Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/J. Wesley Thompson


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. Secret account 05:06, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

J. Wesley Thompson

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Contested prod on an article for a physician assistant/adjunct professor/clinical researcher who does not appear to meet relevant notability guidelines. The subject is a distinguished fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and has received an award from the HIV/AIDS group, The Body;  however, neither appears to be sufficient to meet WP:PROF. I have not been able to find national media coverage nor any scholarly publications. Article is CV-like and was created by a new editor who is acquainted with the subject. Espresso Addict (talk) 00:45, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Medicine-related deletion discussions. Espresso Addict (talk) 02:28, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Academics and educators-related deletion discussions. Espresso Addict (talk) 02:28, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Delete, the nominator basically covered my reasons why.--DrumstickJuggler (talk) 02:10, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Comment. There are J W Thompsons on GS with some cites but I am not sure if it is the same. Even if this BLP is kept the nominator will be entitled to prune the dross in it. Xxanthippe (talk) 02:54, 8 February 2013 (UTC).
 * I'm happy to remove anything that needs to be. Can you give me some direction in that regard? MacGyvr (talk) 14:34, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * It reads like a resume rather than an encyclopedia article. I'd start by removing the lists and then work on the sourcing. The page would need to meet the notability criteria given for academics or biographies to sway this discussion. Funny  Pika! 21:43, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * I checked various combinations of names/initials, but all the JW Thompsons I found writing on HIV/AIDS or related medical topics on GS & PubMed seemed to have different forenames (eg there is a "Jennifer W. Thompson" and a "Joseph W. Thompson" writing on HIV/AIDS, and one or more John W. Thompsons writing on other medical topics). Of course, with such a frequent surname, it's possible I missed something. If the article is kept, it will certainly need a radical shortening to make the source(s) of notability more apparent. Espresso Addict (talk) 03:16, 8 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Delete. I can't find adequate secondary sources. Xxanthippe (talk) 03:55, 8 February 2013 (UTC).
 * Comment. Mr. Thompson is the first PA that was board-certified in North Carolina as an HIV/AIDS Specialist, and one of the first 20 in the nation. I am looking for some form of reference that can be cited for this. MacGyvr (talk) 14:34, 8 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Comment. In 2005, Mr. Thompson was named one of only 5 Outstanding Physician Assistants in the nation with regard to the treatment of HIV/AIDS, referenced here: http://www.thebody.com/hivawards/winners/jthompson.html. MacGyvr (talk) 16:42, 12 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks,  MBisanz  talk 01:13, 16 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Comment - This appears to be a very impressive, very nicely done, very detailed c.v. My hunch is that it fails GNG. It certainly appears to fail our needs for verifiability of information. Carrite (talk) 22:58, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Response to MacGyvr (above the relisting). The award from The Body seems to me the closest readily verifiable claim to meeting notability guidelines. Although I can't find an article for The Body.com, I believe it is likely to be a notable national AIDS advocacy & education organisation. However, there are 51 HIV-associated US health professionals listed with an award. Just for comparison, I have only been able to find an existing article on one other of these (Perry N. Halkitis, an academic with a substantial publication history). Alone, it doesn't seem a sufficiently important award to meet the notability guidelines for biographies, which require an award to be "a well-known and significant award or honor". Espresso Addict (talk) 00:54, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Response to Espresso Addict. One interesting point about the award from The Body. Of the 51 individuals listed, only 5 are Physician Assistants. MacGyvr (talk) 21:43, 17 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Comment - Mr. Thompson does have an authored work available online. The title is "The Evolving Role of Physician Assistants in the Prevention and Treatment of HIV and AIDS", and I have linked it here and in the article. MacGyvr (talk) 21:43, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Has it been cited by anybody? Xxanthippe (talk) 22:43, 17 February 2013 (UTC).
 * Forgive me, I don't understand the question.MacGyvr (talk) 05:02, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Have a look at Citation and WP:Prof. Xxanthippe (talk) 06:43, 18 February 2013 (UTC).
 * I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. Are you looking for a citation within the article under discussion, or are you looking for someone else to have cited his work within their article (not sure how I would know about that)? MacGyvr (talk) 23:42, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
 * We would be looking to see if someone else has cited his article as a reference in a paper of their own. That's one of the ways we evaluate the person's publications - if a lot of people are citing the person's work it suggests they are influential in their field; see WP:ACADEMIC. Citation information can be found if the article is listed at Google Scholar. Here's how you look for that: See the note under each article "cited by xxx". Unfortunately Mr. Thompson's article did not turn up in that search; most likely the journal that published his work is not indexed by Google Scholar. --MelanieN (talk) 16:13, 21 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Delete It's clear that Mr. Thompson is a fine person and doing important work. But unfortunately that's not enough for inclusion in Wikipedia. The requirements for an article here can be found at WP:BIO for people in general, or WP:ACADEMIC for people based on their professional qualifications. Neither seems to apply to him. The award he got, while admirable, is not a " well-known and significant award or honor" (we're talking Nobel Prize type awards), and he has not made "a widely recognized contribution that is part of the enduring historical record in his or her specific field". I know, the criteria are awfully high and they leave out a lot of people whose friends and colleagues might consider them notable - but this is an international encyclopedia and it has to have standards. --MelanieN (talk) 16:23, 21 February 2013 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.