Редактирование: Project:Достоверность информации (раздел)

== Верифицируемость, а не истинность ==
Ключевым моментом в написании хорошей энциклопедии является понимание того, что необходимо ссылаться только на те факты, утверждения, теории, идеи, мнения и аргументы, которые уже были опубликованы в заслуживающих доверия изданиях. Целью Ньюпедии является стать полной и достоверной энциклопедией. Участники должны [[Ньюпедия:Ссылки на источники|ссылаться]] на [[Ньюпедия:Авторитетные источники|достоверные источники]] так, чтобы их дополнения могли бы быть проверены читателями и другими участниками.

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"Verifiability" in this context does not mean that editors are expected to verify whether, for example, the contents of a ''[[New York Times]]'' article are true. In fact, editors are strongly discouraged from conducting this kind of research, because [[Wikipedia:No original research|original research]] may not be published in Wikipedia. Articles should contain only material that has been published by reliable sources, regardless of whether individual editors view that material as true or false. The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is thus '''verifiability, not truth'''.

A good way to look at the distinction between verifiability and truth is with the following example. Suppose you are writing a Wikipedia entry on a famous physicist's Theory X, which has been published in peer-reviewed journals and is therefore an appropriate subject for a Wikipedia article. However, in the course of writing the article, you contact the physicist and he tells you: "Actually, I now believe Theory X to be completely false." Even though you have this from the author himself, you cannot include the fact that he said it in your Wikipedia entry.

Why not? Because it is not verifiable in a way that would satisfy the Wikipedia readership or other editors. The readers don't know who you are. You can't include your telephone number so that every reader in the world can call you for confirmation. And even if they could, why should they believe you?

For the information to be acceptable to Wikipedia you would have to persuade a reputable news organization to publish your story first, which would then go through a process similar to peer review. It would be checked by a reporter, an editor, perhaps by a fact-checker, and if the story were problematic, it might be checked further by the lawyers and the editor-in-chief. These checks and balances exist to ensure that accurate and fair stories appear in the newspaper.

'''It is this fact-checking process that Wikipedia is not in a position to provide''', which is why the [[Wikipedia:no original research | no original research]] and [[Wikipedia:Verifiability | verifiability]] policies are so important.

If the newspaper published the story, you could then include the information in your Wikipedia entry, citing the newspaper article as your source.
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