English: Wikidata references are separately attached to each statement. This is fine when the source(s) for each statement differ, but this is often not the case, and items can get loaded down with many repetitions of the same reference. There are a variety of gadgets to simplify adding these repeated references. But wouldn't it be better to just state the reference information once, then refer back to it by a short identifier? Wikipedia (most languages) does this now, though we don't necessarily want to follow that model with a separated reference section. Serious problems caused by the current state will be discussed, and options for improving the situation raised with the hope of the session selecting a preferred path forward.