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Wikipedia is a ''neutral and unbiased compilation of notable, verifiable facts.''
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| text={{center|'''<big>Wikipedia aims to be a ''neutral compilation of verifiable, established facts.''</big>'''}}
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This means:
{{Content policy list}}
; Neutral
This can be expanded as follows:
:* ''Wikipedia [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|Neutral]]:'' Wikipedia does not judge or advocate]] specific views or opinions, or choosemake betweendeterminations themon "correctness". Rather Where differing views exist, itthey judgesare ''thepresented valueobjectively, towithout users[[bias]] ofor neutrally[[Wikipedia:Undue representingweight|undue differentweight]]. views'' Balance derives from reliable sources, not personal judgment.
; Compilation
:* ''[[Bias|Unbiased]]:'' Views are allowed to speak for themselves rather than being cast into one "right" viewpoint.
: Wikipedia is an [[encyclopedia]], consisting of [[Wikipedia:What is an article?|articles]] written in a particular [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|style]]. There is [[Wikipedia:Writing better articles|a process]] which advances articles to [[Wikipedia:The perfect article|our goal]].
:* ''[[WP:NOT|Compilation]]:'' Wikipedia is not a simple collection or list of facts. There is a process of summarizing, grading, organizing and collating involved, to ensure that the resulting articles are as useful as possible for readers seeking both detail and overview.
; Verifiable
:* ''Notable:'' A view is generally considered notable if it is potentially information of value or interest in some way to a significant number of people, or to some perspective, or its omission would leave a significant gap in historical human knowledge of a subject. Even minority, controversial and discredited views are often notable. Often it is valuable to see how people thought, or competing views of the time. By contrast many [[fringe]] views are not notable by this definition, because they are not ''sufficiently'' significant or had little or minor impact in their field as a whole.
:* ''Information must be realistically [[Wikipedia:Verifiability|Verifiableverifiable]]:'' Informationby mustothers. be objectivelyThis verifiable,is includinggenerally beingdone by [[Wikipedia:cite yourCiting sources|citedciting]] from a[[Wikipedia:The credibleanswer sourceto life, the universe, and everything|reliable sources]].
; Established
:* ''Facts:'' Wikipedia contains facts, not opinions, and not [[Wikipedia:original research|original research]]. Since any opinion of note has been expressed by some person or group of people, we do not try to decide or claim that an opinion is "true" or "false". We state instead, neutrally and factually, which people hold what views, and allow the facts to speak for themselves.
: [[Wikipedia:No original research|Original ideas, interpretations, or research]] cannot be verified, and thus are inappropriate for Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a [[primary source]]; it strives to be a [[tertiary source]].
; Facts
For information to be included in Wikipedia, it should at a minimum be both ''notable'' and ''verifiable''.
: Wikipedia documents [[fact]]s; it does not offer editorial [[opinion]]s. Articles state the important views which exist, and who holds them ("facts about opinions").
:* If it is verifiable but not notable, it is by definition below a certain threshold of importance, and will not usually merit recording, no matter how true.
:* If it is notable but not verifiable, it is effectively ''[[hearsay]]''.
Unimportant matters or hearsay are usually outside the scope of Wikipedia.<br>If a view is ''both notable and verifiable'', and not original research, then it may be appropriate to record it in Wikipedia, in which case:
# [[Wikipedia:neutral point of view]] ("WP:NPOV") is the core policy that informs '''how''' facts must be represented and articles written.
# [[Wikipedia:verifiability]] ("WP:V") and [[Wikipedia:cite your sources]] ("WP:CITE") are the twin statements explaining how verifiability should be checked and documented.
# Other policies and guidelines cover ancillary matters such as appropriate user conduct, style and content, and copyright compliance.
==Footnotes==
# Notability is a subjective decision formed by consensus of editors when they try to characterize human knowledge and history of a subject or field, in a balanced manner.
# As [[Wikipedia:Policy trifecta]] points out, Wikipedia is not just an encyclopedia. it is also a wiki, and a community. This definition relates to its role as an encyclopedia.
==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:Administration]] – Discuses both the human administrative structure of Wikipedia, and its non-human components.
''Other summaries and definitions:''
* [[Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons]] – About how editors must take particular care when adding information about living persons to any Wikipedia page.
* [[Wikipedia:Five pillars|The five pillars of Wikipedia]] ▼* [[Wikipedia:WhatPurpose]] – Describes Wikipedia's ismotive not]]for being.
* [[Wikipedia:Here to build an encyclopedia]] – About how Wikipedians are here to build an encyclopedia, i.e., a neutral public reference work on certain topics.
''Other rulesets:''
▲* [[Wikipedia:Five pillars |]] – The fivefundamental pillarsprinciples of Wikipedia ]] summarized in five "pillars".
* [[Wikipedia:Policy trifecta]]
* [[Wikipedia:The rules are principles]] – About how policies and guidelines exist only as rough approximations of their underlying principles.
* [[Simplified Ruleset]]
* [[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not]] – The page outlines certain things that Wikipedia is not.
* [[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines]]
{{Policy summaries}}
''Other resources:''
{{Wikipedia principles}}
* [[Wikipedia:About]] (An introductory page)
{{Basic information}}
* [[Wikipedia]] (Wikipedia's article on itself)
[[Category:Wikipedia basic information]]
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