Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 15:49, 16 October 2010

This page documents an English Misplaced Pages policy.It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.

Shortcuts WP:NPOV WP:NPV

This page in a nutshell: Editors must write articles from a neutral point of view, representing all significant views fairly, proportionately, and without bias.

Neutral point of view (NPOV) is a fundamental principle of Misplaced Pages and of other Wikimedia projects. All Misplaced Pages articles and other encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point of view. This means representing fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without bias, all significant views that have been published by reliable sources. This is non-negotiable and expected of all articles and all editors.

"Neutral point of view" is one of Misplaced Pages's three core content policies, along with "Verifiability" and "No original research". Jointly, these policies determine the type and quality of material that is acceptable in Misplaced Pages articles. They should not be interpreted in isolation from one another, and editors should therefore familiarize themselves with all three. The principles upon which these policies are based cannot be superseded by other policies or guidelines, or by editors' consensus.

Explanation of the neutral point of view

Achieving what Misplaced Pages understands as "neutrality" often means making a careful and critical analysis of a variety of sources, and then attempting to convey the results to the reader clearly and accurately. It is not generally possible to give hard-and-fast rules for doing this – much depends on the good faith of editors, who should be striving to provide information, not promote a particular cause. However, observing the following principles, together with those of verifiability, will help to achieve the degree of neutrality which is appropriate for an encyclopedia.

• Avoid stating opinions as facts. It is expected that articles will contain information about the significant opinions that have been expressed about their subjects, but these opinions should not be stated in Misplaced Pages's voice – they should be attributed in the text to particular sources, or sometimes (where justified) described as "widespread views" and the like. For example, an article should not state that "genocide is an evil action", but it may state that "genocide is widely considered to be an evil action" or that "genocide has been described by John X as the epitome of human evil."
• Avoid stating seriously contested assertions as facts. If different reliable sources make conflicting assertions about a matter, it is normally necessary to treat these assertions as opinions rather than facts, and avoid presenting them as direct statements. However, where there is a clear consensus among reliable sources that an assertion is correct, then it would normally be stated as a simple fact, except when specifically discussing the disagreement over it.
• Prefer non-judgemental language. A neutral point of view neither sympathizes with nor disparages its subject, although this must sometimes be balanced against clarity. Present opinions and conflicting findings in a disinterested tone.
• Indicate accurately the relative prominence of opposing views. Ensure that the reporting of different views on a subject adequately reflects the relative levels of support for those views, and that it does not give a false impression of parity, or give undue weight to a particular view. For example, to state that "According to Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust was a program of extermination of the Jewish people in Germany, but David Irving disputes this analysis" would be to give apparent parity between the supermajority view and a tiny minority view by assigning each to a single activist in the field.

Achieving neutrality

See Misplaced Pages:NPOV tutorial and Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view/Examples

Naming

In some cases the choice of name used to refer to something can given an appearance of bias. While more neutral terms are generally considered preferable, this must be balanced against clarity. If a name is widely used in reliable sources (particularly those written in English), and is therefore likely to be well recognized by readers, it may be used even though some may regard it as biased. For example, the widely used names Boston massacre, Tea Pot Dome scandal and Jack the Ripper are legitimate ways of referring to the subjects in question, even though they may appear to pass judgement. The best name to use for something may depend on the context in which it is mentioned; it may be appropriate to mention alternative names and the controversies over their use, particularly when the thing in question is the main topic being discussed.

The above applies in particular to names used as article titles. Note that article titles which combine alternative names are discouraged. Do not use titles like Derry/Londonderry, Aluminium/Aluminum or Flat Earth (Round Earth). A single name should be chosen as the article title, in line with the article titling policy (and other relevant guidelines such as that on geographical names). Alternative names should be given due prominence within the article itself, and redirects created as appropriate.

