LGBTQIA+ Wiki:Sourcing Policy

LGBTQIA+ Wiki Policies

LGBTQIA+ Wiki aims to be an informative, objective, accurate, and credible resource for all things related to the LGBTQIA+ community. To achieve this, it is imperative that all of our pages are properly sourced and referenced to make them verifiable. Citations allow readers to verify that the original source contains the information it is claimed to have. The sources must also be reliable. We require multiple sources and viewpoints for all topics. Providing verifiable references to reliable sources ensures that the wiki represents a broad range of community perspectives instead of an individual editor's personal opinions and experiences.

Key points to remember:

• References are required and pages cannot be created without them.
• Use information from reliable sources, not your personal perspective or anyone else's.
• Croudsourced sites (such as wikis) are open to editing by anyone regardless of their actual knowledge of a topic, which means they are not reliable sources. (That includes this wiki.)
• Social media is primarily used for personal, individual expression. It should only be referenced for information originating on those sources, such as showing early uses of terms, crediting the creator of a design, or citing a public figure's statements about themselves.
• If the only sources that can be found for a term are social media, crowdsourced sites, or both, that term doesn't meet the requirements to have an article on this wiki.
• Think descriptive, not prescriptive: find multiple sources to describe various aspects and viewpoints on community topics without prescribing one as the supposedly "correct" source.
• We do not require an "opposing" viewpoint or the perspective of "the other side". That includes homophobia, transphobia, exclusion of people outside the gender binary, or anything else based upon intolerance.
• When in doubt, ask an administrator for help.

References

To properly provide a reference citation, use one of the following templates that is most relevant to your cited source. The template pages include examples and information about how to use them, as well as links to specific versions for commonly-cited sources. Check with an admin for advice if you want to cite another type of source, want to recommend creating a template for a specific source, etc.

• {{Cite web}} — Used to reference information obtained from online material and publications.
• {{Cite print}} — Used to reference information obtained from printed material and publications.

If you're citing something else, ask an administrator about the possible need for a new template.

Adding a reference

Instructions on how to format the citation template and the meaning of its parameters can be found on the respective template pages. Each reference should also be provided with a unique name so that you and other editors may use the same reference multiple times without retyping the entire code. For example:

Referencing for the first time: <ref name="The NAME">Citation information for The NAME</ref>

Using this reference a second time: <ref name="The NAME" />

At the bottom of the page, the following needs to be added (if not already preloaded) to ensure the list of references appears:

==References==
{{Reflist}}

If you notice that the referencing list has become very long, you can wrap the {{Reflist}} with the {{Scroll}} template so the reference list is contained within a scrollable box:

==References==
{{Scroll|{{Reflist}}}}

Reference placement

Here are some basic guidelines to referencing:

1. References go immediately after punctuation and outside of quotation marks, with no space between the end of a sentence and a reference tag. Example:

   Be inclusive and open to others.<ref name="LGBTQIA+ Resources">{{Cite_web | url=https://community.fandom.com/wiki/LGBTQIA%2B_Resources | title=LGBTQIA+ Resources | author=Sannse et al. | date=2021-06-21 | publisher=Fandom |archivedate=20240803195454}}</ref>

   Result: Be inclusive and open to others.

2. To avoid difficulties associated with readability, only add references in logical places:
   • If an entire paragraph is from the same source, add the reference at the end of the paragraph.
   • If a paragraph was written based on multiple sources, place the reference at the end of specific sentences or words as necessary.
   • When the same source is used for multiple sentences or phrases in a row, place the reference only at the end of the last one, not after each one.

Sourcing issues

Unreferenced assertions

Please do not add something to an article and mark it as needing a source—if you can't provide the source, it shouldn't be added yet. Editors who encounter assertions in articles that are dubious in accuracy and have not been sourced should do one of the following:

1. try to find a source and add it
2. add {{Source}} at the end of the sentence or paragraph

A list of articles with missing sources can be found at Category:Articles with unsourced information. This category will be looked at periodically, and if something remains without a source, that entry will be removed.

