Wikipedia:Verifiability/2012 RfC

This is a community-wide Request for Comment about Verifiability, its lead, and the much-discussed phrase "verifiability, not truth" (VnT). Instead of presenting just one proposal for comment, we are asking you to consider a range of possibilities.

A previous RfC in October–December 2011 was closed as no consensus. Since then, there has been a mediated discussion, conducted by Mr. Stradivarius. The present RfC grew out of that mediation.

This RfC has two sections:


 * Part 1. Five specific versions of the lead for you to comment on, including the way it looks right now, a way it looked in the recent past, upon the conclusion of the previous RfC, and three different ways it could look in the future.
 * Part 2. Twelve general questions about whether you support or oppose various views about how WP:Verifiability and its lead should look.

This RfC is a discussion, not a vote. Please provide informative and detailed comments that will help achieve consensus. Please comment on as many options as you can, and support as many of the options as you wish.

The RfC has been advertised at WT:V, WT:NPOV, WT:NOR, WP:Village pump (proposals), WP:Village pump (policy), WP:Centralized discussion, WP:Requests for comment/Wikipedia policies and guidelines, and through a Watchlist notice.

The RfC will run for 30 days, opening at 15:00, 28 June 2012 (UTC), and closing at 15:00, 28 July 2012 (UTC). It will not be closed early, nor extended longer. Upon closing, all user comments will be read carefully, and consensus will be determined by a panel of three uninvolved administrators: Coren, Jc37, and Sandstein.

To prevent the accidental editing of any of the proposed drafts for the policy lead, the main page of the RfC has been protected. The comments are transcluded from a subpage, located here. When you click on any of the edit links on the RfC page, you will automatically be transported to the comments subpage. If you want to monitor additions to the RfC, please [ place the comments subpage on your watchlist]. General discussion about the RfC will go on the RfC talk page, so you may wish to [ put this page on your watchlist] as well.

Proposals for the lead text, and comments
Please provide informative comments. If you support or oppose an option, please say what you like or dislike about it, as specifically as possible. Support with revisions means that you oppose a draft in its present form, but would support it with revisions; please indicate what those revisions would be. You may discuss comments using the "#:" notation.

Option A is the same as Verifiability as of 08:56, 27 May 2012,, and reflects what the page said at the time that this RfC was opened. Option B is from 00:47, 15 December 2011, when the previous RfC was closed. The other options were drafted by the participants in the mediation.

Verifiability on Wikipedia is a reader's ability to check cited sources that directly support the information in an article. All information in Wikipedia must be verifiable, but because other policies and guidelines also influence content, verifiability does not guarantee inclusion. Verifiability, and not truth, is one of the fundamental requirements for inclusion in Wikipedia; truth, of itself, is not a substitute for meeting the verifiability requirement. No matter how convinced you are that something is true, do not add it to an article unless it is verifiable.

It must be possible to attribute all information in Wikipedia to reliable, published sources that are appropriate for the content in question. However, in practice it is only necessary to provide inline citations for quotations and for any information that has been challenged or that is likely to be challenged. Appropriate citations guarantee that the information is not original research, and allow readers and editors to check the source material for themselves. Any material that requires a citation but does not have one may be removed. Unsourced contentious material about living people must be removed immediately. For help on adding citations, see Citing sources. This policy applies to all material in the mainspace.

Verifiability, No original research and Neutral point of view are Wikipedia's core content policies. They work together to determine content, so editors should understand the key points of all three. Articles must also comply with the copyright policy.

== Notes ==

Comment on A

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.

To show that it is not original research, all material added to articles must be attributable to a reliable, published source appropriate for the content in question, but in practice you do not need to attribute everything. This policy requires that all quotations and anything challenged or likely to be challenged be attributed in the form of an inline citation that directly supports the material. For how to write citations, see Citing sources.

This policy applies to all material in the mainspace—articles, lists, sections of articles, and captions—without exception, and in particular to material about living persons. Anything that requires but lacks a source may be removed, and unsourced contentious material about living persons must be removed immediately.

Verifiability is one of Wikipedia's core content policies, along with No original research and Neutral point of view. These policies jointly determine the type and quality of material that is acceptable in articles. They should not be interpreted in isolation from one another, and editors should familiarize themselves with the key points of all three. Articles must also comply with the copyright policy.

== Notes ==

Comment on B

Verifiability on Wikipedia means that readers can check reliable sources that directly support the information in an article. All information in Wikipedia must be verifiable, but because other policies, guidelines, and considerations also influence content, and particularly influence when verifiable but inaccurate material should not be included, verifiability by itself does not guarantee inclusion. Verifiability, not truth, is one of the key requirements for inclusion in Wikipedia—nothing, such as your personal experience or what you know to be true, can be a substitute for meeting the verifiability requirement. No matter how convinced you are that something is true, do not add it to an article unless it is also verifiable.

It must be possible to attribute all information in Wikipedia to reliable, published sources that are appropriate for the content in question. However, in practice it is only necessary to provide inline citations for quotations and for any information that has been challenged or that is likely to be challenged. Appropriate citations guarantee that the information is not original research, and allow readers and editors to check the source material for themselves. Any material that requires a citation but does not have one may be removed. Unsourced contentious material about living people must be removed immediately. For help on adding citations, see Citing sources. This policy applies to all material in the mainspace.

Verifiability, No original research and Neutral point of view are Wikipedia's core content policies. They work together to determine content, so editors should understand the key points of all three. Articles must also comply with the copyright policy.

== Notes ==

Comment on C

In Wikipedia, verifiability means that people reading and editing the encyclopedia can check that information comes from a reliable source.

Wikipedia does not publish original research. Its content is determined by previously published information rather than by the personal beliefs or experiences of its editors. Even if you're sure something is true, it must be verifiable before you can add it. When reliable sources disagree, their conflict should be presented from a neutral point of view, giving each side its due weight.

All the material in Wikipedia mainspace, including everything in articles, lists and captions, must be verifiable. All quotations and any material whose verifiability has been challenged or is likely to be challenged must include an inline citation that directly supports the material. Any material that requires a source but does not have one may be removed, and unsourced contentious material about living people must be removed immediately. For how to write citations, see Citing sources.

Verifiability, No original research and Neutral point of view are Wikipedia's core content policies. They work together to determine content, so editors should understand the key points of all three. Articles must also comply with the copyright policy.

== Notes ==

Comment on D

Verifiability is one of the most essential requirements in Wikipedia. Information added to articles must be verifiable using only reliable sources that have been  published.

An appropriate inline citation is evidence that information is verifiable. Inline citations are required for any information that has been challenged or is likely to be challenged, and for all quotations. Suitable inline citations should refer to published reliable sources that explicitly support the information being presented. For help on adding citations, see Citing sources.

Any material that requires an inline citation but does not have a suitable one may be removed. Unsourced contentious material about living people must be removed immediately.

Compliance with the Verifiability policy does not guarantee that material will be accepted. For example, it must also comply with other policies and guidelines, most notably No Original Research, Neutral Point of View, and Copyright.

== Notes ==

Comment on E