proposal seems to be done |
{{failed}}: see Wikipedia talk:Commercial editing; it needs to be unambiguous that this is /not/ policy; and the statements made are not true, and not binding. <strike>WP:LEAD</strike> for belt and braces clarity until a better solution prevails. |
||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{ |
{{failed}} |
||
{{Paid_Editing_Parallel_Proposals}} |
{{Paid_Editing_Parallel_Proposals}} |
||
<!-- {{guideline}} --> |
<!-- {{guideline}} --> |
||
⚫ | <strike>'''Commercial editing''', or editing for profit, is not allowed on Wikipedia. Editors with a financial conflict of interest (such as business owners and public-relations professionals acting on their behalf) must not edit affected articles directly. They may make suggestions on talk pages and noticeboards, and request edits using the {{t|request edit}} template, so long as they disclose their conflict of interest.</strike> |
||
{{nutshell| Wikipedia is a non-commercial website. Editing for profit is not allowed.}} |
|||
⚫ | '''Commercial editing''', or editing for profit, is not allowed on Wikipedia. Editors with a financial conflict of interest (such as business owners and public-relations professionals acting on their behalf) must not edit affected articles directly. They may make suggestions on talk pages and noticeboards, and request edits using the {{t|request edit}} template, so long as they disclose their conflict of interest. |
||
==Financial conflicts of interest== |
==Financial conflicts of interest== |
Revision as of 12:21, 13 November 2013
Paid Editing Proposals |
In November 2013, there were three main discussions and votes on paid editing: |
No paid advocacy (talk) (closed: opposed) |
Paid editing policy proposal (talk) (closed: opposed) |
Conflict of interest limit (talk) (closed: opposed) |
Commercial editing, or editing for profit, is not allowed on Wikipedia. Editors with a financial conflict of interest (such as business owners and public-relations professionals acting on their behalf) must not edit affected articles directly. They may make suggestions on talk pages and noticeboards, and request edits using the {{request edit}} template, so long as they disclose their conflict of interest.
Financial conflicts of interest
You have financial conflict of interest if any of the following applies:
- you are receiving monetary or other tangible benefits to edit Wikipedia on behalf of an individual or organization, whether as an employee or contractor, or
- you expect to derive monetary or other tangible benefits from editing Wikipedia as an owner of, or significant stakeholder in, an organization or product you wish to write about, or by having some other form of close financial relationship with the subject of the article, or
- you are editing articles related to a business competitor or litigation adversary, or an interest group that advocates for, or against, your business or industry.
Other forms of financial conflict may exist. The spirit of the rule is not to edit Wikipedia for the purpose of gaining a commercial advantage for yourself, or your associates. Wikipedia's sockpuppetry policy treats close associates as if they are the same person; any restrictions on an editor also apply to that editor's close associates.
Non-commercial editing
The conflict of interest guideline distinguishes between paid editing that creates a conflict of interest from paid editing that does not. Examples of acceptable paid editing include:
- responding to requests on the reward board;
- accepting remuneration as a Wikipedian-in-residence;
- paying translators to move material between different-language Wikipedias;
- hiring experts to review technical or medical articles, as was done by the Google Foundation, or to remedy suspected copyright violations;
- working on behalf of Wikipedia's Education program;
and similar scholarly work.
Experts and editing at work
This policy seeks to prevent editing for profit. It does not intend to prevent experts from editing articles in their field of study, nor to prevent editing at work. Nothing in this policy should be interpreted to mean that subject-matter experts should not contribute to Wikipedia in their area of expertise. Such editors must ensure that their external financial relationships in the field do not interfere with their primary role on Wikipedia.
Many people use Wikipedia as a reference while working. If a user notices an opportunity to improve an article, they are encouraged to do so, so long as they avoid editing any article related to their employer or its competitors. For example, a software engineer working at Apple could help improve the article C++, but they should avoid editing ASP.NET (a product of Apple's competitor Microsoft). Likewise a New York Times journalist who writes about Washington politics, or a reviewer who works for Wine Spectator could edit a Wikipedia article about Congress or about a winery. However, they should not edit articles about the organizations for whom they work.
Investigation
An editor who appears to be editing for profit can often be identified because their contributions will focus on a narrow set of articles, and have a peculiar point of view that is always positive or negative, or their edits may have the tone of advertising. It is not necessary, nor even allowed, to investigate the real life identity of an editor. Cases of suspected commercial editing may be reported at the Conflict of interest noticeboard. A determination is made by inspecting the edits, not the editor.
Remedies
An editor with a financial conflict will not lose editing privileges for reverting vandalism, removing clear violations of the biography of living persons policy, or making minor spelling or grammar corrections. However, it is preferable for such editors to request help from neutral editors at noticeboards such as WP:COIN (for businesses) or WP:BLPN (for biographies).
If an editor persists in commercial editing after being warned, their account may be blocked. Such accounts may be blocked indefinitely when used solely for commercial editing.
Articles that appear to have been written by editors with a close connection to the subject may be tagged {{COI}}
until they have been thoroughly reviewed and repaired by neutral editors. When an article is unequivocal advertising, it may be speedily deleted.
Requesting help
Subjects, including people, businesses and groups, have an interest to ensure that articles about them are accurate and up to date. If you are concerned about how you are presented on Wikipedia, please contact us to request help. Rest assured that all inquiries are handled swiftly.