Some article titles are descriptive, rather than being the name of something. Descriptive titles should be worded in neutral fashion, so as not to suggest a viewpoint "for" or "against" something, or to confine the content of the article to views on a particular side of an issue (for example, an article titled "Criticisms of X" might be better renamed "Societal views on X"). Neutral titles encourage multiple viewpoints and responsible article writing.

Where proper nouns such as names are concerned, disputes may arise over whether a particular name should be used. Misplaced Pages takes a descriptive rather than prescriptive approach in such cases, by using the common English language name as found in verifiable reliable sources; proper names for people or events which incorporate non-neutral terms - e.g. Boston massacre, Tea Pot Dome scandal, Edward the Confessor, Jack the Ripper - are legitimate article titles when they are used by a consensus of the sources.

Article structure

• WP:STRUCTURE

See the guideline Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style for clarification on the issues raised in this section.

Sometimes the internal structure of an article may require additional attention, to protect neutrality, and to avoid problems like POV forking and undue weight. Although specific article structures are not, as a rule, prohibited, in some cases the article structure may need attention. Care must be taken to ensure that the overall presentation is broadly neutral.

Segregation of text or other content into different regions or subsections, based solely on the apparent POV of the content itself, may result in an unencyclopedic structure, such as a back-and-forth dialogue between proponents and opponents. It may also create an apparent hierarchy of fact: details in the main passage appear "true" and "undisputed", whereas other, segregated material is deemed "controversial", and therefore more likely to be false — an implication that may not be appropriate. A more neutral approach can result from folding debates into the narrative, rather than distilling them into separate sections that ignore each other.

Be alert for arrangements of formatting, headers, footnotes, or other elements that may unduly favor one particular point of view, and for structural or stylistic aspects that make it difficult for a neutral reader to fairly and equally assess the credibility of all relevant and related viewpoints.

Due and undue weight

• WP:UNDUE
• WP:WEIGHT
• WP:DUE

Neutrality requires that each article or other page in the mainspace fairly represents all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint, giving them "due weight". Articles should not give minority views as much or as detailed a description as more widely held views; generally, the views of tiny minorities should not be included at all. For example, the article on the Earth does not mention modern support for the Flat Earth concept, the view of a distinct minority; to do so would give "undue weight" to the Flat Earth belief.

In articles specifically about a minority viewpoint, the views may receive more attention and space. However, such pages should make appropriate reference to the majority viewpoint wherever relevant, and must not reflect an attempt to rewrite content strictly from the perspective of the minority view. Specifically, it should always be clear which parts of the text describe the minority view, and that it is in fact a minority view. The majority view should be explained in sufficient detail that the reader may understand how the minority view differs from it, and controversies regarding parts of the minority view should be clearly identified and explained. How much detail is required depends on the subject: For instance, articles on historical views such as flat earth, with few or no modern proponents, may be able to briefly state the modern position, and then go on to discuss the history of the idea in great detail, neutrally presenting the history of a now-discredited belief. Other minority views may require much more extensive description of the majority view in order to avoid misleading the reader. Misplaced Pages:Fringe theories and the NPOV F.A.Q. provide additional advice on these points.

Misplaced Pages should not present a dispute as if a view held by a small minority deserved as much attention overall as the majority view. Views that are held by a tiny minority should not be represented except in articles devoted to those views. To give undue weight to the view of a significant minority, or to include that of a tiny minority, might be misleading as to the shape of the dispute. Misplaced Pages aims to present competing views in proportion to their representation in reliable sources on the subject. This applies not only to article text, but to images, wikilinks, external links, categories, and all other material as well.

Undue weight applies to more than just viewpoints. An article should not give undue weight to any aspects of the subject but should strive to treat each aspect with a weight appropriate to its significance to the subject. For example, discussion of isolated events, criticisms, or news reports about a subject may be verifiable and neutral, but still be disproportionate to their overall significance to the article topic. This is a concern especially in relation to recent events that may be in the news. Note that undue weight can be given in several ways, including, but not limited to, depth of detail, quantity of text, prominence of placement, and juxtaposition of statements.

