Wikipedia:An interest is not a conflict of interest
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Conflict of interest can be cited as a cause for some other violation, but the existence of a conflict of interest by itself is not a policy violation. |
Conflict of interest is one of Wikipedia's least understood and yet most cited behavioral guidelines. In a nutshell it strongly discourages promoting interests an editor is related to unless it is certain that the interests of Wikipedia remain paramount.
Remember
- When citing conflict of interest in a discussion be sure to also cite the relevant policies and guidelines that you believe have been broken (e.g. WP:NPOV), ideally with specific examples.
- A conflict of interest is not a reason to delete an article or revert edits although other problems with the article arising from a conflict of interest may be valid criteria for deletion or reversion.
- Use the {{talk pages.
- Unjustified use of the {{COI-check}} tag instead.
Interest
The word interest has two distinct meanings in this context which can be a source of great confusion:
- A great attention and concern from someone or something.
- He has a lot of interest in vintage cars.
- A business or amorous link or involvement.
- I have business interests in South Africa.
While both meanings usually apply at the same time (for example an editor writing about their own company or family member), this need not always be the case. Just because an editor has an interest in a topic (regardless how strong) does not imply that they have a conflict of interest. Conversely an editor may have a conflict of interest with no interest at all (for example an editor writing about an ex-employer or competitor).
Where there is no obvious off-wiki financial, professional, or marketing benefit to the editor or someone close to them (
Advice
Conflicted editors who do choose to contribute should declare their interests, both on their