Wikipedia:Citing IMDb

This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

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This page in a nutshell: Anecdotes, trivia, and unreleased film information from IMDb do not meet the reliable sources guideline. The IMDb should be used only as a tertiary source for hard data on released films.

Citing the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) on Wikipedia raises questions if such references do not follow the important points given in the reliable sources guideline. This is because much of the database content in IMDb is contributed by users, not by experts. Plus, the editorial oversight by IMDb staff is minimal and not stated on the site, so you don't know what was edited and what was not.

The following essay addresses the usage of IMDb as a reference source, where its weaknesses and strengths lie with regard to content and policy, and the resulting ways you can and can't use it in Wikipedia's articles.