User:Khamar/Notability (skeptics)

This guideline is used to help evaluate whether or not a skeptic or skeptical organization (amateur or professional) is likely to meet the general notability guideline, and thus merit an article in Wikipedia. The article must provide reliable sources showing that the subject meets the general notability guideline or the skeptic specific criteria set forth below.

If the article does meet the criteria set forth below, then it is likely that sufficient sources exist to satisfy the inclusion criteria for a stand-alone article. Failing to meet the criteria in this guideline means that notability will need to be established in other ways (e.g. the general notability guideline, or other, topic-specific, notability guidelines).

Please note that the failure to meet these criteria does not mean an article must be deleted; conversely, the meeting of any of these criteria does not mean that an article must be kept. These are merely rules of thumb which some editors choose to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to keep an article that is on articles for deletion, along with relevant policies and guidelines such as Verifiability and Reliable sources.

Applicable policies and guidelines
All information included in Wikipedia, including articles about skeptics, must be verifiable. In addition, standalone articles are required to meet the General Notability Guideline. The guideline on this page provides bright-line guidance to enable editors to determine quickly if a subject is likely to meet the General Notability Guideline. Information about living persons must meet the more stringent requirements for those types of articles.

Subjects that do not meet the skeptic-specific criteria outlined in this guideline may still be notable if they meet the General Notability Guideline or another subject specific notability guideline.

Basic criteria
A person is presumed to be notable if he or she has been the subject of multiple published non-trivial secondary sources which are reliable, intellectually independent, and independent of the subject. The guidelines on this page are intended to reflect the fact that skeptical figures are likely to meet Wikipedia's basic standards of inclusion.


 * Trivial coverage of a subject by secondary sources may be used to support content in an article, but it is not sufficient to establish notability.
 * Primary sources may be used to support content in an article, but they do not contribute toward proving the notability of a subject.
 * Some sources must be used with particular care when establishing notability, and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Local sources must be clearly independent of the subject, and must provide reports beyond routine coverage.

American Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

 * American skeptics are presumed notable if they:


 * 1) Have appeared in at least one regular meeting as a guest or featured speaker.
 * 2) Have received at least one award at a national meeting.

Freedom From Religion Foundation
Foundation figures are presumed notable if they meet the following:


 * 1) Have appeared in at least one regular meeting as a guest or featured speaker.
 * 2) Have received at least one award at a national meeting.

Independent Investigations Group
Group figures are presumed notable if they meet the following:


 * 1) Have appeared in at least one regular meeting as a guest or featured speaker.
 * 2) Have received at least one award at a national meeting.

James Randi Educational Foundation
Foundation figures are presumed notable if they meet the following:


 * 1) Are an elected member of the foundation board.
 * 2) Have appeared in at least one regular meeting as a guest or featured speaker.
 * 3) Have received at least one award at a national meeting.

Amateur placeholder
Amateur skeptics are notable if they have been the subject of non-trivial media coverage beyond WP:ROUTINE coverage. Examples would include social media publishers who:


 * 1) Have won a national award from a major skeptical organization.
 * 2) Gained national media attention as an individual, not just as a member for a notable organization.

Research links
The following are some potential places to look for sources to establish notability:


 * Chronicling America Library of Congress, historic newspapers from 1836–1922 (free)
 * Google news search (mostly free)
 * Newspaper archive Digitized newspapers, broad coverage (free search, paid access)
 * NewsLibrary Digitized newspapers, broad coverage (free search, paid access)
 * Newspapers.com Digitized newspapers, broad coverage (free search, paid access)