User:Ocaasi/POLDRAFT
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This is not the current policy. That is here: WP:NPOV, WP:NOR, and WP:V. This is a draft. If you have a question about it, ask on my talk page. Ocaasi c 08:33, 22 April 2011 (UTC)
This is not a Wikipedia article: This is a workpage, a collection of material and work in progress that may or may not be incorporated into an article. It should not necessarily be considered factual or authoritative. |
This page in a nutshell: Editors must write articles from a neutral point of view, representing all significant views fairly, proportionately, and without bias. All material in Wikipedia must be verifiable in a reliable, published source. All quotations and any material challenged or likely to be challenged must be attributed using an inline citation. Wikipedia does not publish original research. Articles also may not contain any new analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position. |
The core policies jointly determine the type and quality of material that is acceptable in Wikipedia articles. These policies work in harmony: they should not be interpreted in isolation from one another, and editors should try to familiarize themselves with all of them.
All Wikipedia articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view. Editing from a neutral point of view (NPOV) means representing fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources. NPOV is a fundamental principle of Wikipedia and of other Wikimedia projects. The fundamental principles of neutrality upon which our policies are based cannot be superseded by other policies or guidelines, or by editors' consensus.
Articles should represent majority and significant-minority viewpoints published by reliable sources in proportion to the prominence of each view. Tiny-minority views need not be included, except in articles devoted to them. Where there is disagreement between sources, in-text attribution is used: "John Smith argues that X, while Paul Jones maintains that Y," followed by an inline citation. Sources themselves do not need to maintain a neutral point of view; indeed most reliable sources are not neutral. Our job as editors is simply to present what the reliable sources say.
The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth: whether readers can check that material in Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source, not whether editors think it is true. Material must be attributable to a source with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy, which is appropriate for the claim being made. In practice you do not need to attribute everything; only quotations and material challenged or likely to be challenged must be attributed, through an inline citation which directly supports the material in question. This applies to all material in the mainspace—articles, lists, sections of articles, and captions—without exception, and in particular to material about living people. Anything that requires but lacks a source may be removed, and unsourced contentious material about living people must be removed immediately.
Wikipedia does not publish original research. The term "original research" refers to material—such as facts, allegations, ideas, and stories—not already published by reliable sources. It also refers to any analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position not advanced by the sources. This means that all material added to articles must be attributable to a reliable published source, even if not actually attributed. Despite the need to attribute content to reliable sources, you should also not plagiarize them. Articles should be written in your own words while substantially retaining the meaning of the source material.