Help:Data editable under conditions

Some data, by nature, are only editable if you have a good reason to do it, and if you follow some rules. Not respecting rules is assimilated to vandalism and can oblige us to close your account.

Texts from written sources

The site gives access to diverse published texts, such as entire books (as the Origin of cultivated plants) or quotations. The principle is to respect litterally the text as it was published. There may subsist errors due to copying or coming from OCR, and corrections are welcome. But they should absolutely be done by checking in the original work. If the author or the publisher has left errors, they must not be corrected.

Par contre, pour les textes anciens, on pourra définir des normes particulières. En français par exemple, l'usage de i/j ou de u/v n'était pas le même dans les siècles passés, et on peut décider d'adopter l'usage moderne pour une meilleure lisibilité. De même les manuscrits et les incunables utilisent souvent des signes composés pour écrire certaines terminaisons ; il vaut mieux alors éviter ces signes.

Quotations

Quotations are useful even if they are second hand. In this case, they are often faulty, incomplete or distorted. So you are invited to correct them, but always by checking on the original. As any quotation is inserted in a longer text, you may also add some omitted text, but always respecting the original.

Texts signed by an author

If it has been published elsewhere, it is not modifiable. If it is an original text, you can edit it, but the author has the right to accept or to refuse your corrections.