Jump to content

Wikipedia:Articles with a single source

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ORBuster (talk | contribs) at 15:39, 18 March 2009 (Created page with '{{essay}} {{shortcut|WP:ONESOURCE|WP:1R}} According to Wikipedia notablity guidelines, ''a topic is presumed to be notable if it has received significant c…'). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

According to Wikipedia notablity guidelines, a topic is presumed to be notable if it has received significant coverage in reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject.

Given this information, a subject with a single source does not merit a standalone article.

There are other inherent problems with an article containing a single source.

  • Copyright violations: If an article has just one source, it may be an exact copy of the source provided, therefore constituting a copyright violation.
  • Original research: Any more information provided in an article beyond the lone source is automaticaly original research. It is often the writer's own interpretation of the subject or the creator's own reason there should be an article on the subject.
  • Dictionary definitions:Wikipedia is not a dictionary. Therefore, an article under no circumstances can be supported only by a dictionary entry that defines the meaning of the title. If this is the case, then any other information is, by definition, original research.

Subject's own site

One of the least permissible articles are those in which the lone external link or source is the subject's own site. Not only does this have the problem with the single source issue, but is also a conflict of interest.