Wikipedia:Trivial mentions

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This is an essay on notability.

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.

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This page in a nutshell: Notability requires significant coverage by reliable sources. Trivial mentions are not enough.

The general notability guideline clearly states that sources that only mention a topic in "one sentence" are insufficient to establish that topic's notability, as are other "trivial mentions" of a topic.

Summary

Wikipedia articles need to include verifiable evidence of the topic's notability from reliable independent sources. The guideline states that these sources need to provide "significant coverage" of the topic, and this coverage must consist of more than a "trivial mention". The guideline has long stated that a one sentence mention is plainly trivial.

Quotes from Notability

The general notability guideline states that:

If a topic has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject, it is presumed to satisfy the inclusion criteria for a stand-alone article or stand-alone list.

The meaning of significant coverage is explained:

"Significant coverage" means that sources address the subject directly in detail, so no original research is needed to extract the content. Significant coverage is more than a trivial mention but it need not be the main topic of the source material.

A footnote indicates the meaning of trivial mention using an example:

The one sentence mention by Walker of the band Three Blind Mice in a biography of Bill Clinton ("In high school, he was part of a jazz band called Three Blind Mice.") is plainly trivial.

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