Template:ISBN missing
 | This template is used on approximately 3,200 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them. |
 | This template should not be used in citation templates such as Citation Style 1 and Citation Style 2, because it includes markup that will pollute the COinS metadata they produce; see Wikipedia:COinS. Category:Templates not safe for use in citation templates |
 | This template should not be substituted. |
{{ISBN missing}} is an inline cleanup template for flagging a reference that is missing the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) of the source document. The template adds Category:Pages with missing ISBNs to the article.
Usage
{{ISBN missing|date=April 2026}} or {{ISBN?|date=April 2026}}
- With a reference formatted via a Citation Style 1 template (
{{Cite web}},{{Cite book}},{{Citation}}, etc.):
- Place
{{ISBN missing|date=April 2026}}outside the citation template 
Do not place it in the |isbn=parameter of a Citation Style 1 template.
The inclusion of text other than the digits of an ISBN in|isbn=corrupts the citation's COinS metadata and the citation's
link to Special:BookSources.
- Place
- With a free-form reference, just append
{{ISBN missing|date=April 2026}}to the end of the citation. - With either method or format, it will render a [ISBN missing] inline note.
How to fix the problem flagged by this template
Do not remove the {{ISBN missing}} template without fixing the problem in one of the following ways:
- Determine the ISBN, add it to the reference, then remove the {{ISBN missing}} template
- For a reference formatted via a Citation Style 1 template, use its ISBN parameter:
|isbn=X-XXXX-XXXX-X
- For a free-form reference:
- Add the ISBN as appropriate to the citation, preferably using the {{ISBN}} template, or...
- Better yet, convert the citation to a Citation Style 1 template.
- If you are certain that the source document does not have an ISBN, add a {{No ISBN}} template to the reference, then remove the {{ISBN missing}} template
- For a reference formatted via a Citation Style 1 template:
- 1. Use its ISBN parameter to state explicitly that the ISBN does not exist:
|isbn=<!-- ISBN unspecified -->(you must use HTML<!-- -->comment tags to hide the message from the citation processing software)
- 2. Place
{{No ISBN}}outside the citation template
- 1. Use its ISBN parameter to state explicitly that the ISBN does not exist:
- For free-form reference, just add
{{No ISBN}}to the end of the citation.
If you remove the {{ISBN missing}} template without fixing the problem in one of the above ways, someone else will come along later and flag the reference with {{ISBN missing}} again!
TemplateData
This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:ISBN missing in articles based on its TemplateData.
Category:Templates using TemplateData
TemplateData for ISBN missing
No description.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month and year | date | no description
| Unknown | optional |
See also
- Category:Citation Style 1 templates, includes all Citation Style 1 templates
- Wikipedia:ISBN, describes how to add an ISBN to an article
- {{Lacking ISBN}}
- {{Listed Invalid ISBN}} Category:Inline citation cleanup templates Category:International Standard Book Number templates