Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Biography/Proposed interim policy for Honorific prefixes

This is a proposed interim policy to temporarily replace Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies)#Honorific prefixes. Feel free to copy-edit, but please don't change the meaning. For discussion, see talk.

There is an ongoing dispute about the use of honorific prefixes in biographies. Until the current attempt to settle the dispute is completed, honorific prefixes should not be added to articles that don't already have them. They should also not be removed, unless in cases of accuracy disputes (e.g. a valid real-world dispute over the applicability of the honorific to the person). The latter should be discussed on the appropriate article talk page before any removal. Further discussion of this policy on article talk pages is discouraged. All such discussion should be directed to Wikipedia:Wherever we want it.

Unless consensus on the issue can be reached through debate, a new poll shall be called not before 5 June 2005 and not after 10 June 2005. If not otherwise agreed, the poll shall be conducted with simple support/oppose votes, require 75% of all non-abstaining votes needed to pass as consensus, and last for 14 days.

If no consensus is established, a second poll shall be called not after 25 June 2005 to establish whether the guideline to use honorifics is acceptable as policy. If it receives more than 75% of the votes, it shall pass as policy. If it receives less than 50% support, it shall be overturned and the convention on honorifics reverted to "no policy", i.e. "discuss and decide for individual biographies". Otherwise, the debate and polls will be archived and pronounced moot.