{"id":618,"slug":"wikipedia-verifiability-not-truth-policy-foundational","title":"Wikipedia: \"The threshold for inclusion is verifiability, not truth\" — four claim types always need inline citations","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["editorial-discipline","citation-practices"],"reference_body":"**Quote (Wikipedia WP:V):**\n\n> \"The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is **verifiability, not truth** — whether readers can check that material in Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source.\"\n\n**Source:** <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability>\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**The four claim types that always need inline citations (per WP:V):**\n\n1. **Direct quotations**\n2. **Contentious material about living persons**\n3. **Anything challenged or likely to be challenged**\n4. **Statistics**\n\n**Why \"verifiability not truth\" is the right model for business writing:** the writer doesn't have to be omniscient — only honest about where claims come from. **Wikipedia is the largest-scale working example of \"every claim → reliable source\" at internet scale.**\n\nSee [[wikipedia-verifiability-policy]] (the earlier KB entry) for the broader framing in brief 3 (KB-backed websites). Pairs with [[bbc-editorial-3-2-2-sound-evidence]] and the operational [[confidence-label-taxonomy-7-label-2026]].","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"wikipedia-verifiability-policy","title":"Wikipedia verifiability policy: all challenged material must carry an inline citation to a reliable published source","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"confidence-label-taxonomy-7-label-2026","title":"CANDID REFERENCE: 7-label confidence taxonomy — Verified / Industry-consensus / Single-source / Estimated / Author's view / Contested / Stale","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"rule-every-objective-claim-sourced-with-confidence-label","title":"RULE: Every objective claim in Candid content carries a named source + date + verbatim quote ≤25 words + confidence label","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"research-brief-confidence-sources-dated-claims","title":"Research brief: Confidence Levels, Sources, and Dated Claims — why every statement on a credible site should be verifiable (piece 15 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T20:51:26.974Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T20:51:26.974Z"}