[WikiEN-l] Re: WikiEN-l Digest, Vol 27, Issue 10

Tue Oct 4 02:11:26 UTC 2005

> This would swing the balance too far in favor of the deletionists. The
> unsourced statement would have to be unreasonable. Obvious common knowledge
> statements should not have to be sourced, and someone edit warring,
> demanding that every petty statement be sourced is being unreasonable, and
> should not be rewarded by being allowed to impose a burden upon other
> editors.
> -- Silverback

The simple solution to someone edit warring demanding that a statement be
sourced is to add a reference at the bottom of the article. If the statement
really is obvious then it should be simple to find a source.

Yes, someone gaming the system by removing something which they know to be
true rather than just adding the source themselves should be reprimanded.
But at the same time, a better solution than edit warring with that person
would be to just add the source.

I don't think anyone's claiming that you have to cite sources for every fact
within the main body of the article. I don't think [1] that articles [2]
should look [3] anything like [4] this. [5] Rather for something "obvious",
it should be enough to cite the source at the bottom of the page.

I'm saying all this as though it's a proposal, but it's really already
policy. See [[Wikipedia:Verifiable]], especially #Checking content.

Anthony