Wikinews:Retraction policy

This is a proposed policy. You can choose to follow it. If it is followed by all, and has wide community support, it may become an official policy. Please comment on the collaboration page of the policy on any changes you would like to make, or just edit the page directly. References or links to this page should not describe it as "policy".

Retractions are used in rare cases when an article cannot be made accurate through correction. A retraction withdraws the article from the published record while keeping the process transparent.

Retractions are different from corrections. A correction fixes specific errors in an otherwise accurate article. A retraction is used when the article itself cannot be trusted as reporting.

Nature of corrections and retractions

Corrections and retractions are part of maintaining an accurate public record. They are not punitive actions against contributors, and should not be framed or used as such.

At the same time, the need for a correction or retraction indicates that an issue was not identified or resolved during development, review, or publication. While occasional corrections are expected in a live news environment, they should remain uncommon.

A pattern of frequent or avoidable corrections or retractions may indicate problems with sourcing, verification, or review practices, and may warrant community discussion or closer scrutiny of those processes.

When a retraction should happen

An article should be retracted when one or more of the following is true:

• The core claims are false or cannot be verified.
• The article relies on fraudulent, manipulated, or unreliable sources.
• The errors are so serious that fixing them would require replacing the article.
• Publication risks harming the public or misleading readers.
• Ethical or policy violations invalidate the article as journalism (for example, plagiarism or undisclosed copying).

If the article can be made accurate through correction, it should be corrected instead. See Wikinews:Correction policy.

Retraction process

1. Document the problem on the article talk page with links and evidence.
2. Request review from an uninvolved reviewer.
3. Decide whether correction is possible. If the article cannot be responsibly repaired, it should be retracted.
4. File a request at Deletion requests to determine consensus to retract.

If a retraction is approved via consensus, apply it as follows:

Application of retractions

• The article history is retained for transparency and is not deleted, except where required (for example, clear copyright violations).
• Add a clear Retraction notice using {{correction|label=Retraction}}. This will also categorize the article in Category:Retracted articles.
• Add Category:No publish.
• Leave any existing categories intact.
• The notice should explain why the article was withdrawn and may link to the relevant talk-page discussion and/or the last pre-retraction version of the article.

The handling of the article body is determined on a case-by-case basis:

• In many cases, the article body is blanked and replaced with the retraction notice.
• In some cases, the article body may remain visible with the retraction notice placed prominently at the top.
• Factors may include the severity of the issue, risk of ongoing harm or misinformation, and whether the remaining text can be responsibly interpreted by readers.

The same retraction statement should also be added to the top of the article talk page.

Retractions should be rare. They must not be used to resolve content disputes, retroactively rewrite articles, or substitute for normal editorial corrections.

Relationship to corrections and archives

• If the problem can be fixed, use a correction instead of a retraction. See Wikinews:Correction policy#Post-archival corrections.
• If the article cannot be repaired, retract it rather than leaving known misinformation in place.