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This is not an essay. It is also not a policy or guideline, although it tries to be one one day. Right now it expresses the opinions and ideas of one Wikipedian and may or may not have wide support, but hopefully with more input it will soon conquer the world. Feel free to edit this non-essay as needed, but mention major changes on the discussion page. |
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The policies on content and style define the standards encyclopedic content must meet in order to be included in Wikipedia. Notability, which is a corollary of these standards, governs the structuring of Wikipedia into stand-alone articles, lists of topics, and mentions in ancillary articles.
The basic currency of articles in Wikipedia is reliable sources that establish verifiability. If a source is considered verifiable and reputable, it can be included in Wikipedia in the proper context. But not all sources carry sufficient weight to serve as the basis for a stand-alone article. The Wikipedia community has defined notability as the criterion which establishes when a topic has reached enough substance to support an article.