Final Fantasy Wiki:Verifiability

The Verifiability policy requires that all content in the mainspace of the Final Fantasy Wiki be verifiable against reliable sources, referenced to by inline citations. Editors and readers should be reasonably able to check the accuracy of a claim and trace its origin. Comprehensive verifiability standards help ensure the authority of the site and its usefulness as a resource, as well as resolve or avoid content disputes.

Verifiability mostly concerns exact claims or potentially contentious material that may be challenged by a reasonable, scrutinous reader. This policy does not require that even truistic content be attributed to a source; rather, that it be simply attributable to a reliable source. For example, facts gathered simply by playing the games normally are attributable to said games, but they do not need to be cited.

Procedure

Unverifiable statements are liable to be removed at any time by any editor. However, be mindful of the difference between the unverifiable and the unverified. Statements that may be attributable to an appropriate source but do not yet cite one should first be tagged with {{citation needed}} for a courteous amount of time prior to removal.

Ultimately, the burden of proof (that is, the responsibility to provide a source) lies with the editor making or wishing to keep the claim in question. When determining whether a provided source does in fact support the statement citing it, use the Sagan standard: the weight of a claim requires at least the same as that of its evidence.

By the same token, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck—it's a duck. Sources need not spell out a concept for it to be common sense. As an encyclopedia, the Final Fantasy Wiki admits, encourages, and even depends on original research. While we prohibit baseless speculation and fan fiction, the ideal article helps connect the dots (while still leaving room for the reader to draw their own conclusions).

It is also important to assume good faith when scrutinizing a claim against a provided source. In some cases, information may be supported by a source with restricted or difficult access (as with offline sources or copyrighted material). While the Final Fantasy Wiki makes every attempt to make all appropriate resources freely available online, it also operates on the principle of good faith.

Reliable sources

The most reliable sources are officially published Square material, and information readily accessed within the media (including that any research found through accessing the games' codes) is acceptable. Outside of this, reliable sources, official Square websites, respectable online gaming journalism sites (including Famitsu and IGN), statements from personnel involved (such as a developer, voice actor, or Square employee), and other press reviewing a Square Enix publication.

Unacceptable sources include sites that can be edited by anyone (such as Wikipedia or IMDB), online forums, or speculation websites. These are only valid as secondary sources. Online stores are also unreliable for release dates, as they frequently use placeholder dates.

Citing sources

Citations are created using footnotes, or bracketed superscript numbers or letters that are linked to a corresponding article for the cited material, or a full reference to the original source. Citations are placed inline within the body text, while references are listed in numerical or alphabetical order in a separate section at the bottom of the page.

This is done automatically using the cite extension. However, the Final Fantasy Wiki uses and requires specialized implementations of the cite extension using citation templates (refer to the relevant documentation for instructions on how to use them).

There are two important kinds of footnotes: citations, which are used to reference direct sources that support a claim, and annotations, which explain incidental or tangential information to add context to a claim. References are normally placed on the end of articles, but can be placed within the <ref> tag to be used in inline citations.

All footnotes should be placed within close proximity to the claim they support, after all punctuation. They should be referred to under a "Citations" section (or "Notes" section with "Annotations" and "Citations" subsections, if both citations and annotations exist). Non-linked references should be listed in a subsequent "References" section (except in instances where only citations to a series release exist), with "Video games", "Websites", and "Bibliography" subsections (if necessary).

Separating citations and references helps avoid repetition, and follows a standard encyclopedic format. This can be done if an article includes a large number of citations, especially to non-Final Fantasy material which do not have articles, or if an article cites a source multiple times in different places. However, in cases where all citations point to Final Fantasy material and can link to an article, or very few citations are used on a page, it is unnecessary to separate.

See also

• Help:Cite, for a basic introduction to the cite extension.
• Extension:Cite, for the full cite extension documentation.
• Category:Citation templates, for all templates related to footnotes on the wiki.