From Jimbo Wales, paraphrased from this post from September 2003 on the WikiEN-l mailing list:

• If a viewpoint is in the majority, then it should be easy to substantiate it with reference to commonly accepted reference texts;
• If a viewpoint is held by a significant minority, then it should be easy to name prominent adherents;
• If a viewpoint is held by an extremely small (or vastly limited) minority, it does not belong in Misplaced Pages regardless of whether it is true or not and regardless of whether you can prove it or not, except perhaps in some ancillary article.

Keep in mind that, in determining proper weight, we consider a viewpoint's prevalence in reliable sources, not its prevalence among Misplaced Pages editors or the general public.

If you are able to prove something that few or none currently believe, Misplaced Pages is not the place to première such a proof. Once a proof has been presented and discussed elsewhere, however, it may be referenced. See: Misplaced Pages:No original research and Misplaced Pages:Verifiability.

Giving "equal validity"

• WP:GEVAL
• WP:VALID

This section is the subject of a current discussion. Please feel free to join in. This doesn't mean that you may not be bold in editing this section, but that it would be a good idea to check the discussion first.

The Misplaced Pages neutrality policy does not state, or imply, that we must "give equal validity" to minority views such as the claim that the Earth is flat, the claim that the Knights Templar possessed the Holy Grail, or the claim that the Apollo moon landings never occurred. Conspiracy theory, pseudoscience and speculative history should not be given equal validity to accepted academic scholarship. If that were the case, the result would be to legitimize and even promote such claims. Policy states that we must not take a stand on these issues as encyclopedia writers; but that does not stop us from describing the majority views as such; from fairly explaining the strong arguments against the pseudo-academic theory; from describing the strong moral repugnance that many people feel toward some morally repugnant views; and so forth.

A vital component: good research

Good and unbiased research, based upon the best and most reputable authoritative sources available, helps prevent NPOV disagreements. Try the library for reputable books and journal articles, and look for the most reliable online resources. If you need help finding high-quality sources for something, ask other editors on the talk page of the article you are working on, or ask at Misplaced Pages:Reference desk.

Balance

Neutrality weights viewpoints in proportion to their prominence. However, when reputable sources contradict one another and are relatively equal in prominence, describe both approaches and work for balance. This involves describing the opposing views clearly, drawing on secondary or tertiary sources that describe the disagreement from a disinterested viewpoint.

Impartial tone

Misplaced Pages describes disputes. Misplaced Pages does not engage in disputes. A neutral characterization of disputes requires presenting viewpoints with a consistently impartial tone, otherwise articles end up as partisan commentaries even while presenting all relevant points of view. Even where a topic is presented in terms of facts rather than opinions, inappropriate tone can be introduced through the way in which facts are selected, presented, or organized. Neutral articles are written with a tone that provides an unbiased, accurate, and proportionate representation of all positions included in the article.

The tone of Misplaced Pages articles should be impartial, neither endorsing nor rejecting a particular point of view. Try not to quote directly from participants engaged in a heated dispute; instead, summarize and present the arguments in an impartial tone.

Characterizing opinions of people's work

A special case is the expression of aesthetic opinions. Some Misplaced Pages articles about art, artists, and other creative topics (e.g. musicians, actors, books, etc.) have tended toward the effusive. This is out of place in an encyclopedia; we might not be able to agree that so-and-so is the greatest guitar player in history. But it is important indeed to note how some artist or some work has been received by the general public or by prominent experts. Providing an overview of the common interpretations of a creative work, preferably with citations or references to notable individuals holding that interpretation, is appropriate. For instance, that Shakespeare is widely considered one of the greatest authors of the English language is a bit of knowledge that one should learn from an encyclopedia. Public and scholarly critique of an artist or work, when well-researched and verifiable, helps to put the work into context and enhances the credibility of the article; idiosyncratic opinions of individual Misplaced Pages contributors, however, do not.

