Bhamwiki:Conflicts of interest

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Conflicts of interest arise when a contributor's aims are not in line with the goals and philosophy of the project. The most common conflict occurs when a contributor is writing about a subject on which they have strong feelings or bias, or contributing on the behalf of someone who does. This makes it difficult to maintain neutrality as a quality of the resulting article. The site does not exist to promote, entice, recommend, influence or insult anyone or anything. It exists only to inform.

Because the scope of Bhamwiki covers great detail within a limited region, opportunities for conflict will arise frequently and will sometimes be unavoidable. Rather than prohibit people from writing on topics close to them, we ask that some special care be taken to correct for potential biases and that all editors work with the larger community of contributors to further the aims of the project.

Guidelines

  1. Make an effort to write in a neutral tone. Avoid boastfulness, puffery and ad-copy on one hand and derision, derogatory statements and libel on the other.
  2. Cite reliable, third-party published references so that readers can verify the information we present here. Limit claims for which no published sources exist to uncontroversial facts. It is better to avoid critical judgments altogether than to leave them uncited. (See Bhamwiki:Cite)
  3. Reasonable people on any side of a controversy should be able to agree with what Bhamwiki says on any subject. Where controversy rages, we must take extra care to faithfully represent the bare facts rather than to enter the fray.
  4. It is best not to create or edit an article about yourself. In lieu of direct editing, the article's talk page can be used for comment and corrections. Suggestions via Bhamwiki:Messageboard are also welcomed.
  5. Disclose your relationships: If writing about a topic in which you have some personal interest, your connection to the subject should be made explicit on your user page and the article's talk page.
  6. Make efforts to involve other editors. When expanding or amending articles on subjects which might present a conflict of interest, engage with the larger community. And when others do step in, engage in collaboration rather than edit-warring to resolve disputes.

These guidelines are neither unbendable nor exhaustive. Above all use common sense and respect the goals of the project and the opinions of fellow editors. Clear defiance of the spirit of these guidelines will be treated as a violation of Bhamwiki's User agreement and will be dealt with accordingly.

Examples

  • Anyone receiving or expecting financial benefits for work performed to edit business-related articles Bhamwiki, either as an owner, employee, contractor or marketing professional, is likely to hold a conflict of interest with the goals of the project.
  • Any party engaged in litigation or public dispute would clearly find it difficult to maintain a neutral point of view when editing Bhamwiki's coverage of the matter and is presumed to have a conflict of interest.
  • Avoid self-aggrandizement. Anyone editing an article about themselves, their own exploits (bands, artwork, writings, etc), or those of their friends and associates, is at great risk of conflicting interest.
  • Anyone involved in a public campaign who appropriates Bhamwiki for the purposes of advocacy is demonstrating a conflict of interest.

What should I do?

Often those closest to a subject are the first to note errors, omissions and imbalances. If you believe that Bhamwiki's goals would be furthered by the addition or modification of material about which you may have a conflict of interest, it is important to involve uninterested parties in making editorial decisions. If you are an editor of Bhamwiki, please use the article's "Talk" page to point out errors, suggest new material, propose citable references, or discuss controversies. If you are not an editor, please contact an administrator (admin at bhamwiki dot com) with your suggestions and concerns.