Wikipedia:Notability

It has been suggested that User:Uncle G/On notability be merged into this page or section. (Discuss)

Topics in most areas must meet a minimum threshold of notability, importance, or significance in order for an article on that topic to remain on Wikipedia:

• In order to have a verifiable article, a topic must be notable enough that it will be described by multiple independent reliable sources.
• In order to have a neutral article with minimal errors, a topic must be notable enough that there will be non-partisan editors interested in editing it.
• Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. As such, Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate directory of businesses, websites, persons, etc.

The guidelines in the table on the right have been created, or are under discussion, to set out more precisely what these thresholds should be in certain areas. They generally assert that a minimum standard for any given topic is that it has been the subject of multiple non-trivial published works, where the source is independent of the topic itself.

Notability as a reason for merging

Articles on subjects with borderline notability that meet Wikipedia's other content policies may be merged into list articles, or into an article on a related subject. For example, articles on the mediocre relatives of a famous person tend to be merged into the article on the person, and articles on persons who are only notable for being associated with a certain event tend to be merged into the main article on that event. In such cases, the sources are focused on the main subject and have information on the secondary subject largely only in relation to that main subject; similarly, uninvolved editors now and in the future are primarily interested in that main subject. A full, sourced encyclopedia article cannot thus be had independently of the main subject.

Notability as a reason for deletion

Articles on non-notable subjects can be nominated for Proposed Deletion and Articles for Deletion, where the article's merits are discussed, as can be seen through precedents. An article on the topic of a person, group of people, band, company, club or website that does not even assert the notability of that topic can be deleted without argument.

Note that the use of notability in the deletion process is one of the more contentious issues on Wikipedia.

See also

There are (and have been) several proposals to alter the status quo, or essays discussing various points of view on the issue such as:

• User:Uncle G/On notability An essay on the necessity of considering notability to determine inclusion or exclusion of articles. This essay offers objective criteria for determining notability in the context of Wikipedia.
• Wikipedia:Notability/Arguments A list of arguments for both application and non-application of notability.
• Wikipedia:Non-notability, a rejected proposal reflecting the viewpoints of those who believe that only content policies should be used in regard to whether "non-notable" subjects should be included in Wikipedia.