Words to watch

There are no forbidden words or expressions on Misplaced Pages, but certain expressions should be used with care, because they may introduce bias. For example, the word claim can imply that a statement is incorrect, such as John claimed he had not eaten the pie. Using loaded words such as these may make an article appear to favor one position over another. Try to state the facts more simply without using these words: for example John said, "I did not eat the pie". Strive to eliminate expressions that are flattering, disparaging, vague, or clichéd, or that endorse a particular point of view (unless those expressions are part of a quote from a noteworthy source).

Neutrality disputes and handling

Attributing and specifying biased statements

• WP:SUBSTANTIATE
• WP:ATTRIBUTEPOV

A biased statement violates this policy when it is presented as a fact or the truth. It does not necessarily violate this policy when it is presented as an identifiable point of view. It is therefore important to verify it and make every effort possible to add an appropriate citation.

For instance, "John Doe is the best baseball player" expresses an opinion; it cannot be included in Misplaced Pages as if it were a fact. One way to make it suitable for Misplaced Pages is to change it into a statement about someone whose opinion it is: "John Doe's baseball skills have been praised by baseball insiders such as Al Kaline and Joe Torre," as long as those statements are correct and can be verified. The goal here is to attribute the opinion to some subject-matter expert, rather than to merely state it as true.

A different approach is to specify the statement, by giving those details that actually are factual. For example: "John Doe had the highest batting average in the major leagues from 2003 through 2006." People may still argue over whether he was the best baseball player. But they will not argue over this.

There is a temptation to rephrase biased or opinion statements with weasel words: "Many people think John Doe is the best baseball player." But statements of this form are subject to obvious attacks: "Yes, many people think so, but only ignorant people"; and "Just how many is 'many'? I think it's only 'a few' who think that!" By attributing the claim to a known authority, or substantiating the facts behind it, you can avoid these problems.

Article spinouts and point of view forks

See the guideline Misplaced Pages:Content forking for clarification on the issues raised in this section.

A point of view fork is an attempt to evade the neutrality policy by creating a new article about a certain subject that is already treated in an article, often to avoid or highlight negative or positive viewpoints or facts. POV forks are not permitted in Misplaced Pages. The accepted policy is that all facts and major points of view on a given subject are treated in one article except in the case of an article spinout.

Misplaced Pages is an encyclopedia and as such should cover the entire range of notable discussions on a topic. Some topics are so large, however, that one article cannot reasonably cover all facets of the topic. For example, Evolution, Evolution as theory and fact, Creationism, and Creationism-evolution controversy are all in separate articles. This type of article split is permissible only if written from a neutral point of view, and must not be an attempt to evade the consensus process at another article.

Making necessary assumptions

• WP:MNA

When writing any of a long series of articles on some general subject, there can be cases where we must make some potentially controversial assumptions. For example, in writing about evolution, it's not helpful to hash out the evolution-vs.-creationism debate on every page. There are virtually no topics that could proceed without making some assumptions that someone would find controversial. This is true not only in evolutionary biology, but also in philosophy, history, physics, etc.

It is difficult to draw up general principles on which to rule in specific cases, but the following might help: there is probably not a good reason to discuss some assumption on a given page, if an assumption is best discussed in depth on some other page. Some brief, unobtrusive pointer might be appropriate, however.

Pseudoscience and related fringe theories

• WP:PSCI

Pseudoscientific theories are presented by proponents as science, but fail to adhere to scientific standards and methods. Conversely, scientific consensus is by its very nature the majority viewpoint of scientists towards a topic. Thus, when talking about pseudoscientific topics, we should not describe these two opposing viewpoints as being equal to each other. While pseudoscience may in some cases be significant to an article, it should not obfuscate the description of the mainstream views of the scientific community. Any inclusion of pseudoscientific views should be proportionate, and the scientific view and the pseudoscientific view should be clearly described as such. An explanation of how scientists have received pseudoscientific theories should be prominently included. This helps us to describe differing views fairly. This also applies to other fringe subjects, for instance, forms of historical revisionism that are considered by more reliable sources to either lack evidence or actively ignore evidence, such as Holocaust denial, or claims the Apollo moon landing was faked.

