User:Iadmc/How to source an article
 | This is an essay on the Verifiability and No original research policies. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
Besides being about notable subjects, all articles on Wikipedia need to be verifiable from reliable sources. This is especially true of biographies of living persons. In general, it is the responsbility of the editor contributing or restoring the material to source it. There are several ways to find sources for an article, and several ways to use those sources within an article. These are explained below.
Reasons for sourcing articles
No original research is allowed on Wikipedia and all articles should be written from a neutral point of view (this latter is one of Wikipedia's Five pillars). Taken together, these principles lead to the fact that all information on Wikipedia needs to be verifiable from reliable sources. The first words of Wikipedia:Verifiability are: "The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth".
Biographies of living persons [BLPs]
There are many reasons that articles about living persons should be sourced. After all, they are living breathing human beings just like you and me and deserve respect. The most important legal reason, however is that all statements about living persons need to avoid making libelous claims. New BLPs, especially, need to be sourced. Wikipedia recently decided that BLPs must be sourced; however, rather than deleting en bloc all unsourced BLPs, it was felt that no new unsourced BLPs would be allowed to stand. To this end, a new deletion process, a close relative of the process described in Wikipedia:Proposed deletion, is under development. (See Wikipedia talk:Sticky Prod workshop.)
Identifying reliable sources
A "source" might be the work itself (eg a newspaper article or a printed book), the creator of that work (eg the author or editor) or the publisher (eg the newspaper or publishing house). 99See WP:SOURCES.) In all cases, sources used on Wikipedia need to be 1. reliable, 2. third-party, 3. published, and 4. have a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy:
- Wikis and blogs, for example, cannot be reliable because they are open to change at any time by unknown people of unknown credentials. Wikipedia is not a reliable source, except in articles about Wikipedia (see WP:CIRCULAR).
- Self-published sources should be avoided: see WP:BLPSPS. Sources written by the subject or by persons associated with the subject cannot be impartial: see WP:SELFPUBLISH. They can be used as sources of information about that person however, in certain circumstances: see WP:SELFPUB.
- An unpublished piece of personal research by your best friend does not count even if they are a highly respected published author. Unsourced original research will be challenged and removed either immediately (especially if contentious) or at a later date (if it remains unsourced). Of course, if you happen to have written a book, paper, article etc that meets the conditions above, then you can source information from your own work, just as any other editor can use your work as a source.
- Clearly, sources without a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy should be avoided.
In general, academic and peer-reviewed publications are usually the most reliable sources when available and material from mainstream news organizations is also welcomed: see Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sources#Types_of_sources. Of course, books such as biographies, subject overviews, and printed encyclopedias are also fine, Encyclopedias and dictionaries are usually only used to further verify material, however, as these are "tertiary sources" ie collations of material from secondary sources: see WP:PSTS for a fuller explanation of this.
Finding reliable sources
Using reliable sources in an article
Using sources close to the subject and other less reliable sources
- General policies
- Specific policies
- Guidelines
- Also important (but not critical perhaps)
- Also useful: