Wikipedia:Requests for mediation/Shakespeare authorship question

Formal mediation case
Formal mediation case
Article	Shakespeare authorship question (talk)
Opened	18 Aug 2010
Mediators	Seddon (talk) and PhilKnight (talk)
Status	Closed
Notes	None
	view; talk; edit; delete; watch;

Mediation of this dispute has been completed. The case pages should not be edited.

To report a problem with the outcome of this case, contact the Mediation Committee.
If additional mediation proceedings are required, a new mediation request should be filed.
These case pages should not be edited, even to correct article content problems. Case pages are not indexed by search engines.

Resolved:

For an explanation of why the case was closed, refer to the talk page or contact the Mediation Committee

This mediation case is closed. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this case page.

Shakespeare authorship question

Dispute specifics

Involved users

Tom Reedy (talk · contribs), filing party
Smatprt (talk · contribs) - now topic banned
Xover (talk · contribs)
Nishidani (talk · contribs)
Verbal (talk · contribs)
ScienceApologist (talk · contribs)
SamuelTheGhost (talk · contribs)
Bertaut (talk · contribs)

Articles concerned in this dispute

Shakespeare's plays (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Chronology of Shakespeare's plays (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
George Gascoigne (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Mary Sidney (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Shakespeare's sonnets (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Martin Marprelate (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Hamlet (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Francis Meres (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)
Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

As well as many others.

Other steps in dispute resolution that have been attempted

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Chronology_of_Shakespeare%27s_plays#Fringe_chronology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Hamlet#Political_.22context_and_interpretation.22_section

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Shakespeare%27s_plays#Explanation_of_WP:ONEWAY_and_why_it_disallows_the_insertion_of_the_Shakespeare_authorship_question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Shakespeare%27s_plays#Is_a_section_about_the_Shakespeare_authorship_question_appropriate_for_this_article.3F

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view/Noticeboard/Archive_13#Shakespeare_authorship_WP:ONEWAY_violations

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Smatprt&oldid=355582268#WP:ONEWAY_violations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Tom_Reedy#Not_one-way

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:ScienceApologist&oldid=365611010#WP:ONEWAY_violations.3F

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Smatprt&oldid=374276992#Goal.3F

Issues to be mediated

Primary issues

Whether including the Shakespeare authorship question into other articles about Shakespeare or other articles is a violation of WP:ONEWAY and WP:UNDUE.
This dispute has gone on for many months and spread over many pages.
Currently the discussion is centred on the Shakespeare's plays article talk page.

Additional issues (added by other parties)

Concerning the pages listed, and several others, whether a pattern of deletionism is emerging.
Whether the Shakespeare Authorship Question is notable, and can be mentioned in certain articles.

Parties' agreement to mediation

All parties please indicate below whether they agree to mediation of this dispute; remember to sign your post. Extended comments should be made on the talk page of this request.

Agree. Tom Reedy (talk) 21:38, 18 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Agree. Nishidani (talk) 12:44, 19 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Agree. ScienceApologist (talk) 19:13, 19 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Agree. Xover (talk) 18:34, 20 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I do not oppose, but I am too busy to be involved. Verbal chat 21:31, 21 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Agree. Smatprt (talk) 14:48, 25 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Added myself. I have only participated in respect of Shakespeare's plays SamuelTheGhost (talk) 14:46, 31 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Agree. Bertaut (talk) 23:49, 4 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

A note to mediators. Since Smatprt is topic-banned, and, almost simultaneously, I will be incommunicado on another continent (as I had said over a month ago before this complication arose), with no computer connections for at least three months, perhaps the remaining editors should drop a note as to their intentions, in order to clarify before the mediators what is to be done at this point. Regards Nishidani (talk) 23:01, 3 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Decision of the Mediation Committee

A member of the Mediation Committee will indicate whether this request is to be accepted or rejected. Notes concerning the request and questions to the parties may also be posed by a committee member in this section.

We are awaiting a response from User:Smatprt, who I have just now notified that this request has been filed. For the Committee, AGK 20:07, 24 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Accept request. Parties, please see WP:RFM/G#Accepted requests for a guide to the process from here on in; and also please do watchlist this page. For the Committee, AGK 14:54, 26 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.