Misplaced Pages

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This page documents an English Misplaced Pages content guideline. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page.

Shortcuts WP:RS WP:RELY

This page in a nutshell: Articles should be based on reliable, third-party, published sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy.

This page is a guideline, not a policy: The relevant policies on sources are Misplaced Pages:Verifiability and Misplaced Pages:No original research, and additional restrictions in biographies of living people.

What is a reliable source?

The word "source," as used in Misplaced Pages, has three related meanings. It can refer to 1) the piece of work that is being cited, 2) the creator of the work (the author or artist), and 3) the publisher or location where it is to be found (a website, book, album or painting). All three can affect the reliability of the work. Portions of this page use "source" exclusively in the first sense for the sake of clarity, but that does not limit the scope of this guideline.

A reliable source is a published work regarded as trustworthy or authoritative in relation to the subject at hand. Evaluation of reliability will depend on the credibility of the author and the publication, along with consideration of the context. Reliable publications are those with an established structure for fact-checking and editorial oversight. A world-renowned mathematician may not be a reliable source about biology. Authors may be reliable outside their primary field if recognized as having expertise in a secondary area of study. In general, an article should use the most reliable and appropriate published sources to cover all majority and significant-minority published views, in line with Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view. See Misplaced Pages:Verifiability#Sources for further description of reliable sources.

Publications with a poor reputation for fact-checking or with no editorial oversight should only be used in articles about the authors or publishers themselves. However, any contentious claims should not be repeated, unless made first in reliable sources.

See Misplaced Pages:Reliable sources/Noticeboard for queries about the reliability of particular sources.

Why use reliable sources?

Misplaced Pages:Verifiability says that any material that is challenged or likely to be challenged needs a source, as do quotations, and the responsibility for finding a source lies with the person who adds or restores the material. Sometimes it is better to have no information than to have information without a source.

Sources are used:

• To support an assertion made in an article. Sources used in this manner should be directly referenced for the point that is being supported.
• To give credit to the source, to avoid the appearance of plagiarism or copyright violations.

If all the sources for a given statement or topic are of low reliability, the material may not be suitable for inclusion in Misplaced Pages.

Aspects of reliability

Reliability in general

Articles should rely on sources written by reliable third parties or found in publications with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. Sources should be appropriate to the claims made.

Reliability of specific source types

Scholarship

Misplaced Pages relies heavily upon the established literature created by scientists, scholars and researchers around the world. Items that fit this criterion are usually considered reliable. However, they may be outdated by more recent research, or controversial in the sense that there are alternative scholarly explanations. Misplaced Pages articles should point to all major scholarly interpretations of a topic.

• The material has been thoroughly vetted by the scholarly community. This means published in peer-reviewed sources, and reviewed and judged acceptable scholarship by the academic journals.
• Items that are recommended in scholarly bibliographies are preferred.
• Items that are signed are more reliable than unsigned articles because it tells whether an expert wrote it and took responsibility for it.

Original research is not a reliable source

See No original research

Misplaced Pages should not be the original source for new research, ideas, interpretations, or analyses. Such original research has not yet been published in a reliable source, and therefore is not suitable for inclusion in Misplaced Pages. When citing reliable sources, editors must ensure that the sources are not interpreted or analyzed in a novel or non-obvious way.

Extremist sources

Organizations and individuals that are widely acknowledged as extremist, whether of a political, religious or anti-religious, racist, or other nature, should be used only as sources about themselves and their activities in articles about themselves, and even then with caution.

Self-published sources

Self-published sources raise reliability concerns. See the policy page Misplaced Pages:Verifiability#Self-published sources (online and paper).

Reliability in specific contexts

Exceptional claims require exceptional sources

• WP:REDFLAG

Certain red flags should prompt editors to examine the sources for a given claim.

• Surprising or apparently important claims that are not widely known.
• Surprising or apparently important reports of recent events not covered by reliable news media.
• Reports of a statement by someone that seems out of character, embarrassing, controversial, or against an interest they had previously defended.
• Claims not supported or claims that are contradicted by the prevailing view in the relevant academic community. Be particularly careful when proponents say there is a conspiracy to silence them.

Exceptional claims should be supported by multiple high quality reliable sources, especially regarding scientific or medical topics, historical events, politically charged issues, and in material about living people.

Biographies of living persons

See Misplaced Pages:Biographies of living persons#Sources

Material about living persons must be sourced very carefully. Without reliable third-party sources, a biography will violate the No original research and Verifiability policies, and could lead to libel claims.

Claims of consensus

Claims of consensus must be sourced. The claim that all or most scientists, scholars, or ministers hold a certain view requires a reliable source. Without it, opinions should be identified as those of particular, named sources.

Other examples

See Misplaced Pages:Reliable sources/examples for examples of the use of statistical data, advice by subject area (including history, physical sciences, mathematics and medicine, law, Business and Commerce, popular culture and fiction), and the use of electronic or online sources.

Convenience links

See Misplaced Pages:Convenience links#Reliability

The term "convenience link" is typically used to indicate a link to a copy of a resource somewhere on the Internet, offered in addition to a formal citation to the same resource in its original format. It is important to ensure that the copy being linked is a true copy of the original, without any comments, emendations, edits or changes. When the "convenience link" is hosted by a site that is considered reliable on its own, this is relatively easy to assume. However, when such a link is hosted on a less reliable site, the linked version should be checked for accuracy against the original, or not linked at all if such verification is not possible.

Where several sites host a copy of the desired resource, the site selected as the convenience link should be the one whose general content is most in line with Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view and Misplaced Pages:Reliable sources.

See also

• Misplaced Pages:Check your facts, essay
• Misplaced Pages:Common knowledge, essay
• Misplaced Pages:Independent sources, essay
• Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Fact and Reference Check
• Misplaced Pages:Citing sources

External links

• How to Read a Primary Source, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students, Patrick Rael, 2004.
• How to Read a Secondary Source, Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students, Patrick Rael, 2004.

• Misplaced Pages content guidelines