Elite Dangerous Wiki:Reliable sources
Reliable sources provides local editorial guidance for the independent Elite Dangerous Wiki. Apply it alongside community standards and existing local policies.
Match the source to the claim
Use sources with an identifiable author, date and basis for the information. Prefer the game itself and official publications for names, mechanics and release announcements. Independent reporting can support statements about reception or real-world events. An official statement about intent is not evidence that a planned feature has shipped.
Community material
Player research, tools and guides can be useful when their method, date and limitations are clear. Attribute claims and cross-check consequential or contested results. Forum posts, social media and videos are not automatically reliable or unreliable: assess who made the claim and what it demonstrates. Promotional player-group material supports attributed self-description, not independent recognition.
Avoid circular sourcing
Do not use search snippets, machine-generated summaries or a mirror of this wiki as independent evidence. Trace a claim back to its actual source. See Project:Verifiability and Project:Future content.
Elite Dangerous source context
Use GalNet for what the in-universe report says, and attribute statements made by characters or factions rather than treating every in-universe assertion as an objective conclusion. Use patch notes for the changes they describe and the game itself for current displayed values. An old announcement can explain past plans without proving present behaviour.
Community databases and journals can support game data when their origin, update time and method are identifiable. Record limitations such as platform coverage, player-submitted data or changing market values. A screenshot can show a particular observation; it cannot by itself establish behaviour across every system or build.