Template talk:Original research

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{{originalresearch}} redirects here. --Ryan Delaney talk 19:18, 16 September 2005 (UTC)

I've edited this one to put mentioned articles in Category:Articles which may contain original research. squell 13:42, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

what? I've been searching all over to use this template. don't delete it, it describes exactly the problem with some arttclces i've seen in WP Blueaster 03:43, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] See the talk page

I don't understand why this template directs readers to the talk page—it seems like a pretty tedious and indeed complex task explaining why something in an article is OR—linking to WP:OR should be sufficient. mgekelly 09:19, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

This template should never be placed in the article page to begin with. Kelly points out one reason, the tab in wikipedia says discussion. When wikipedia changes the name of the tab to "talk" to match the url, then I will agree. Point, don't talk techie slang and ask someone else to be more accurate in their presentation.
More importantly, I view the use of these kinds of templates on an article page as a kind of elitist academic graffiti, perhaps one step above spam. References are not important to everybody (cite --Rcollman (talk) 03:43, 8 February 2008 (UTC) in Template talk:Original research (section)). It is an opinion and belongs on the discussion page for those who care or are a member of your club. If not having a reference annoys another editor, don't be lazy, edit the article and explain why on the discussion page. If the template were something more discrete like an icon, I might be able to ignore it and could live with it, just like a superscript, referencing a citation. Is this helpful to the reader is my editing criterion. Please be careful with the placement of this template. Thanks --Rcollman (talk) 03:43, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
I just noticed "Note: This template should not be applied without explanation on the talk page, and should be removed if the original research is not readily apparent when no explanation is given." And more similar comment to mine below this (big grin) but I am still steamed --Rcollman (talk) 03:47, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

If no-one's going to discuss this, I'm going to go ahead and change the wording. mgekelly 08:55, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

  • It's likely that no one noticed your question in the couple of days it was up. Stable templates, such as this one, tend not to generate much discussion. My feeling is the template is fine as it is, linking to the talk page of the article to which it's attached, where discussions of how to correct Original Research (or how to provide verifiable sources) should be handled. Many new editors are unclear as to why particular assertions they might make (such as theories, opinions, etc) are inappropriate to Wikipedia. The direction to use Talk reminds editors to discuss their concerns and helps reach consensus. In other words, don't go breakin' what doesn't need fixin' :) —LeflymanTalk 10:16, 5 June 2006 (UTC)
Also, what may be obvious to you is not obvious to the person trying to fix it. If you just tag the article without explaining exactly why it is rather difficult for outsiders to fix the problem. This template should be a temporary tool not something you just put on an article because you disagree with it. I am trying to work my way through the backlog of pages tagged as OR and it is sometimes very difficult to see why the template was added because no explanation is given. By the way any help with the backlog (currently about 1000 pages!) would be greatly appreciated! MartinDK 14:46, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Date parameter

I think it would be beneficial for this template to include a date parameter as Template:POV does. Subcategories of Category:Articles which may contain original research would not be necessary; the date would simply appear in the template itself so editors and readers would know how long the template had been in place and thus find it easier to review the changes made since that time. — Elembis 08:50, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

I totally second this. Also, it would be beneficial if the articles were put in subcategories according to what month they were tagged. That way it would be much easier to deal with the backlog since we could start with the old and possibly outdated tags first. I had a go at this backlog a while ago and although I did cut it down a bit it is very hard work because most of the time the tag was just slapped on and you get into arguments with people who want the tag there no matter what because they disagree with the entire article. This is especially true when it comes to the religious and ethnic articles. MartinDK 15:05, 6 January 2007 (UTC)
OK, putting this into practice. Sorry for the delay..Rich Farmbrough, 14:40 29 September 2007 (GMT).

