Bhamwiki:Conflicts of interest

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, which makes it difficult to maintain neutrality as a quality of the resulting article.

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

Some guidelines to consider:

1. Work to write in a neutral tone, avoiding boastfulness, puffery and ad-copy on one hand and derision, derogatory statements and libel on the other. The site does not exist to promote, entice, recommend, influence or insult anyone or anything. It exists only to inform.
2. Wherever possible, cite reliable, third-party published references so that readers can verify the information we present here. Limit claims for which no published source exists to uncontroversial facts. It is better to avoid critical judgments altogether than to leave them uncited.
3. Where controversy rages, we must take extra care to faithfully represent the bare facts rather than to enter the fray. Reasonable people from either side of a controversy should be able to agree with what Bhamwiki says on any subject.
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. When writing about a topic in which you have a direct interest (your employer, your band, your famous ancestor, etc) it is requested that your connection to the subject be made explicit on your user page.
6. Make efforts to involve other editors in expanding or amending articles on subjects which might present a conflict of interest. When others 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 these guidelines violates our User agreement and will be dealt with accordingly.