Policy:Personal thesis

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Personal thesis pages exist for a single person or a limited group of co-authors to contribute articles that argue in favor of a specific thesis, proposition, hypothesis, theory, or view point.

They are markedly different from collaborative thesis pages in that:

  1. the person(s) may retain copyrights to the material
  2. others are not permitted to alter the material, but may be invited to comment upon it, using either sidebar counterpoints, end of page comments, or the discussion page.

These pages are especially useful for authors to present copyright protected articles (with favored a viewpoint, a speculation, or even a mathematical proof) that they want to have read, tested, and challenged by others in a fashion that will allow them to continually refine and improve their article . . . while retaining copyrights to their original content.

Alternative text just comes up when a reader highlights the Counterpoint image
To insert a comment, go into Edit mode, Select Insert, select "Image and Media" then "Counterpoint text.jpg" and then enter the text and link in the Caption area.
here is a comment in a counterpoint, created by selecting Comment.jpg and even a second comment on the comment

These pages may be owned by a small group of co-authors who are collaborating on the development of the article while collectively fielding the comments and suggestions of readers.

These pages must be marked with a Personal Thesis Template, which should be inserted at the time the page is created, along with a by-line identifying the true name of the author(s) to whom the copyright belongs.

While the copyright belongs to the authors, by publishing our material on SearchForTruth is guaranteed, non-exclusive, non-transferable perpetual license to publish all materials created or displayed on this website for which the contributing authors have any copyrights.

Put the other way, you retain the right to publish your material anywhere else. Any sale or royalties you may receive are yours alone. SearchForTruth has no claim. But once you publish on our site, you cannot restrict us from making the material you published here through our archives. But our publication rights are limited to our own publication; we do not have the right to offer or sell reprint rights to others. As the copyright owner, you have given us the right to publish your material, in the form you gave it to us (not in a finished form, if you edit it later) for as long as we may wish to, but nothing more.

Titles for personal thesis pages are not restricted to precise wording

For the sake of organization and clarity, collaborative thesis pages are supposed to begin with a precisely worded thesis statement of the exact proposition being advanced by that page, which should be reflected in the title, for example: "Global warming is mostly due to human activity."

You are not required to have a clear thesis statement for a personal thesis page, but it is recommended, especially if you desire to have links to article placed into collaborative thesis pages which are precisely worded. Without a precisely worded thesis, your article is perhaps most properly considered to be a general interest article, for which is generally not appropriate to insert links into collaborative thesis pages, as discussed here.

Add Your Thesis Pages to Appropriate Link Page, Categories, and Related Articles

In order to make it easier for people to find your article, it is important for you to do the following:

  1. Consult the Existing Categories page (and search key terms using the Category Tree tool to identify the category tags you should use at the bottom of your page to link it article so it will be automatically indexed with articles related to the same topic.
    Here is the same process selecting Comment.jpg instead.
    .
  2. Examine existing link pages, or create a new one, adding your thesis statement to the list of related or competing thesis statements.
  3. Examine related, similar, or competing thesis pages and encyclopedic articles and add a link in the appropriate space provided for related or competing thesis pages.
  4. When appropriate, create a side bar comment in related or competing thesis pages briefly stating your key counterpoint argument with a link to your favored thesis page. Do this sparingly. Do not dispute every paragraph, and preferably not more than a single paragraph. Our overarching goal is to avoid disrupting a readers experience with the proposition being defended while at the same time providing a sidebar alert that a specific premise of the argument has been challenged elsewhere, which the reader may wish to examine. Respect other thesis pages as you would like others to respect yours.

Do not "spam" your link into articles where it is not appropriate or necessary

Lack of a narrow focus, or a page that covers "too many topics," may provide a basis for other pages to exclude links to your page.

Counterargument
Be prepared to accept the insertion of sidebar comments by others with links to their artiles

For example, if you have an article that touches on global warming, the international monetary fund, comic books, and baking tips, you should not have any expectation of having links to your article included in collaborative thesis articles that are focused on those topics.

If you try to insert links to your personal thesis page in those articles, claiming that your article is an alternative view that readers should be alerted to, SearchForTruth will uphold the right of the proponents of those collaborative thesis page to delete the link to your article because it is too general or off topic, especially if the relevant points you are raising are already covered by other articles that are linked to the collaborative thesis page.

You may lose your right to edit at SearchForTruth if, in our sole determination, it is decided that your behavior is spamming, self-serving, or otherwise disruptive or unwanted for any reason. That gives us very broad discretion, of course. But while we don't want to block anyone, neither do we want to drawn into arguments over our right to do so.