Wikipedia:Verifiability: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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===Self-published sources (online and paper)===

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Anyone can create a website or [[vanity press|pay to have a book published]], then claim to be an expert in a certain field. For that reason self-published media, whether [[book]]s, [[newsletter]]s, personal [[website]]s, open [[wiki]]s, [[blog]]s, or [[Internet forum]]s postings, etc., are largely not acceptable.<ref>"Blogs" in this context refers to personal and group blogs. Some newspapers host interactive columns that they call blogs, and these may be acceptable as sources so long as the writers are professionals and the blog is subject to the newspaper's full editorial control. Where a news organization publishes the opinions of a professional but claims no responsibility for the opinions, the writer of the cited piece should be attributed (e.g. "Jane Smith has suggested..."). Posts left by readers may never be used as sources.</ref>

Self-published material may, in some circumstances, be acceptable when produced by an established expert on the topic of the article whose work '''in the relevant field''' has previously been published by '''reliable third-party publications'''. However, caution should be exercised when using such sources: if the information in question is really worth reporting, someone else is likely to have done so.