Wikipedia:Update/1/Content policy changes during October 2008

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  • WP:Biographies of living persons
  • WP:Naming conventions
  • WP:Neutral point of view
    • In #Article structure, after "Segregation of text or other content into different regions or subsections, based solely on the apparent POV of the content itself", added: "can result in an unencyclopedic structure, such as a back-and-forth dialogue between "proponents" and "opponents" ... It may also create a hierarchy of fact: details in the main passage are "true" and "undisputed", whereas other material is "controversial" and therefore more likely to be false, an implication that may be inappropriate. A more neutral approach may result by folding debates into the narrative rather than "distilling" them out into separate sections that ignore each other." Some of the links in one footnote to this section were changed, and another footnote was removed.
    • In #Impartial tone, added "Try not to quote directly from participants engaged in a heated dispute; instead, summarize and present the arguments in an impartial tone."
  • WP:No original research
    • In #Original images, added: "Image captions are subject to this policy no less than statements in the main text of the article. Great care should be taken not to introduce original research into an article when captioning images."
  • WP:Non-free content criteria
    • Category:Wikipedia content policies added (it has always been policy).
    • Added for emphasis: "Note that it is for users seeking to include or retain content to provide a valid rationale, not for those seeking to remove or delete it to show that one cannot be created."
  • WP:Verifiability
    • Restored to the August version: "In general, the most reliable sources are peer-reviewed journals and books published in university presses; university-level textbooks; magazines, journals, and books published by respected publishing houses; and mainstream newspapers." The "special cases may arise" sentence from August was also removed.
    • Added: "Reliable sources may be print-only, electronic-only or be available in both print and electronic formats."
    • In #Questionable sources: Added pseudoscience.
    • In #Non-English sources: "quote the relevant portion of the original, non-English text" only applies now to a "direct quote"; the case "where editors use a non-English source to support material that is likely to be challenged" was removed.
    • WP:Fringe theories added to See also.
  • WP:What Wikipedia is not