Wikipedia:Proposed deletion process for unsourced articles
 | This is a failed proposal. Consensus for its implementation was not established within a reasonable period of time. If you want to revive discussion, please use the talk page or initiate a thread at the village pump. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Lack of sourcing in Wikipedia articles is a significant problem. Articles which are introduced without citing any sources whatsoever should be sourced or removed. |
WP:V states that unsourced material may be challenged or removed by any editor. It is a logical extension of this core policy that unsourced articles may also be challenged and, if no sources whatsoever can be provided, removed.
Rationale
[edit]Unsourced articles are currently a significant problem on Wikipedia. In addition to raising legal concerns in areas such as biographies of living persons and articles about existing organizations, the lack of sourcing causes several other significant issues. It impacts Wikipedia's credibility, as even if the information in an article is true, no one knows how we got there. It makes it difficult for editors to check if a questionable claim may have some truth to it, and may cause contentious debate over inclusion of that claim, when a source cite could have solved the matter easily. It makes it difficult for those who may wish to do further expansion of the article to expand the article using sources. It encourages editors to insert their own opinions or synthesis into articles in violation of our no original research policy, as without cited sources it's not clear that we expect material to be sourced. In order to change this "sourcing is optional" mindset and ensure that articles on Wikipedia comply with WP:V, it is necessary that we make clear sourcing is a requirement, just like WP:NPOV and WP:NOR. Like those, it is not a nicety before a featured article nomination, but a requirement from the very first edit that creates a new article.
Handling unsourced articles
[edit]Before tagging an article for deletion using this method, an editor should make reasonable (though not necessarily heroic) efforts to look for usable source material. If a source is found, the editor should cite those sources rather than requesting deletion. At the very least, Google searches with reasonable keywords should be performed, and any possible sources of verification examined. The {{findsources}} template may be useful in this regard. Only if this step fails should an editor begin the deletion process.
All new articles created on Wikipedia must comply with the verifiability policy by citing, at minimum, one reliable source which is relevant[1] to the article's content. If a new article does not cite at least one such source, it should be tagged with the {{sourcedelete}}[2] template. This will add the article to Category:Unsourced articles proposed for deletion[2]. Should the article remain unsourced for fourteen days, it may be deleted by any administrator. If and only if any editor cites a relevant source, (s)he may remove the template without discussion or debate, and it may not be added again.
Limitations
[edit]The fact that a cited source is of questionable reliability does not allow deletion through this process. If an editor believes that an article should be deleted because the only sources available are questionable, that should be handled through the articles for deletion or proposed deletion processes. Similarly, the fact that an article's sources are inadequate to verify all that it contains should not be addressed using this process. As long as a cited source is relevant to the article's subject, it prevents deletion by this means. This proposal does not prevent handling of articles through the speedy deletion process if an article meets any of the criteria for speedy deletion. No articles which were created before this proposal gains consensus may be deleted using this method, only those articles which are created after consensus to implement this policy is reached.