This is an
explanatory essay about the
Wikipedia:Neutral point of view#Due and undue weight page. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been
thoroughly vetted by the community. |
This page in a nutshell: The general problem addressed in this document is what editors should do with concerns about potentially inaccurate source material. |
WP:Editing policy states, "on Wikipedia a lack of information is better than misleading or false information". To this end, potential inaccuracy is a consideration for each and every source brought to an article.
Editors sometimes think that verifiable material should be accurate, but verifiable material may or may not be accurate. A famous example of verifiable material that is potentially inaccurate is the front page of the Chicago Tribune on November 3, 1948—we have an article about this headline at " Dewey defeats Truman". In this case, we have a retraction from the newspaper which provides strong evidence that the material was inaccurate. But many published errors have not resulted in retractions.
As Carl Sagan pointed out in his The Demon-Haunted World, experts can be wrong or not even experts in the field in question. [1] This means that using the fact that a source is verifiable to say it is accurate is the argument from authority fallacy.
There are few situations in life in which we have total knowledge, or in which we have language that is not subject to re-interpretation. From a practical viewpoint, there will always be a level of uncertainty in concluding that material is inaccurate.
It should be noted that just because sources are in conflict does not mean that one or more has to be inaccurate. They can be portraying the subject from different points of view, and essentially be accurate within their respective POVs.
So it simplifies the analysis to discuss the likelihood of "potential inaccuracy" rather than the likelihood of "inaccuracy".
Editors may tend to think that inaccurate material should be excluded from the encyclopedia, because we want an accurate encyclopedia, but closer analysis reveals a more complex picture. Readers may want to be aware of apparent inaccuracies or patterns of contradictions as part of their reading. Apparent inaccuracies of a lesser note can be relegated to a footnote. Ultimately, with allowing for due weight considerations in how the material is presented, and notwithstanding copyright violations, the only reason to exclude verifiable material from the encyclopedia is because it is insignificant.
Potential inaccuracy is a reason to reduce the due weight that is assigned to such material.
As listed below, there are three main editorial approaches to reporting potentially inaccurate material: inline attribution, footnotes, and exclusion due to insignificance.
As with other editorial decisions, editors must consider the forms of evidence that are available.
Note: These are examples, see the article for the current resolution regarding the issue.
Reliability in the context is subtly different from inaccuracy, and the difference is the difference between a verifiable source with potential inaccuracy, and an unreliable source that fails WP:V. Evidence of inaccuracy may be used to argue to the unreliability of the source in the context.
The content guideline Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources makes these statements:
This is an
explanatory essay about the
Wikipedia:Neutral point of view#Due and undue weight page. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been
thoroughly vetted by the community. |
This page in a nutshell: The general problem addressed in this document is what editors should do with concerns about potentially inaccurate source material. |
WP:Editing policy states, "on Wikipedia a lack of information is better than misleading or false information". To this end, potential inaccuracy is a consideration for each and every source brought to an article.
Editors sometimes think that verifiable material should be accurate, but verifiable material may or may not be accurate. A famous example of verifiable material that is potentially inaccurate is the front page of the Chicago Tribune on November 3, 1948—we have an article about this headline at " Dewey defeats Truman". In this case, we have a retraction from the newspaper which provides strong evidence that the material was inaccurate. But many published errors have not resulted in retractions.
As Carl Sagan pointed out in his The Demon-Haunted World, experts can be wrong or not even experts in the field in question. [1] This means that using the fact that a source is verifiable to say it is accurate is the argument from authority fallacy.
There are few situations in life in which we have total knowledge, or in which we have language that is not subject to re-interpretation. From a practical viewpoint, there will always be a level of uncertainty in concluding that material is inaccurate.
It should be noted that just because sources are in conflict does not mean that one or more has to be inaccurate. They can be portraying the subject from different points of view, and essentially be accurate within their respective POVs.
So it simplifies the analysis to discuss the likelihood of "potential inaccuracy" rather than the likelihood of "inaccuracy".
Editors may tend to think that inaccurate material should be excluded from the encyclopedia, because we want an accurate encyclopedia, but closer analysis reveals a more complex picture. Readers may want to be aware of apparent inaccuracies or patterns of contradictions as part of their reading. Apparent inaccuracies of a lesser note can be relegated to a footnote. Ultimately, with allowing for due weight considerations in how the material is presented, and notwithstanding copyright violations, the only reason to exclude verifiable material from the encyclopedia is because it is insignificant.
Potential inaccuracy is a reason to reduce the due weight that is assigned to such material.
As listed below, there are three main editorial approaches to reporting potentially inaccurate material: inline attribution, footnotes, and exclusion due to insignificance.
As with other editorial decisions, editors must consider the forms of evidence that are available.
Note: These are examples, see the article for the current resolution regarding the issue.
Reliability in the context is subtly different from inaccuracy, and the difference is the difference between a verifiable source with potential inaccuracy, and an unreliable source that fails WP:V. Evidence of inaccuracy may be used to argue to the unreliability of the source in the context.
The content guideline Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources makes these statements: