Template:Self-contradictory

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This template will categorize tagged articles into Category:Self-contradictory articles.

• This template is a self-reference.
• This template is not useful for substitution.

After posting this template

Please start a section on the article's talk page to discuss and specify the specific section that contradicts itself. The third optional parameter is the name of a specific section on the specified talk page.

It is possible to specify the subject about which the article or section is contradictory with the optional parameter about.

Example of use

{{Self-contradictory|about=the cause of death|date=December 2025}}

This renders as:

Adding the optional text |section or |article changes the vague default wording to be more specific:

• Default: "This article or section appears to contradict ..." followed by "itself" or a link to an article named with |article=
• |article or |1=article – "This article appears to contradict ..." followed by "itself" or a link to an article named with |article=
• |section or |1=section – "This section appears to contradict ..." followed by "itself" or a link to an article named with |article=
• |othersection or |1=othersection – "This section appears to contradict another section of this article" (this parameter is ignored if mutually exclusive parameter |article= has a value; the default output will result).

More complex examples of use

{{Self-contradictory|section|date=December 2025}}

{{Self-contradictory|about=the cause of death|1=article|date=December 2025}}

{{Self-contradictory|othersection|date=December 2025}}

{{Self-contradictory|section|article=John F. Kennedy|about=the cause of death|date=December 2025}}

Notes:

• The date-substitution template may be used to automatically generate the date, e.g., {{Self-contradictory|{{subst:DATE}}}}. See Help:Substitution for more information.
• The |date= parameter need not be added by the editor: if not entered, a bot will soon add it. The date parameter consists of the full English name of the current month with initial capital, a space, and the year, not full dates, ISO date order, or other formatting; e.g., "January 2013", but not "jan13" or "7 January 2013" or "2013-01". Any deviation from this rule will result in an "invalid date parameter" error.

See also

• Category:Self-contradictory articles
• {{Contradicts other}}, an equivalent when the contradiction involves not just one article, but two
• {{Contradicts others}}, an equivalent when the contradiction involves many.
• {{Inconsistent}}, inline variant indicating a single statement that is in conflict with the rest of the article.
• {{Contradict-inline}}, inline equivalent of {{Contradicts other}}
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup

TemplateData

This template will categorize tagged articles into "Category:Self-contradictory articles".

Template parameters

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Scope	1 scope	Whether the whole article or one section is contradictory; enter either 'article' or 'section'	Line	optional
Talk page section	2 talksection discuss	The section on the talk page where the contradiction is discussed or explained	Line	optional
About	about	The subject about which the article or section is contradictory. Optional but recommended parameter.	String	suggested
Date	date	The month and year the template was added Auto value {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Content	suggested

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Self-contradictory/doc. (edit | history)
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