See Misplaced Pages:Fringe theories#Pseudoscience for Misplaced Pages's established guidelines to help with deciding whether something is appropriately classified as pseudoscience.

Religion

• WP:RNPOV

In the case of human beliefs and practices, Misplaced Pages content should not only encompass what motivates individuals who hold these beliefs and practices, but also account for how such beliefs and practices developed. Misplaced Pages articles on history and religion draw from a religion's sacred texts as well as from modern archaeological, historical, and scientific sources.

Some adherents of a religion might object to a critical historical treatment of their own faith because in their view such analysis discriminates against their religious beliefs. Their point of view must be mentioned if it can be documented by notable, reliable sources, yet note that there is no contradiction. NPOV policy means that Misplaced Pages editors ought to try to write sentences like this: "Certain adherents of this faith (say which) believe X, and also believe that they have always believed X; however, due to the findings (say which) of modern historians and archaeologists (say which), other adherents (say which) of this faith now believe Z."

Several words that have very specific meanings in studies of religion have different meanings in less formal contexts, e.g. fundamentalism and mythology. Misplaced Pages articles about religious topics should take care to use these words only in their formal senses to avoid causing unnecessary offense or misleading the reader. Conversely, editors should not avoid using terminology that has been established by the majority of the current reliable and notable sources on a topic out of sympathy for a particular point of view, or concern that readers may confuse the formal and informal meanings. Details about particular terms can be found at words to avoid.

History of NPOV

NPOV is one of the oldest policies on Misplaced Pages.

• Nupedia's "Non-bias policy" was drafted by Larry Sanger in spring or summer of 2000.
• Misplaced Pages's first NPOV policy goes back to at least December 2001.
• "Avoid bias" was one of the first of Misplaced Pages's "rules to consider" proposed by Sanger.
• Jimbo Wales elaborated the "avoid bias" rule with a statement about "neutral point of view" in the early months of Misplaced Pages: see copy in web archive (note: that page also contains comments by other Wikipedians up to 12 April 2001) – in subsequent versions of the NPOV page, Jimbo's statement was known as the "original formulation" of the NPOV policy.
• A more elaborate version of the NPOV policy was written by Larry Sanger, at Meta-Wiki in December 2001: see "Neutral point of view--draft," Larry Sanger's version of 20 December 2001.
• After several transformations (see edit history of "draft" at Meta) the version by Larry Sanger et al. was moved to this page on 25 February 2002, and was further edited (see edit history of this page), resulting in the current version.
• Another short formulation was introduced by Brion Vibber in meta, 17 March 2003: see Meta's "Neutral point of view," version of 17 March 2003
• Development of the Undue weight section started in 2003, for which a mailing list post by Jimbo Wales on 29 September 2003 was instrumental.
• Jimbo Wales qualifies NPOV as "non-negotiable", consistently, throughout various discussions: November 2003, April 2006, March 2008 (compare also User:Jimbo Wales/Statement of principles #1).

Common objections and clarifications

See Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view/FAQ for answers and clarifications on the issues raised in this section.

Common objections or concerns raised to Misplaced Pages's Neutral point of view policy include the following.

Being neutral

• There's no such thing as objectivity
  Everybody with any philosophical sophistication knows that. So how can we take the "neutrality" policy seriously?

• Lack of neutrality as an excuse to delete
  The neutrality policy is used sometimes as an excuse to delete texts that are perceived as biased. Isn't this a problem?

