Wikipedia:What Wikipedia Wants (proposal)
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This article is dedicated to deciding what belongs in Wikipedia and what doesn't.
Overview[edit]
Wikipedia is dedicated to the idea of having articles that are "Encyclopedic". That is to say, Wikipedia wants any article one would find in a traditional paper encyclopedia. But as an online encyclopedia, Wikipedia is free to write about many things one would not find in a traditional one. On the other hand, Wikipedia does not want an article on every person/place/thing in the universe.
What is Encyclopedic?[edit]
- Anything with name recognition - That is, anything that an average person would have heard of.
- Anything notable - Corollary to name recognition. You might not know the name of the largest gas company in India, but it's notable for that reason.
- Anything academic - Someone or something that would be mentioned in a textbook or research paper, and which is notable or famous at least within its field. This includes technical jargon and historical events. It does not include specific papers and studies unless they are "important".
- Cities, municipalities, physical landmarks or regions
- Post-secondary schools - Colleges and Universities
- Political entities and systems and philosophies of social organizations
- Fictional Fixtures - Notable (that is, having at least limited fame) fictional works, events, characters, and places.
- Popular culture - People/places/things in sports or the media
- Culture and belief - Notable religious or social people, places, ideas.
- The Arts
What is not Encyclopedic?[edit]
- Nonfamous people, websites, and companies
- Specific elementary or high schools
- Nonfamous roads, buildings, locations
- Transient popular culture and media hype
- Dictionary definitions - See Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not a dictionary
- Original thoughts or research
- Tutorials - These belong in Wikibooks (by general consensus)
- Rants, rumors, and patent nonsense - Wikipedia wants only generally accepted facts or theories.
- See also What Wikipedia is not
What else?[edit]
Wikipedia does take some non-encyclopedic articles:
- Relevant Lists - Lists on relevant topics
Note - in cases where an article fits into both encyclopedic and non-encyclopedic categories, it is considered to be encyclopedic.