Wikipedia:Arguments to avoid in deletion reviews

This is an essay on Wikipedia:Deletion review. 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.

Shortcut WP:ATADR

This page in a nutshell: Always try to make clear, solid arguments in deletion reviews, avoiding short one-liners or simple links (including to this page) Explain why the closing administrator's decision does or does not meet specific criteria, guidelines or policies Keep in mind the deletion review is not AfD Round 2

The following are a list of arguments that can commonly be seen in deletion reviews for templates, images, categories, stub types, redirects and especially articles which should generally be avoided, or at least, supplemented with some more arguments.

There is a common misconception that deletion review is "AfD Round 2." This leads to many arguments being made on the basis that a deleted article should be restored simply because it is "worth keeping", or that a kept article should nonetheless have been deleted. This overlooks the real purpose of the DRV, which is to challenge what is believed to be a closing administrator's poor or otherwise controversial judgment in making his/her decision on why the discussion was closed the way it was. Most of the time, fewer than 5% of closed deletion discussions end up at deletion review, though this is not a blanket rate and it can fluctuate at any time. Regardless, DRV is not a place to try to test an article at AfD again without any new issues not brought up during AfD.

By the same token, arguments that consist of merely repeating that "DR is not AfD Round 2" should not be made when the nominator has raised issues that are legitimately within the scope of DR, such as that the closing admin misread the consensus, or that policy was not properly applied. In legal terms, AfD is concerned with the substance of the article at issue, while DR is concerned with the process by which a decision was reached.

Arguments that are made in a deletion review should be concerned with existing policies and guidelines and reasons why one believes the closing admin's decision is not in line with them. When taking part in deletion discussions, then, it is best to base arguments on the policies of neutral point of view, no original research, verifiability, biographies of living people and what Wikipedia is not, or on Wikipedia guidelines; however, just because an argument appears here does not mean that it is always invalid.

As this essay tries to stimulate people to use sound arguments in deletion reviews, it is important to realize that countering the endorse or overturn arguments of other people, or dismissing them outright, by simply referring them to this essay is not encouraged (see also the section Just a policy or guideline below).