• A simple formulation – what does it mean?
  The section of this policy called A simple formulation is about the different ways in which we present facts (uncontroversial statements) versus opinions (value judgement or disputed views). What Misplaced Pages states directly is facts and only facts. Opinions can be reported too, but they cannot be stated directly – they need to be converted into facts by attributing them in the text to some person or group.

Balancing different views

• Writing for the "enemy"
  I'm not convinced by what you say about "writing for the enemy." I don't want to write for the enemy. Most of them rely on stating as fact many things which are demonstrably false. Are you saying that, to be neutral in writing an article, I must lie, in order to represent the view I disagree with?

• Morally offensive views
  What about views that are morally offensive to most readers, such as sexism and Holocaust denial, that some people actually hold? Surely we are not to be neutral about them?

Editorship disputes

• Dealing with biased contributors
  I agree with the non-bias policy but there are some here who seem completely, irremediably biased. I have to go around and clean up after them. What do I do?

• Avoiding constant disputes
  How can we avoid constant and endless warfare over neutrality issues?

Other

• Anglo-American focus
  Misplaced Pages seems to have an Anglo-American focus. Is this contrary to the neutral point of view?

• Other objections
  I have some other objection—where should I complain?

Since the neutral-point-of-view policy is often unfamiliar to newcomers—and is so central to Misplaced Pages's approach—many issues surrounding the neutrality policy have been covered before very extensively. If you have some new contribution to make to the debate, you could try Talk:Neutral point of view, or bring it up on the Misplaced Pages-l mailing list. Before asking it, please review the links below.

Notes

1. Article sections devoted solely to criticism, and "pro and con" sections within articles, are two commonly cited examples. There are varying views on whether and to what extent such structures are appropriate; see Misplaced Pages:Avoid thread mode, Misplaced Pages:Criticism, Misplaced Pages:Pro and con lists, and Template:Criticism-section.
2. Commonly cited examples include articles that read too much like a "debate", and content structured like a "resume". See also: Misplaced Pages:Guide to layout, Formatting criticism, Misplaced Pages:Edit war, WP cleanup templates, and Template:Lopsided.

Other resources

Policies

• No original research
• Verifiability

Guidelines

• Article size
• Conflict of interest
• Fringe theories
• Words to avoid

Essays

• Avoid peacock terms
• Avoid weasel words
• Coatrack
• Controversial articles
• Describing points of view
• Guidelines for controversial articles
• Let the reader decide
• List of controversial issues
• NPOV tutorial
• NPOV FAQ
• NPOV Examples
• NPOV Examples debate
• NPOV Disputes
• Positive tone (meta, historical)
• Scientific consensus
• Systemic bias
• Understand Bias (meta, historical)

Articles

• Objectivity (journalism)
• Consensus reality
• One-sided argument
• Subject-object problem

Templates

• General NPOV templates:
  • {{POV}} or {{Bias}}—message used to warn of problems
  • {{POV-check}}—message used to request that an article be checked for neutrality
  • {{POV-section}}—tags only a single section as disputed
  • {{POV-intro}}—when the article's introduction is questionable
  • {{POV-title}}—when the article's title is questionable
  • {{POV-statement}}—when only one sentence is questionable
  • {{NPOV language}}—message used when the neutrality of the style of writing is questioned
  • {{article issues}}—when an article or section fails to abide by multiple Misplaced Pages content policies
  • {{ASF}}—when a sentence may or may not require in-text attribution (e.g. so-and-so says)
• Undue weight templates:
  • {{undue}}—message used to warn that a part of an article lends undue weight to certain ideas relative to the article as a whole
  • {{undue-section}}—same as above but to tag a section only
  • {{undue-inline}}—same as above but to tag a sentence or paragraph only

Wikiproject

• Wikiproject Neutrality

Noticeboard

• Neutral point of view noticeboard

External links

1. Part 1

• NeutralPointOfView on MeatballWiki

• Misplaced Pages policies
• Misplaced Pages neutral point of view
• Misplaced Pages policy
• Misplaced Pages content policy