[WikiEN-l] Abusive editors

Wed Mar 9 17:48:37 UTC 2005

Silverback wrote:

>In practice, the no original research clause, does not allow paraphrases, 
>new words, or reason.

This is plain wrong.  Paraphrasing is not "research" so it cannot be 
"original research."  There is nothing in the NOR policy that requires this 
position, and I am pretty confident that most editors do not consider 
paraphrasing to violate NOR policy.

Either you really misunderstand the NOR policy, or you have some agenda for 
misrepresenting it.  I am not judging your motives because whatever they 
are, I cannot understand them.  But whatever your motives, this statement 
is false, unnecessary, and unhelpful.

This claim is also wrong:
>Probably both sides are quite right as long as they keep their own 
>definitions in mind, and they know this for a fact, so why should they 
>give an inch, because it becomes a matter of principle.  Austrailia is a 
>"republic", to the extent that American overtones of republic have some 
>validity in Austrailia, and is NOT a republic in the predominate (but not 
>exclusive) non-technical sense in which it is used in Austrailia

Here you actually do violate NOR as well as NPOV.  Articles are simply not 
the place for advocating our own views.  So it doesn't matter how the two 
sides personally, subjectively, define their terms, and it is not for us to 
invent an argument for why Australia is or is not a republic.  Period.  The 
only way to handle this is to say something like this (consider this a 
model, not a real proposal):
Australian nationals, politicians, and political theorists are divided over 
the nature of the Australian state.
The dominant view, held by a, b, and c, is that Australia is an "X," 
defining X as ...
A major competing view, held by d, e, and f, is that Australia is a "Y," 
defining Y as ...
Some (such as g and h) argue that Australia is an "X" but they define X as ...
Some (such as i and j) argue that Australia is a "Y," but define Y as ...
And of course have verifiable sources for each claim ("Australia is X" and 
"X is ...")

Steve

Steve

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