Unreliable sources

Biased, questionable, and/or disreputable sources

These types of sources should not be cited:

• Dating sites and apps (ex. Asexuals.net, Feeld, Taimi, We Are Her)
• Lifestyle/wellness brands and other commercial websites that primarily exist as advertising platforms, whether for their own products/services or as sponsored content (ex. mindbodygreen, Greatist, Evolve)
• Tabloids, gossip sites, celebrity news, and other sensationalist publications (ex. Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, The Sun, New York Post — including NYPost.com, PageSix.com, and Decider.com) — with the exception of genuine, authorized interviews with a public figure, such as People cover stories as a source for that specific person
• Hate-based organizations and activists — aside from the blatantly obvious ones, look out for red flags and dog whistles, such as euphemistic language for intolerance and hate (ex. "gender critical" or "gender ideology" but usually not gender theory, "trans-identified", "LGB" when used to exclude trans people from the community rather than to specifically discuss sexuality)

Social media, online forums, and self-published sources

Social media (ex. Tumblr, Twitter/X, TikTok) and various online forums are not reliable and should not be referenced for most purposes. Self-published sources (ex. personal blogs, Carrds) are generally unreliable but are sometimes produced by someone reputable in a convenient format. Some purposes that are appropriate for referencing such sources include:

• Identifying original definitions or early uses of terms that first appeared online (not definitions for pre-existing terms)
• Crediting or quoting the creator of a design, symbol, artwork, etc. (ex. DeviantArt accounts or Tumblr posts of flag designs)
• Quoting a public figure about their identity on their verified social media account

Wiki articles and other crowdsourced sites

These are not reliable sources of objective information since anyone can edit them to insert opinions or false claims. When you find useful information on a wiki/crowdsourced site, you should review their citations. If you determine those sources are reliable, reference them, not the wiki/crowdsourced site that led you to them. On a case-by-case basis, certain crowdsourced materials and wikis may be referenced if you discuss with the administration team why an exception is needed, such as citing a wiki article to demonstrate a language trend. For example, our Neurogender article traces developments in its definition to the Gender Wiki article after a print book cited that wiki. We do not self-cite, so do not use an article on LGBTQIA+ Wiki for a citation!

Personal experiences

An editor's personal experiences cannot be used as sources here since one person's experiences can't be generalized to other people. We also don't rely upon a single personal account from a second/third party. We require and provide multiple sources and viewpoints for all topics.

Finding reliable sources to reference

To learn more about researching, here are some resources at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (aka Purdue OWL):

• Evaluating Sources, especially Evaluating Digital Sources: Different types of information require different types of sources. Although a lot of information is available online and in print, it may be inaccurate, invalid, or simply not useful. Things you should be wary of include: "clickbait" headlines, personal blogs and websites, and sites that anyone can edit such as wikis. Recognizing when information is or isn't credible is an important skill, whether you're in school, at work, or just living your life.
• Using Research and Evidence: On LGBTQIA+ Wiki, we use second hand research, meaning the information has been compiled by others rather than coming from firsthand, personal experiences and observations.

Purdue OWL has further details on these questions, but highlights the following points in deciding what to use:

• • "Who is the author?"
  • "How recent is the source?"
  • "What is the author's purpose?"
  • "What type of sources does your audience value?"
  • "Be especially careful when evaluating Internet sources!"

The "5 Ws (and H)" are a classic way of evaluating sources by asking "Who, What, When, Where, Why (and How)":

• Who...
  • ... is the author? (Individual, group, organization?)
  • ... is the intended audience? (Themselves, their friends, their opponents, like-minded individuals, a group with specialized knowledge, a general audience without specialized knowledge?)
• What... are the author's experiences with the topic and their qualifications regarding it?
• When...
  • ... did the events described occur?
  • ... did the author(s) create this source?
• Where... did the author(s) get their information?
• Why... did they create this source? (To inform, entertain, persuade, advertise?)
• How...
  • ... did the author research the topic?
  • ... unbiased is the source?