Wikipedia:Honesty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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While this essay is not a policy or guideline itself, it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors which is intended to supplement Wikipedia:Civility. Please update the page as needed, or discuss it on the talk page. |
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This page in a nutshell: Lying will hurt the project. |
| “ | It is wrong to lie to the community about anything. | ” |
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Honesty is a requirement of all processes of Wikipedia, including content discussion, the dispute process and all other functions of the community. Editors are reminded that while you may expect an assumption of good faith, this is based on the counter-assumption of honesty in your actions.
[edit] Honesty in actions
An honest Wikipedian:
- Does not say things they know to be untrue simply to support their argument.
- Does not cite sources they know to be unreliable. Trying to 'beat' a notability guideline, for example, by citing (as if it were a reliable source) a website that they know would not survive scrutiny, defeats the purpose of the guideline and serves as an end-run around the wishes of the community (as reflected by the written policies and guidelines).
- Does not misrepresent their personal background. The choice of anonymity is part of Wikipedia, but it is not a license to fabricate. Decline to share details you wish to keep secret, but when you begin to lie, both you and the project lose credibility.
- Does not argue in favor of something they think is wrong. WP:POINT is one of the most oft-cited and important real-world examples of this.
- Does not hide their personal point of view in order to pretend they don't have one. Conflicts of interests can only be assessed when users are honest about their motivations.
- Does proffer all relevant information to a discussion they know to be true, even when it might not support their argument. Withholding of information that contradicts other information, or filtering out data-points that do not match your assumptions, is dishonesty by omission.
[edit] Rationale
Our words have power. If they didn't, then the wrangling of them into something as unwieldy as an encyclopaedia would be meaningless. It is our responsibility to make sure that the power they hold is based on an honest understanding and application of principles.
Our actions as editors and administrators on the project reflect more brightly on us than our backgrounds. They "speak louder than words", as the saying goes. But our actions are shepherded by the things we say too. We each have a responsibility, therefore, to be honest with each other in every aspect of our dealings.
[edit] Assume Good Faith
A foundation policy of Wikipedia is the concept of Assume Good Faith. It has been the star we've steered by while navigating the rapids of disagreement. It has been the rivets that hold the policy frameworks together that we've constructed. But for the assumption of good faith to work, the corollary concept of Honesty must be adopted by all parties involved.
