Users editing pages relating to themselves, their business, employer, band etc. have a conflict of interest. Conflict of interest editing is not banned, but editors with a conflict of interest are advised to be particularly careful. This page provides a guide to how such editors should behave.
Editors with conflicts of interest:
1. Must abide by the letter and spirit of Wikipedia's policies and guidelines, paying particular attention to policies regarding notability, verifiability and neutral point of view.
2. Must aim only to provide an accurate and fair image of the subject, not to use Wikipedia as a promotional tool. Editors must recognise, and ensure their employer or client recognises, that they cannot control a subject's image on Wikipedia, and should not attempt to do so.
3. Must be open about the nature and extent of their conflict of interest. In particular, they should never deny their conflict of interest or be misleading about it. They must also avoid sockpuppetry.
4. Should not add negative information on any page regarding competitors or anyone they or their employer or client has any kind of real-world conflict with.
5. Should take particular care to reference any information they add to a reputable and preferably third-party source. Any contentious information must be referred to a reputable third-party source. Uncontentious information may be referenced to the subject's website or similar source.
6. Must not remove information referenced to a reputable third party source. If undue weight is given to a particular issue (for example a scandal or lawsuit), editors with a conflict of interest may edit this down to a more appropriate length as long as this is not opposed by other editors of that page.
7. Must write as if from a neutral point of view, and in particular avoid PR speak, weasel words and other styles inappropriate for an encyclopaedia.
8. Must not add links to external sites in violation of the letter or spirit of Wikipedia's anti-spamming policy.
9. Must not use articles on a broad subject to promote their company, client, band etc. Mention may be added if the company etc genuinely is a particularly notable example of the subject, and such a mention adds to the quality of the article, but this notability must be demonstrated using reputable third-party sources.
The following actions should be uncontentious even when done by a user with a clear conflict of interest:
- Uploading images with appropriate copyright clearance and adding them to appropriate pages, as long as this is consistent with Wikipedia conventions of style.
- Fixing errors in spelling or grammar, or otherwise improving the page's style without changing the meaning.
- Adding a link to the subject's webpage, consistent with Wikipedia conventions of style.
- Replacing or removing false information. Replacement information should be sourced; removed information should be demonstrably untrue, and a note on this should be added to the talkpage.
- Updating out of date information. Again, replacement information should be sourced.
- Adding information, as long as this is sourced and is actual information rather than opinion. Editors should take care not to give undue weight to any particular aspect of the topic, and make sure that information is relevant and appropriate to an encyclopaedia.
Editors with conflict of interest should attempt to seek community consensus before correcting perceived negative bias, except where this solely involves incorrect or out of date information.