StarFleetUniverse Wiki:Canon

This page is an official policy on the Star Fleet Universe Wiki. It has wide acceptance among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

The Canon policy outlines what lore and sources may be accepted on the Star Fleet Universe Wiki and how to resolve contradictions between them. For the purposes of this policy, "canon" is the term given to a piece of information that establishes its status as an official part of the Star Fleet Universe fictional universe.

Description

There is no generally accepted, official, hard-and-fast set of rules given by ADB, Inc. (ADB) for determining outright what is canon, so this policy provides guidelines for determining what is considered canon on this wiki, in accordance with authors' recommendations and fan consensus.

"Canon", is any published source relating to the Star Fleet Universe campaign setting. This means that if it is for sale in paper (or digital) form then it is official.

Contradiction

Despite fact checking and research at ADB, discrepancies in the canon exist. Documenting the discrepancies is as much a part of writing for the wiki as documenting the universe itself.

The article author is not at liberty to pick and choose which information should be included and which should be left out. A hierarchy exists to determine which information should be given preference when a contradiction is discovered, but the less preferable information should not be excluded.

Hierarchy

The wiki uses a hierarchy to determine, if two sources contradict one another, which is preferred. See Help:Citing sources for more information on how to reference a given source.

In brief, as a rule of thumb, the hierarchy is as follows:

1. Official Star Fleet Universe sources (sourcebooks, novels, adventures, articles)
2. Steve Cole
3. Forum posts

These are explained in more detail below:

SFU sourcebooks

This includes sourcebooks, boxed sets, adventure material, and other gaming-related products (not video games) relating to the Star Fleet universe. See Category:Sourcebook citation templates.

SFU novels

This applies to both printed and digital novels and short stories relating to the Star Fleet universe. See Category:Novel citation templates.

SFU-based magazines and online articles

This includes Captain's Log magazine, Starletter newsletter, Star Fleet Times newsletter and information from the ADB website. This applies to both printed and online editions of the magazines. Where online information is concerned, only official articles are considered. See Category:Captain's Log citation templates, Category:Star Fleet Times citation templates, and Category:Web citation templates.

Steve Cole

Everything Steve Cole writes and says regarding the Star Flett Universe is canon, unless or until superseded by published material from ADB.

Forum posts

Forum posts cannot be considered canon unless made by a Realms designer or author and unless stated as such or resolving a discrepancy. These can generally be considered canon but might warrant discussion for individual cases. This does not include cases where they may simply be discussing ideas with fans, or posting their personal developments and unpublished material, though these may be linked to as interesting and relevant information in appendix notes. For citing the forums at the Candlekeep website, see {{Cite web/Candlekeep forum}}.

Shapeway ship descriptions are not to be considered canon.

Age

Age is a secondary factor in determining preference of information. If two sources contradict one another, the more recently published should be considered preferable. If a new novel contradicts an old sourcebook, the sourcebook should be preferred since it is higher in the hierarchy.

Editions

Equal preference is given to all editions of the game. Editors are not at liberty to prioritize one edition above another. The lore is generally unchanged from edition to edition, and contradictions arising in different editions should favor the newer edition, but care should be taken to make mention of all editions and reference each.

Where history is concerned, each edition has a different date, so the usual method is to list each piece of information in chronological order.

Star Fleet Universe-specific Versus Generic Star Trek

The Star Fleet Universe does not include the rights to use any material from Star Trek Next Generation or later. Any material from those time periods will be deleted.

Sourced Versus Unsourced

As per Help:Citing sources, an unreferenced piece of information may never be taken in preference to a referenced one. It is not simply good enough to claim that a piece of information exists within a source. It must be referenced as accurately as possible so that the reader may choose to check of his or her own accord, and verify that it is the case.

Retcons

A retcon should always be considered to override any information in the source material, provided it is from a ADB source.

Common Sense

The above are simply guidelines and common sense must prevail. It is not outside the realms of possibility that an obvious flaw in the canon will be published that will fall outside the guidelines set in place above. In this situation, the preferred order of information should follow common sense.

Disputes

This policy is clear that in the case of discrepancies in the information, all versions should be included, with references, but preference should be given to one particular version. The details of determining preference have been provided above.

However, should a dispute arise on what is preferable to what, as per the usual wiki policies on discussions, this should be conducted in a civil and productive manner. A general consensus should be reached before the order of preference is determined.

Removing or altering a valid, referenced piece of information is never an acceptable resolution to a discrepancy in the source material.