Wiktionary:Neutral point of view
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This page is a hard rule on the Simple English Wiktionary. Many people agree with it. They see it as a standard that all users should follow. When changing the page, please check that the other people agree with your changes. Use the talk page when you are not sure or when you want to propose a change. |
All Wiktionaries have a rule that when people write entries, they should use a neutral point of view (abbreviated NPOV). This means that we should tell about all of the important views of an issue, not just some of them. Instead of simply saying what one group thinks, we try to show all views without judging which is correct. We try to give information, not to convince anyone.
It is okay to say opinions in entries, but they should be said as opinions, not as fact. It is a good idea to tell who has these opinions. For example, "Supporters of this say that...."
You might hear Wiktionarians saying that an entry is "POV". This is Wiktionary slang for an entry that is biased (not balanced or not fair), or one that only shows one view. Advertising is biased, and so are political statements. More often, an entry might have "POV" problems if it talks more about one view than another, even if each view is shown neutrally.
One way that this rule is followed on Simple English Wiktionary is that all kinds of English can be used here, whether they are from the United States, the United Kingdom, or somewhere else like New Zealand. Do not forget this when working here; do not change different spellings simply because you want to. Changing different spellings is only good when done to make the spellings in one article the same or to use the best spelling for an entry that is about one place. For example, a word that is only used in the US should have American English spelling. If the subject of the entry is neutral, the spelling should stay the way it is first written.