Wikipedia:Notability

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This page documents an English Wikipedia guideline.

Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page.

[[Category:Wikipedia {{{1}}}s|Notability]]

This page is the subject of a current discussion. Please feel free to join in. This doesn't mean that you may not be bold in editing this page, but that it would be a good idea to check the discussion first.

All topics should meet a minimum threshold of notability for an article on that topic to be included in Wikipedia. Notable is defined as "attracting notice" or "worthy of being noted"; it is not synonymous with "fame" or "importance". Notability guidelines pertain to the suitability of article topics, but do not directly restrict content within an article.

Generally, a topic is notable if it has been the subject of significant coverage in reliable sources from which an accurate, neutral encyclopedic article can be made. The depth of coverage and the quality of sources must be considered in determining the number of sources required and whether the coverage establishes notability.

The table to the right lists further guidelines which have been accepted, or are being considered, precisely determine the encyclopedic suitability of a topic.

The main notability guideline

A topic is notable if it has been the subject of significant coverage in multiple reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject and of each other.

"Significant" means that sources address the topic directly and no original research is needed to extract the information.Template:Fn It does not require that a topic be the sole subject of a source, but does require that the source speaks on the subject in detail, not merely as a passing mention.

"Multiple" may vary depending on the quality of the sources. For example, several newspapers simultaneously publishing articles about an occurrence, does not always constitute independent works, especially when the authors are relying on the same sources, and merely restating the same information. Specifically, several journals publishing the same article from a news wire service is not a multiplicity of works.

"Reliable" means sources need editorial integrity sufficient for verifiable evaluation of the topic's notability, per the reliable source guideline. The type of source material that can be used encompasses published works in all forms and media.Template:Fn

"Independent" excludes works produced by those affilliated with the topic including: self-publicity, advertising, self-published material, autobiographies, press releases, etc.Template:Fn

This guideline does not apply to the number of sources currently cited in an article, but to the quality of published works that actually exist. The lack of citations in an article does not demonstrate that published works do not exist. Conversely, the existence of one strong source is good indication that other published works are likely to exist such that multiple works may be found.

Dealing with non-notable topics

Topics that do not satisfy notability guidelines are dealt with in two ways: merging and deletion. The most appropriate route depends on how the topic fails to satisfy the criteria, mainly how it fails to satisfy the main criterion. Articles that may not meet notablity guidelines should be marked with the {{notability}} template to make other editors aware of the problem and give them a chance to address the issue.

Merging

A topic that is the subject of coverage in one or more sources may still fail to satisfy the notability guidelines if that coverage is trivial in nature. Information which is given only superficial treatment or which is tangentially mentioned in discussions surrounding the actual focus of a work, is not sufficient to build a full, sourced encyclopedia article that stands independent of the main subject.

One common recommendation across all notability guidelines is not to nominate articles on such topics for deletion but to rename, refactor, or merge them into articles with broader scopes, or into the articles that discuss the main subject, which may be created if they do not already exist.Template:Fn

For related issues, see Wikipedia:Neutral point of view#Undue weight, Wikipedia:Content forking, and Wikipedia:Summary style.

Deletion

A topic can fail to satisfy the guidelines because there are insufficient published works from reliable sources that are independent of the subject.Template:Fn Without such sources, a proper encyclopedia article cannot be built at all. Such articles are usually nominated for deletion, via one of the Wikipedia deletion processes.Template:Fn

Topics that cannot be substantiated in any published works at all are simply unverifiable and should be deleted.

For an indication on what is likely to be kept or deleted in a deletion debate, please see the list of common outcomes of deletion debates.

For related issues see Wikipedia:Autobiography and Wikipedia:Independent sources.

Rationale for requiring a level of notability

In order to have a verifiable article, a topic should be notable enough that the information about it will have been researched, checked, and evaluated through publication in independent reliable sources.
In order to have a neutral article, a topic should be notable enough that the information about it will be from unbiased and unaffiliated sources; and that those interested in the article will not be exclusively partisan or fanatic editors.
Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate directory of businesses, websites, persons, etc.Template:Fn Wikipedia is an encyclopedia.

