Wikipedia:Verifiability/Proposed revision

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✘ This Wikipedia page is currently inactive and is retained as a historical archive.
Either the page is no longer relevant or consensus has become unclear. If you want to revive discussion regarding the subject, you should seek broader input via a forum such as the proposals page of the village pump.

The goal of Wikipedia is to become a complete, accurate encyclopedia.

We can't be sure of our accuracy if we include information which cannot be verified.

Therefore:

  1. Include nothing that someone else could not verify. (Original research does not count as verification.)
  2. If you have reason to doubt the verifiability of some information in an article, try to verify it. If this is not possible, raise the problem on the talk page (you may wish to temporarily remove the information). Someone else may have additional resources and be able to verify it.
  3. You should make it easy for people to verify your information by citing your sources. They don't have to be online - but they should be reliable.

Verifiability is one problem with articles on obscure subjects. By concentrating on verifiable subjects, we also concentrate on important subjects.

What, you ask, is verifiable information? Use common sense, but if you're unsure or are involved in a dispute, read Wikipedia:No original research, Wikipedia:Reliable sources, and Wikipedia:Try to verify.

Extended thoughts on verifiability are on meta.