Wikipedia:Just Plain Wrong
 | 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. |
Some original research is not just original research (which itself is prohibited by Wikipedia policy), but original research which is Just Plain Wrong. This usually occurs with editors who have very strong opinions on the subject but lack the competence, technical or otherwise, to actually conduct research in the topic area.
In some cases editors unfamiliar with Wikipedia policies, or unwilling to follow them, will engage in their own original research, but depending on the topic and the background of the editor, the result may at least be plausible. While this kind of approach to editing the encyclopedia is not allowed - an encyclopedia is a compendium of existing knowledge not a venue for "publishing" new findings - it may, if limited to the talk page of an article, stimulate discussion or even lead to the discovery of proper and useful secondary sources. On the other hand, in many cases, the original research conducted by Wikipedia editors is Just Plain Wrong.