Notability is not subjective

Subjective evaluations are not relevant for determining whether a topic warrants inclusion in Wikipedia. Notability guidelines do not equate to personal or biased considerations, such as: "never heard of this", "an interesting article", "topic deserves attention", "not famous enough", "very important issue", "popular", "I like it", "only of interest to [some group]", etc.

General notability is not judged by Wikipedia editors directly. The inclusion of topics on Wikipedia is a reflection of whether those topics have been included in reliable published works. Other authors, scholars, or journalists have decided whether to give attention to a topic, and in their expertise have researched and checked the information about it. Thus, the main notability guideline is a way to determine whether "the world" has judged a topic to be notable. This is unrelated to whether a Wikipedia editor personally finds the subject remarkable or worthy.

Notability is generally permanent

If a topic has multiple independent reliable published sources, this is not changed by the frequency of coverage decreasing. Thus, if a topic once satisfied the main notability guideline, it continues to satisfy it over time. The reverse is not true; subjects may acquire notability as time passes. However, articles should not be written based on speculation that the subject may be notable in the future.

Other factors that may influence the notability of topics in the context of Wikipedia include the fact that policy and guidelines and consensus can change over time.

Notability is not popularity

Popularity does not by itself render a subject notable, nor does lack of popularity render it non-notable. For example, popular Internet fads may be the subject of few or no reliable sources and fail to be notable, but a rather obscure seventeenth-century poet may have substantial coverage in reliable histories qualifying the topic as notable. Secondary source availability and depth of coverage, not popularity or fame, establishes notability.

Notability guidelines do not directly limit article-content

This guideline is for allowable article topics within Wikipedia, not for allowable content within an otherwise acceptable Wikipedia article. It is not necessary that every particular fact within an article meet this guideline. For issues of article content, see especially the guidelines on reliable sources, and trivia. Note also, though, that other Wikipedia guidelines refer in places to "notability", meaning notability as defined by the notability guidelines. These are not criteria for every particular bit of information in an article. For issues of article content, see especially the guidelines on reliable sources, and trivia. Note, however, that these and other guidelines do refer to the concept of notability, and that list articles are expected to include only notable entries.

Notes

Template:Fnb Examples: The 360-page book by Sobel and the 528-page book by Black on IBM are plainly non-trivial. The 1 sentence mention by Walker of the band Three Blind Mice in a biography of Bill Clinton (Martin Walker (1992-01-06). "Tough love child of Kennedy". The Guardian. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)) is plainly trivial.
Template:Fnb including but not limited to newspapers, books and e-books, magazines, television and radio documentaries, reports by government agencies, scientific journals, etc.
Template:Fnb Self-promotion, autobiography, and product placement are not the routes to having an encyclopaedia article. The published works should be someone else writing about the topic. (See Wikipedia:Autobiography for the verifiability and neutrality problems that affect material where the subject of the article itself is the source of the material. Also see Wikipedia:Independent sources.) The barometer of notability is whether people independent of the topic itself (or of its manufacturer, creator, author, inventor, or vendor) have actually considered the topic notable enough that they have written and published non-trivial works of their own that focus upon it.
Template:Fnb Some examples:
- Wikipedia:Notability (fiction) recommends that individual articles on minor characters in a work of fiction be merged into a "list of minor characters in ..." page.
- Wikipedia:Notability (schools) recommends that individual articles on schools where there are no non-trivial published works from sources other than the school itself be merged into articles on the towns or regions where schools are located, or into articles on the school districts, education authorities, or other umbrella school organizations as appropriate.
- Non-prominent 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.
- An article on a band that doesn't satisfy the Wikipedia:Notability (music) criteria may be merged into the biography of a notable band member.
Template:Fnb In other words, the only discussion of the topic is in published works from sources that are not independent of the subject, such as autobiographies.
Template:Fnb Wikipedians have been known to reject nominations for deletion that have been inadequately researched. Research should include attempts to find sources which might demonstrate notability, and/or infomation which would demonstrate notablility in an other manner.
Template:Fnb Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not also says "has been featured in several external sources" — "featured" and "several" corresponding to "received significant coverage" and "multiple".

References