 | This is an essay on arguments over word choice. 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: We are compelled to stick to our sources for facts, but the words we write are ours. We alone are responsible for them and we should own that choice. |
It may seem obvious that editors should choose their own words when writing articles. We have a long content guideline on plagiarism and another explanatory essay on close paraphrasing. And it is obvious and normal for editors to choose their own words, rather than lift them from our sources. It is quite normal for a copyeditor to revise article wording without even glancing at the sources. And yet when editors get into a dispute over word choice, someone may shout that we must WP:STICKTOSOURCES. They will do that because they believe that the cited sources (or most reliable potential sources) agree with their word preferences, and they assert that this policy compels us to do likewise. This misleadingly elevates that editor's opinion to one having the backing of policy or wide community consensus. It is a fallacy commonly employed to advocate for a conservative language position, sometimes expressed as the belief that "Wikipedia should follow, not lead" when it comes to language. This over-simplifies difficult editorial decisions by appearing to delegate word choices to the authors of our sources. While sources can guide us, along with style guides and publications aimed at audiences similar to ours, we alone are responsible for the words we write, and we should own that choice.
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