VRCWiki:Conflicts of interest

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[Reason: This policy is actively being rewritten and discussed to better explain it im a more concise and clear manner. Generally, all information here is currently accurate to how COI is handled If you have questions or concerns, please utilize the talk page or ask on the Discord.]

Conflict of interest (COI) editing involves contributing or creating an article as an involved party of the creation, authorship, or other significant direct relation to the subject. Such as a moderator for a group creating an article for the group, or a world creator creating an article for their own world.

COI editing is discouraged on the VRChat Wiki as we desire to create objective articles free from potential conflict of interest as it can undermine public confidence and may cause public embarrassment to the individuals and organizations being promoted. Editors with a COI may be unaware of how much it has influenced their editing. When an instance of COI editing is discovered, the content will be removed and the editor will be informed. Removed content can still be viewed by anyone by accessing the history tab of any given page.

We understand that COI is hard to avoid. Some VRChat users may be the only source of information for worlds, avatars, and tools. It is acceptable for those users to contribute this information. Content should be verifiable through external sources if possible, but contributors should use common sense. Avoid advertising and use neutral language to maintain a neutral point of view (NPOV), articles should typically be an aggregator of sources, not the source.

Editors with a COI, including paid editors, are expected to disclose it whenever they seek to change an affected article's content. Anyone editing for pay must disclose who is paying them, who the client is, and any other relevant affiliation; this is a requirement of the VRChat Wiki. COI editors are discouraged from editing affected articles directly and can propose changes on article talk pages instead. The exception is that minor edits for grammar can be made.

Editors with a COI should follow VRChat Wiki policies and best practices scrupulously:

• You should disclose your COI when involved with affected articles.
• You are discouraged from editing affected articles directly unless it is minor changes.
• You should propose changes on talk pages or by posting a note at the COI noticeboard so that they can be peer-reviewed.
• You should not act as a reviewer of affected articles if there is any dispute on its content.
• You should respect other editors by keeping discussions concise.

Be aware that no one on the VRChat Wiki owns any article. If the VRChat Wiki hosts an article, others may add information and edit it however they wish. It may also be decided to delete the article or decide to keep it should someone later request deletion.

Paid editing

Being paid to contribute to the VRChat Wiki is one form of financial COI; it places the paid editor in a conflict between their employer's goals and the VRChat Wiki's goals. The kind of paid editing of most concern to the community involves using the VRChat Wiki for public relations and marketing purposes. Sometimes called "paid advocacy," this is problematic because it invariably reflects the interests of the client or employer.

More generally, an editor has a financial conflict of interest whenever they write about a topic with which they have a close financial relationship. This includes being an owner, employee, contractor, investor or other stakeholder.

The VRChat Wiki requires that all paid editing be disclosed. If you receive or expect to receive compensation (money, goods or services) for your contributions to the VRChat Wiki, the policy is:

• You must disclose who is paying you, on whose behalf the edits are made, and any other relevant affiliation (on the talk page).
• You should make the disclosure on your user page, on affected talk pages, and whenever you discuss the topic.
• You are discouraged from editing affected articles directly.
• You should propose changes on talk pages so that they can be peer-reviewed.
• You should not act as a reviewer of affected articles if there is any dispute on its content.
• You should respect volunteers by keeping discussions concise.

Conflict of interest noticebox

If an article contains a conflict of interest, it will be displayed with the following noticebox:

V · EConflict of interest

This page was written by an involved party in violation of the Conflict of interest policy, and may be subject to removal. Once this page has enough edits from varying parties, this notice may be removed.

Consider editing this page.

It can be added to to an article, using the following text: {{Noticebox/Conflict of interest}}

See also

• VRCWiki:Guidelines
• Wikipedia:Conflict of interest on Wikipedia