed to be free-to-read. When they are not free-to-read, editors should mark those sources with the matching access-indicator parameter so that an appropriate icon is included in the rendered citation. Because the sources linked by these url-holding parameters are presumed to be free-to-read, they may not be marked as <code>free</code>.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ url-holding and access-indicator parameters
|-
! url !! access !! allowed keywords
|-
| {{para|url}} || {{para|url-access}} || rowspan="6" | <code>registration</code> [[File:Lock-gray-alt-2.svg|9px|link=|alt=Free registration required|Free registration required]]<br /><code>limited</code> [[File:Lock-gray-alt-2.svg|9px|link=|alt=Free access subject to limited trial, subscription normally required|Free access subject to limited trial, subscription normally required]]<br /><code>subscription</code> [[File:Lock-red-alt-2.svg|9px|link=|alt=Paid subscription required|Paid subscription required]]
|-
| {{para|article-url}} || {{para|article-url-access}}
|-
| {{para|chapter-url}} || {{para|chapter-url-access}}
|-
| {{para|contribution-url}} || {{para|chapter-url-access}}{{dagger}}
|-
| {{para|entry-url}} || {{para|entry-url-access}}
|-
| {{para|section-url}} || {{para|section-url-access}}
|}
{{dagger}}{{para|contribution-url-access}} not currently defined; use its alias {{para|chapter-url-access}}

=====Access indicator for named identifiers=====
Links inserted by named identifiers are presumed to lie behind a paywall or registration barrier – exceptions listed below. When they are free-to-read, editors should mark those sources with the matching access-indicator parameter so that an appropriate icon is included in the rendered citation.  Because the sources linked by these named-identifier parameters are not presumed to be free-to-read, they may not be marked as <code>limited</code>, <code>registration</code>, or <code>subscription</code>.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ named-identifier and access-indicator parameters
|-
! identifier!! access !! allowed keywords
|-
| {{para|bibcode}} || {{para|bibcode-access}} || rowspan="6" | <code>free</code> [[File:Lock-green.svg|9px|link=|alt=Freely accessible|Freely accessible]]
|-
| {{para|doi}} || {{para|doi-access}}
|-
| {{para|hdl}} || {{para|hdl-access}}{{dagger}}
|-
| {{para|jstor}} || {{para|jstor-access}}
|-
| {{para|ol}} || {{para|ol-access}}
|-
| {{para|osti}} || {{para|osti-access}}
|}

Some named-identifiers are always free-to-read. For those named-identifiers there are no access-indicator parameters, the access level is automatically indicated by the template. These named identifiers are:
*{{para|arxiv}}
*{{para|biorxiv}}
*{{para|citeseerx}}
*{{para|pmc}}
*{{para|rfc}}
*{{para|ssrn}}

=====Ambiguous access parameters=====
The parameters {{para|registration|yes}} and {{para|subscription|yes}} can also be used to indicate the access level of a citation. However, they do not indicate which link they apply to, so editors are encouraged to use {{para|url-access|registration}} and {{para|url-access|subscription}} instead, when the restriction applies to {{para|url}}. If the restriction applies to an identifier, these parameters should be omitted.

These parameters add a link note to the end of the citation:
* '''{{xtd|registration}}''': (deprecated) <s>For online sources that require registration, set {{para|registration|yes}} (or <code>y</code>, or <code>true</code>); yields to '''{{xtd|subscription}}''' if both are set.</s> Use the appropriate [[#Subscription_or_registration_required|access-indicator parameter]]
* '''{{xtd|subscription}}''': (deprecated) <s>For online sources that require a subscription, set {{para|subscription|yes}} (or <code>y</code>, or <code>true</code>); supersedes '''{{xtd|registration}}''' if both are set.</s> Use the appropriate [[#Subscription_or_registration_required|access-indicator parameter]]
Setting {{para|registration}} or {{para|subscription}} to any value other than <code>y</code>, <code>yes</code>, or <code>true</code> will generate an error message.