 | This is an explanatory essay about the Wikipedia:No original research policy. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Although avoiding original research is an important part of ensuring that Wikipedia content is verifiable, use some common sense about it, and particularly about asserting original research by synthesis. |
In this article, the term SYNTH refers to Wikipedia's policy of forbidding original research by synthesis, and to its forms and nature. SYNTH cautions against original research by synthesis, where an editor combines reliably sourced statements in a way that makes or suggests a new statement not supported by any one of the sources. This essay is intended to help explain the spirit of that policy. In particular, this essay is intended to oppose taking an excessively strict interpretation of the policy in many cases. After all, Wikipedia does not have firm rules.