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There's a certain amount of confusion about the exact role of research in writing Wikipedia. I've been confused myself and have probably confused others from time to time. Here's how I see it currently!
True
editand the lonely voice of youth asks, "What is truth?" - Johny Cash
False
editA false statement can't be verifiable, because it can't be verified. Obviously.
And this gives us a useful shortcut to rejecting some material. It's such an obvious shortcut that we don't often see it as one!
Wikipedic
editStatements such as John Brown said "all Cretans are liars" are encyclopedic iff:
- They are true.
- They are verifiable.
- They meet some other rather subjective criteria which are sometimes called notability and sometimes not.