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This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutrality by separating
out potentially negative information. (July 2023)
English varieties
One controversy in the English Wikipedia concerns which national variety of the English
language is to be preferred, two candidates being American English and British English.
[33] Suggestions range from standardizing upon a single form of English to forking the
English Wikipedia project.[citation needed] A style guideline states, "the English Wikipedia has
no general preference for a major national variety of the language" and "an article on a topic
that has strong ties to a particular English-speaking nation uses the appropriate variety of
English for that nation".[34]
Disputed articles
A 2013 study from Oxford University concluded that the most disputed articles on the English
Wikipedia tended to be broader issues, while on other language Wikipedias the most disputed
articles tended to be regional issues; this is due to the English language's status as a
global lingua franca, which means that some who edit the English Wikipedia have English as
their second language. The study stated that the most disputed entries on the English
Wikipedia were: George W. Bush, anarchism, Muhammad, list of WWE personnel, global
warming, circumcision, United States, Jesus, race and intelligence, and Christianity.[35]
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GoW