The question is how to define original research. I disagree with Zoney that an article that is original to Wikipedia is "original research." It is an original encyclopedia article, and was certainly based on research, but that research -- for an encyclopedia article -- is not what we call "original" research. I agree with Mark that we need to be very careful about this. I think Fred's distinction, "To put together an article using references from published material is not original research. Advancing ideas that you can find no published source for is." is very important and if it is not clearly stated in the policy, then it should be. That is, an article that draws on previously published material but that advances ideas that have not previously been published should, for our purposes, be considered "original research." Stan raises a very interesting point that bears further discussion, perhaps on the policy's talk page.

Steve

Steven L. Rubenstein Associate Professor Department of Sociology and Anthropology Bentley Annex Ohio University Athens, Ohio 45701