[WikiEN-l] Original research

[Steve Block]

Daniel Mayer wrote:
> --- jayjg <jayjg99 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> No, of course personal communications are not valid to cite.  You can
>> cite reliable published sources.
> 
> When they exist, yes. But that is not always the case. Sometimes one must rely on what reputable
> people say vs what they write. I've cited professors whose classes I've taken. Is that wrong? 

According to [[WP:V]], absolutely.

A good way to look at the distinction between verifiability and truth is 
with the following example. Suppose you are writing a Wikipedia entry on 
a famous physicist's Theory X, which has been published in peer-reviewed 
journals and is therefore an appropriate subject for a Wikipedia 
article. However, in the course of writing the article, you contact the 
physicist and he tells you: "Actually, I now believe Theory X to be 
completely false." Even though you have this from the author himself, 
you cannot include the fact that he said it in your Wikipedia entry.

Why not? Because it is not verifiable in a way that would satisfy the 
Wikipedia readership or other editors. The readers don't know who you 
are. You can't include your telephone number so that every reader in the 
world can call you for confirmation. And even if they could, why should 
they believe you?

For the information to be acceptable to Wikipedia you would have to 
persuade a reputable news organization to publish your story first, 
which would then go through a process similar to peer review. It would 
be checked by a reporter, an editor, perhaps by a fact-checker, and if 
the story were problematic, it might be checked further by the lawyers 
and the editor-in-chief. These checks and balances exist to ensure that 
accurate and fair stories appear in the newspaper.


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