User:HighInBC/Wikilinks are not references

This is an essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

The purpose of this essay is to explain that wikilinks are not references. I hope to explain that demanding reliable third party references over wikilinks is not just policy wonking, but an important requirement to improving the encyclopedia.

Regarding lists[edit]

There seems to be a myth out there that lists do not need to be cited. This is just not true.

Partial summary of Wikipedia:List guideline#Criteria for inclusion in lists:

Lists should always include unambiguous statements of membership criteria based on definitions made by reputable sources
Wikipedia:No original research applies equally to a list of like things as it does for the content article on each individual thing listed
The verifiability policy states that "articles should contain only material that has been published by reputable sources. Editors should therefore provide references."
Inclusion on the list should be based on what reliable sources say.
Uncited facts should be marked with a {{fact}} tag, and eventually removed unless cited

Notes[edit]

Examples of articles that were "cited" with wikilinks only, and the results of actually checking the linked articles for citations:

List of ethnic slurs by ethnicity[edit]

Before After Work log 30.7% cited

Results: Out of 26 items in the list, 8 have them had citations in their articles. Less than 1/3rd of them were cited.
Unfortunately this article is plagued by drive by additions that do not meet criteria and needs plenty of maintenance. Until(1 == 2) 00:18, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

List of Romanian actors[edit]

Before After Work log 31.7% cited

Results: Out of 41 items in the list, only 13 actually had citations in the articles, that is less than 1/3rd of them
This cleanup gained the attention of others, and the list was cited further, resulting in a full 38 of them being sourced(but not from sources in the articles they were linked to, ones that were found).

List of Indian companies[edit]

Before After Work log 56.4% cited

Results: Out of 156 items in the list, only 88 actually had citations in the articles. Just a little over half were sourced.