This is an essay on notability. 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. |
This page in a nutshell: There are three common mistakes you should avoid when sourcing an article or proposed article to demonstrate that the topic is notable: i) adding citations but to unreliable sources; ii) adding citations to connected (non-independent) sources; and iii) adding citations to sources that merely mention the topic. |
Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, a specific type of reference work properly containing articles on topics of knowledge. Wikipedia employs the concept of notability to avoid indiscriminate inclusion of topics by attempting to ensure that the subjects of articles are "worthy of notice" – by including articles only on topics that the world has taken note of by substantively treating them in reliable sources unconnected with the topic. The general notability standard thus presumes that topics are notable if they have "received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject".
Wikipedia's notability standards works hand in glove with its policy on verifiability of information. In short the "right way" to write an article is to gather the right types of sources first[1] (as explained below), and, if and only if they exist, write only what they verify, citing those sources as you write for the information they provide (without copying the words used[2]). At the same time such sources verify the information content, they act to demonstrate the notability of the topic by their substantive treatment of it. If notability cannot be established for an article, it is likely to be merged, redirected or deleted.
In order to establish notability, we ask that users cite, using inline citations, to: published, reliable, secondary sources that are entirely independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond its mere trivial mention.
There are a number of common mistakes seen in addressing this issue:
If insufficient reliable, secondary and independent sources exist treating a topic in substantive detail, then Wikipedia should not have an article on the topic. Remember that no amount of editing can overcome a lack of notability.
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