Wikipedia:What notability is not

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.

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This essay makes four arguments about things notability is not. If you are new to Wikipedia, you will need to know that "notable" does not simply mean "noteworthy," which is a standard way that the term is defined by a dictionary. On Wikipedia, notability is a test used by editors to decide whether a given topic warrants its own article.

Information on Wikipedia must be verifiable; if no reliable third-party sources can be found on a topic, then it should not have a separate article. Wikipedia's concept of notability applies this basic standard to avoid indiscriminate inclusion of topics. Determining notability does not necessarily depend on things such as fame, importance, or popularity—although those may enhance the acceptability of a subject.

This essay argues that notability is not objective. Notability is not permanent–it can change. Notability is not judged in isolation. Notability is not a meritocracy.