Africa Growth Pilot/Online self-paced course/Module 4/Do not cheat

Having said that, I have to give you a very strong warning. Do not cheat. Don't be tempted to cheat by the fact that the source doesn't have to be in English, and doesn't have to be online.

If you are desperate to include some fact on a Wikipedia page, do not be tempted to say, "well, what if I cite some printed book that nobody's ever heard of, in the, say, Swahili language. Who's going to check?"

The answer is that someone eventually would. And if you are found to have fabricated a source -- essentially, to have lied to Wikipedia itself about where you got the information -- that could forever stain your wiki-reputation. You could be blocked for that without chance of appeal, because that is considered a very serious sin. Because it's not an innocent mistake. It's an intentional deception. You chose to lie to Wikipedia about the existence of some source. That is not something that is forgiven lightly.

And if I sound dramatic, that's because this is dramatic. There are people who have been blocked indefinitely because of precisely this, because of having fabricated a source and lying about it. When they were caught, they were trying to deny it and to pretend that it didn't happen and that it wasn't fake, even when they were confronted with its being faked. So they added not just fabricating a source, but also lying about it once they were caught. And that can be the end of your career on Wikipedia. So I apologize for sounding so intense, but this is serious. No matter how much you want something to be in the article, do not cheat! So it doesn't have to be in English, doesn't have to be online, but it does have to really, truly be there, to exist. Or you will get in trouble eventually.