[edit] Neologism

“ You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. ”

Sorry, pet peeve of mine. Using this neologism internally is one thing, but we shouldn't require our Dear Readers to click through and read a policy page to figure out that "original research" usually does not mean original research at all, but unpublished wanking. --Abu-Fool Danyal ibn Amir al-Makhiri 19:31, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Common knowledge and the like

Sometimes, I see this template used in pages containing some form of commonly held knowledge; a page of mine about the onomatopoeia "boing" was a victim (per se) of this at one time, see permalink: permalink. The content of this is impossible to deem original research; there is no such thing as a reliable source with information on the word "boing" other than a dictionary, and just about everyone has a dictionary or uses Wiktionary. Practically speaking, every single statement in that article is simply common knowledge held in regard to the word "boing". I think that, in this respect, the template is often used unfairly, and some concensus ought to be reached about that. Bellito, master of all things Mac-related 03:40, 5 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] OR vs. or

Does anyone find it bothersome that {{OR}} and {{or}} redirect to different original research templates? Dekimasuよ! 15:15, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Very. squell\talk 14:27, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] es:Plantilla:Fuenteprimaria

Could you add this for the link to the spanish template?? Thanks to all you

Mundo tarantino 17:05, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims."

The wording kinda bothers me; it says it may contain. That means there is a possibilty of containing OR. But, the purpose if the template is to inform that an article or section does contain original research. So, should it say "This article or section contains original research or unverified claims."? THROUGH FIRE JUSTICE IS SERVED! 03:00, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Hopefully an author who is certain of such things takes out the OR instead of adding a template. This is more often used to suggest to other editors that there may be issues that need to be addressed; it draws in other sets of eyes to examine the impression left upon the person who added the template. Many of our cleanup templates are also written in the potential form to reduce direct conflict, I would think. Dekimasuよ! 16:35, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
I agree with User:angelofdeath275, it is misleading. The template appears to say You are welcome to include original research in this article. Was that the intention? It all hinges on the bad use of the word may in the template. α 16:50, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
To be perfectly honest, I never interpreted it in this way - and I'm sure most users do not since they are aware of the WP:NOR policy, however (and this is a big however), I can definitely see how new or passing users might misapprehend the meaning. It's a sloppy use of the word "may". Wisdom89 (T / C) 18:27, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
Is there anyway to change the wording to something along the lines of "A user has expressed concern that this article contains..." or "this article or section consists of original research"? Wisdom89 (T / C) 01:44, 20 February 2008 (UTC)
Change may contain to possibly contains. Just contains is too strong, since that may not be the case later on, but possibly contains alerts the reader of the possibility. Mike0001 (talk) 11:07, 21 February 2008 (UTC)
Takes care of the issue for me. Wisdom89 (T / C) 15:55, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Transclusions: {{Student-in-universe}} and {{Political parties in Northern Ireland}}???

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I really don't have a clue what these are doing here:{{Student-in-universe}} and {{Political parties in Northern Ireland}} --Fitzhugh 18:26, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Presumably those template included this tag when Rich Farmbrough added that section. I've removed it, as it does seem pretty useless. Besides, neither template transcludes this one any more, anyway. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 04:51, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Category:All articles with unsourced statements

Shouldn't the use of this template add the article to the Category:All articles with unsourced statements category, just like the {{fact}} template does? I'd edit the template myself to make this happen, but I'm not convinced that it's an uncontroversial edit so I'd like to hear some opinions on the matter first.-Lilac Soul (talk • contribs • count) • I'm watching this page so just reply to me right here! 12:00, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Poor Template

This is a poor template as the wording 'may contain original research' means in effect it can apply to every article and once established you can rarely be sure of it's removal. I think there should definitely be a forced option to explain what part or parts of the article are 'Original research'. And why does it link to the talk page? Quite bizarre. SunCreator (talk) 13:02, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Your comment contradicts itself. The template links to the talk page to indicate that more information (i.e. what part is OR) should be provided there. Superm401 - Talk 18:34, 28 April 2008 (UTC)