Question

How should potential conflicts of interest (COI) be disclosed on Wikipedia?

Accepted Answer

Potential conflicts of interest (COI) on Wikipedia must be disclosed openly and transparently to maintain the encyclopedia&#x27;s neutrality and integrity. The primary method for disclosing a COI is to declare it on your user page. This can be done by adding a statement explaining the nature of the COI, such as &#x27;I am employed by [Company X]&#x27; or &#x27;I have a close personal relationship with [Subject Y].&#x27; It&#x27;s also advisable to declare the COI on the talk pages of any articles that are affected by the COI. This allows other editors to be aware of the potential bias and to assess edits accordingly. Disclosing a COI does not automatically disqualify an editor from contributing to Wikipedia, but it does create transparency and allows for greater scrutiny of their edits. Editors with a COI are strongly encouraged to avoid directly editing articles related to their COI and instead to propose changes on the talk page, allowing other editors to review and implement them. For example, if an employee of a software company wants to add information about their company&#x27;s product to a Wikipedia article, they should disclose their affiliation on their user page and on the article&#x27;s talk page, and then suggest the specific changes they would like to see made, providing reliable sources to support the information. Other editors can then evaluate the proposed changes and decide whether to incorporate them into the article.

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How should potential conflicts of interest (COI) be disclosed on Wikipedia?

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