Wikipedia:NPOV dispute
This is an explanatory essay about WP:Neutral point of view. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. |
Articles that have been linked to this page are the subject of an NPOV dispute (NPOV stands for neutral point of view; see below). This means that in the opinion of the person who added this link, the article in question does not conform to Wikipedia:Neutral point of view.
What is NPOV?
NPOV stands for Neutral point of view. An NPOV (neutral, unbiased) article is an article that complies with Wikipedia's
See Category:All Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes for a list of articles in an NPOV dispute.
What is an NPOV dispute?
Often, authors can view "
Note, however, that there is a strong inductive argument that, if a page is in an NPOV dispute, it probably is not neutral—or, at least, that the topic is a controversial one, and one should be wary of a possible slant or bias. The salient point is that one side—who cares enough to be making the point—thinks that the article says something that other people would want to disagree with.
Most probably the only grounds on which there could be an NPOV dispute over an article that actually conformed to the NPOV is when one or both of the parties to the dispute did not understand either the NPOV policy, or enough about the subject matter to realize that nothing favoring one
By linking to this page from an article, a dissenter can register their concern without unduly upsetting the author(s) or maintainer(s) of the article, and without starting a flame war. Others would maintain, however, that linking to this page only postpones the dispute. This might be a good thing, though, if a "cooling off" period seems required.
Everyone can agree that marking an article as having an NPOV dispute is a temporary measure, and should be followed up by actual contributions to the article in order to put it in such a state that people agree that it is neutral.
An NPOV dispute tag does not mean that an article actually violates NPOV. An editor should not remove the tag merely because they feel the article does comply with NPOV: The tag should be removed only when there is a consensus that the disputes have indeed been resolved.
Sometimes people have
How can one disagree about NPOV?
The vast majority of neutrality disputes are due to a simple confusion: one party believes "X" to be a fact, and—this party is mistaken (see second example below)—that if a claim is factual, the article is therefore neutral. The other party either denies that "X" is a fact, or that everyone would agree that it is a fact. In such a dispute, the first party needs to re-read the
Neutrality here at Wikipedia is all about presenting competing versions of what the facts are. It doesn't matter at all how convinced we are that our "facts" are the facts. If a significant number of other interested parties really do disagree with us, no matter how wrong we think they are, the neutrality policy dictates that the discussion be recast as a fair presentation of the dispute between the parties.
There are many ways that an article can fail to adhere to the NPOV policy. Some examples are:
- The article can simply be biased, expressing viewpoints as facts (see Wikipedia:POV)
- While each fact mentioned in the article might be presented fairly, the very selection (and omission) of facts can make an article biased.
- Some viewpoints, although not presented as facts, can be given undue attention and space compared to others (see Wikipedia:NPOV tutorial#Space and balance).
- The text and manner of writing can insinuate that one viewpoint is more correct than another.
- The subject or title of the article can imply a particular point of view.
- A type of analysis of facts that can lead to the article suggesting a particular point of view's accuracy over other equally valid analytic perspectives.
- The author's own viewpoint is mentioned or obvious.
- Alternate viewpoints are compared in persuasive terms.
How to initiate an NPOV debate?
If you come across an article whose content does not seem to be consistent with Wikipedia's NPOV policy, use one of the tags below to mark the article's main page. Then, on the article's talk page, make a new section entitled "NPOV dispute [- followed by a section's name if you're challenging just a particular section of the article and not the article as a whole]". Then, under this new section, clearly and exactly explain which part of the article does not seem to have an NPOV and why. Make some suggestions as to how one can improve the article. Be active and bold in improving the article.
How can neutrality be achieved?
Talking with other contributors is a great way to find out why there is a dispute over an article's neutrality. Ideas and POVs can be shared and ultimately the disputed fact or point can be fixed if it is incorrect or, when dealing with a controversial issue, various legitimate sources can be cited in the article.
Historians commonly cite many sources in books because there are and will always be disputes over history. Contributors on Wikipedia can do the same thing, thus giving readers a broad spectrum of POVs and opinions.
Additionally, there are several steps one can take to resolve an NPOV dispute:
- Please remember to assume good faith
- user's talk page
- Consider filing a request for comment
- Get a third opinion
- File a report at NPOV noticeboard
- File a report at Biographies of Living persons noticeboard(if the article features information about living people)
- File a report at fringe theories noticeboard (if the article covers or features fringe theories)
- Other options available to resolve such situations explained at dispute resolution.
POV pushing
POV-pushing is a term used on Wikipedia to describe the aggressive presentation of a particular point of view in an article, particularly when used to denote the
The term "POV-pushing" is primarily used in regard to the presentation of a particular point of view in an article, including on talk page discussions. Editing a POV in an article that corresponds with one's own personal beliefs is not necessarily POV-pushing. If you suspect that POV-pushing is happening (it is not always obvious), follow the steps listed in the above section (NPOV resolution).
Adding a tag to a page
To indicate that the neutrality of an article is disputed, insert {{POV}} at the top of the article to display:
Please note: This label is meant to indicate that a discussion is still going on, and that the article's content is disputed, and volatile. If you add this template to an article in which there is no relevant discussion underway, you need at least to leave a note on the article's talk page describing what you consider unacceptable about the article. The note should address the troubling passages, elements, or phrases specifically enough to encourage constructive discussion that leads to resolution. If you believe that material or a particular viewpoint is missing, then you should try to give examples of published, independent, reliable sources that contain this missing material or point of view. In the absence of an ongoing discussion on the article's talk page, any editor may remove this tag at any time.
Or, add {{
The neutrality of this section is disputed. |
Use this when the bulk of an article is okay, but a single section appears not to be NPOV. You should explain what is wrong with the section on the talk page.
See also
- Neutral point of view (policy)
- Disruptive editing (guideline)
- Neutral point of view/Noticeboard (dispute-resolution venue)
- Accuracy dispute
- Be neutral in form
- Disputed statement
- Don't teach the controversy(the phrase doesn't mean what you think it means)
- How to put up a straight pole by pushing it at an angle
- Ye shall know them by their sources
- List of controversial issues
- Resolving disputes
- Tagging pages for problems
- WikiProject Neutrality
- Category:Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes