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:Paid editing (guideline) - Misplaced Pages

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SB Johnny (talk | contribs) at 17:52, 20 June 2009 (couple fixes, will post to talk). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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This page in a nutshell: When editing for compensation of any kind, do so openly, and avoid bias or gaming the system.
Note: This page is not normative policy, but is intended to be a summary of existing policy related to paid editing.

Paid editing, or editing Misplaced Pages articles in return for material reward or compensation of any kind, raises a number of important policy-related issues. If you are engaging in paid editing, please keep the following advice in mind:

  • Paid editing, by any user, is neither forbidden nor encouraged.
  • Paid editors should create a user account with Misplaced Pages, and retain this user account over time, even if not all their editing is received positively. This helps you to build an accurate professional reputation, and helps other Misplaced Pages contributors to scrutinize your contributions.
  • Paid advocacy -- meaning paid editing that presents a biased point of view in favor of your employer -- is forbidden. Do not omit significant negative information. By following Misplaced Pages:Neutral point of view, the article has a better chance of long-term survival. Habitually biased editors are subject to sanctions: Misplaced Pages editors are not copywriters.
  • When engaging in paid editing, follow Misplaced Pages's guidelines on conflict of interest.
  • Your contributions will be edited mercilessly, sometimes very quickly. Make sure your employers understand this in advance. If you create an article that is not in compliance with Misplaced Pages's policies on notability and reliable sourcing it will likely be deleted. Do not game the system to prevent this.
  • Using administrator tools or participating in policy discussions for compensation of any kind is strictly forbidden. This is essential to maintain the integrity of our community and consensus building. It is okay to share your viewpoint regarding content that you have contributed, but keep Misplaced Pages's larger goals in mind when doing so.
  • Do not copy material from your employer's website or publications, unless they have donated the material as described at Misplaced Pages:Donating copyrighted materials. Simply telling you that you can use it is not sufficient to comply with Misplaced Pages's legal requirements.

If you are uncertain about whether your contribution is appropriate, you can begin by creating the article as a user subpage. To do this, visit your user page and then add to the URL a slash ("/") followed by the name of the subpage. You can then request feedback on your subpage from more experienced users before using the "Move" feature to move it to its correct title.

History

Paid editing is a controversial topic that was the subject of many strongly divided discussions, particularly an extensive Requests for comment at Misplaced Pages:Requests for comment/Paid editing in June 2009. Many users support forbidding paid editing altogether, based on the belief that it invites biased contributions and creates more work for the project than it saves. This informational page attempts to summarize some of the most widely-agreed upon points and establish an effective compromise between these polarized viewpoints.

See also