Tilcayo Cats:Conflict of interest
| This page in a nutshell: If you are connected to a subject, say so, and do not edit its article. Suggest changes on the talk page and let others decide. Paid editing is a conflict of interest and follows the rules for voles. |
You have a conflict of interest (COI) when you write about yourself, your family or friends, your employer, clients, products or competitors, or anything you gain from. Having a COI is not wrong. Hiding it, or editing through it, is.
The rules
- Declare it. Say on your user page, and on the talk page of each article concerned, what the connection is.
- Don't edit the article. Post an edit request on the talk page with the change and the sources. The only exceptions are removing obvious vandalism, and removing private information or clear BLP problems.
- Don't create the article. A connected editor may not create an article about the subject, even as a draft, except through the paid draft service under TC:VOLE, with disclosure.
- Don't take part in decisions. Connected editors may give facts and sources in a deletion or merge discussion, marked as coming from a connected editor. They do not "vote".
- No sock or meat puppets. Asking friends, staff or other accounts to edit or comment for you breaks this policy and may lead to a block.
Paid editing
Anyone paid, or expecting payment, to edit a page (including employees, agencies and freelancers) is a paid editor. Paid editing is allowed only in the open, through the services in TC:VOLE, and with the disclosure described there. Undisclosed paid editing leads to a block and removal of the content.
The Clowder
The gattitos have no conflicts of their own, but they carry their customers': when a gattito works for a vole, it discloses that on the talk page, and no decision in that work may favour the vole. A gattito that has done paid work on a topic does not close discussions about it.
Reporting
Raise suspected COI editing, politely and without guessing at identities, at the COI noticeboard.