Editing Encyclopedia:Editing policy (section)

==<span class="anchor" id="Try to fix problems: preserve information"></span><span class="anchor" id="Preserve content"></span> Try to fix problems==
{{Anchor|How to handle problematic material|Handling problematic material|Fix problems: preserve information|Remove libel, nonsense, and copyright violations|Handling material that violates policy}}
{{Policy shortcut|WP:PRESERVE|WP:HANDLE|WP:FIXTHEPROBLEM}}
{{redirect|WP:PRESERVE|the Manual of Style section on varieties of English|MOS:RETAIN}}

Great Wikipedia articles come from a succession of editors' efforts. Rather than remove imperfect content outright, '''fix problems if you can, [[WP:Template index/Cleanup|tag]] or excise them if you can't'''. 

As explained [[#Wikipedia is a work in progress: perfection is not required|above]], Wikipedia is a work in progress and perfection is not required. Any facts or ideas that [[WP:ONUS|would belong]] in the "finished" article [[Wikipedia:Five pillars|should be retained]] if they meet the three [[Wikipedia:core content policies|core content policies]]: [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|Neutral point of view]] (which does not mean no point of view), [[Wikipedia:Verifiability|Verifiability]], and [[Wikipedia:No original research|No original research]].

If you think an article needs to be rewritten or changed substantially, [[WP:Be bold|go ahead and do so]], but it is best to [[Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines#How to use article talk pages|leave a comment]] on the [[Help:Talk pages|article's talk page]] about why you made the changes. 

Instead of removing content from an article or [[WP:REVERT|reverting]] a new contribution, consider:
* [[Paraphrase|Rephrasing]] or [[copy editing|copy-edit]]ing to improve grammar or more accurately represent the sources
* [[WP:FIXFIRST|Formatting or sourcing on the spot]]
* [[Wikipedia:Template index/Cleanup|Tagging]] it as necessary
* Correcting [[Wikipedia:Accuracy dispute|inaccuracies]], while keeping the rest of the content intact
* [[WP:Merging|Merging]] or moving the content to a more relevant existing article, or [[WP:Splitting|splitting]] the content to [[Help:Your first article|an entirely new article]]
* [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|Adding another point of view]] to the existing points of view to make the article more balanced
* Requesting a citation by adding the {{tl|citation needed}} tag, or adding any other [[Template:inline cleanup tags|appropriate cleanup tags]] to content you cannot fix yourself
* Doing a quick [[Template:Find sources|search for sources]] and adding a citation yourself
* [[WP:DEADREF|Repairing a dead link]] if a new [[URL]] for the page or an [[archive site|archive]] of the old one can be located
* Merging the entire article into another article with the original article turned into a [[WP:redirect|redirect]] as described at [[Wikipedia:MERGETEXT|performing a merge]]
* Fixing errors in [[Help:wikitext|wikitext]] or formatting

Otherwise, if you think the content could provide the seed of a new sub-article, or if you are just unsure about removing it from the English Wikipedia entirely, consider copying the information to the article's talk page for further discussion. If you think the content might find a better home elsewhere, consider moving the content to a talk page of any article you think might be more relevant, so that editors there can decide how it might be properly included in our encyclopedia.

===Problems that may justify removal===
{{Policy shortcut|WP:CANTFIX|WP:WONTWORK|WP:DON'T PRESERVE}}
{{Anchor|REMOVE}}Several of our core policies discuss situations when it ''might'' be more appropriate to remove information from an article rather than preserve it. 
*[[Wikipedia:Verifiability|Verifiability]] discusses handling unsourced and contentious material
*[[Wikipedia:No original research|No original research]] discusses the need to remove original research
*[[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not|What Wikipedia is not]] describes material that is fundamentally inappropriate for Wikipedia
*[[Wikipedia:Undue weight|Undue weight]] discusses how to balance material that gives undue weight to a particular viewpoint, which might include removal of trivia, tiny minority viewpoints, or material that cannot be supported with high-quality sources
Also, redundancy within an article should be kept to a minimum (except in the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section|lead]], which is meant to be a summary of the entire article, and so is intentionally duplicative).

[[WP:Libel|Libel]], [[WP:Patent nonsense|nonsense]], and [[WP:vandalism|vandalism]] should be completely removed, as should material that [[Wikipedia:Copyright violations|violates copyright]] and material for which no reliable source that supports it has ever been [[Wikipedia:Published|published]].

Special care needs to be taken with [[Wikipedia:biographies of living people|biographies of living people]], especially when it comes to handling unsourced or poorly sourced claims about the subject. Such claims should generally be removed immediately.