Wikipedia:Be a reliable source

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This essay contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. Essays may represent widespread norms or minority viewpoints. Consider these views with discretion. Essays are not Wikipedia policies or guidelines.

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Walter Cronkite was known as the "most trusted man in America." He earned this label for being a reliable source.

The term "reliable sources" gets thrown around a lot. While Wikipedia has a definition of a reliable source, many editors have their own.

An object everyone should strive for is to be one.

[edit] How to be a reliable source

The best way you can be a reliable source is to strictly adhere to the guidelines pertaining to them. This means to cite all information you add to articles, to be sure all information is verifiable, and not to include original research in your additions. If you get known for being a reliable source, it is more likely that your edits will be trusted.

v t e Essays on building Wikipedia

Philosophy	Articles must be written Avoid vague introductions Be a reliable source Cohesion Concede lost arguments 8 simple rules for editing our encyclopedia Explanationism Here to build an encyclopedia Not editing because of Wikipedia restriction Paradoxes Paraphrasing POV and OR from editors, sources, and fields Product, process, policy Purpose Ten Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia Tendentious editing The role of policies in collaborative anarchy The rules are principles Trifecta Wikipedia in brief Wikipedia is an encyclopedia Wikipedia is a community Wikipedia should not have users

Construction	100K featured articles A navbox on every page Advanced article editing Advanced table formatting Advanced template coding Advanced text formatting Alternatives to the "Expand" template Amnesia test An unfinished house is a real problem Autosizing images Avoid mission statements Bare URLs Be neutral in form Beef up that first revision Cherrypicking Citation overkill Concept cloud Creating controversial content Dictionaries as sources Don't demolish the house while it's still being built Don't hope the house will build itself Don't leave giant breaks between sections Don't panic Editing on mobile devices Editors are not mindreaders Encourage the newcomers Endorsements (commercial) Featured articles may have problems Give an article a chance How to run an edit-a-thon Inaccuracies in Wikipedia namespace Link rot Minors and persons judged incompetent Not every story/event/disaster needs a biography Not everything needs a navbox Not everything needs a WikiProject Nothing is in stone Permastub Potential, not just current state Put a little effort into it Pruning article revisions Publicists Restoring part of a reverted edit Robotic editing Sham consensus Temporary versions of articles The world will not end tomorrow There is a deadline There is no deadline The deadline is now What an article should not include Wikipedia is a volunteer service Wikipedia is a work in progress Wikipedia is not being written in an organized fashion Write the article first Writing better articles

Deletion	Adjectives in your recommendations AfD is not a war zone Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions Arguments to avoid in deletion reviews Arguments to avoid in image deletion discussions Arguments to make in deletion discussions Avoid repeated arguments Before commenting in a deletion discussion Content removal Delete the junk Does deletion help Don't overuse shortcuts to policy and guidelines to win your argument Follow the leader How to save an article proposed for deletion I just don't like it Immunity Liar Liar Pants on Fire Nothing Overzealous deletion Relisting can be abusive Wikipedia is not Whack-A-Mole Why was the page I created deleted? What to do if your article gets tagged for speedy deletion

About essays	Value of essays Difference between policies, guidelines and essays Essays are not policy Don't cite essays as if they were policy Avoid writing redundant essays Finding an essay Quote your own essay

Related subjects	About policies and guidelines Policies Guidelines

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Wikipedia:Be a reliable source

[edit] How to be a reliable source

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