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I came across this answer in the late answer review queue which was a link only answer.

The link that the user gave did not belong to any official or government website. It is more of a forum and support website. I understand, links are generally helpful to prove the credibility of the content. However there is nothing else besides the link in that answer.

There is a mod comment, asking the OP for explanation but there are no updates after that.

I flagged it as VLQ, however it was declined by a moderator.

So my question is, are link only answers allowed on Expatriates?

I don't have a problem with this. I just want to know the right action in this case.

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  • In this case I am more worried that the answer is SPAM and that the poster might be related to the promoted company.
    – StrongBad Mod
    Commented Mar 24, 2017 at 0:42
  • It's borderline for sure. But it does provide some info related to the question. I'm inclined to provide the benefit of the doubt. But in general yeah definitely a borderline.
    – Dipen Shah
    Commented Mar 24, 2017 at 1:18

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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I was the moderator checking that answer. While it's definitely not great, it is not a link-only answer, as it does include at least some information (that you can use a B1). I added some notes that most of the information from the link should be embedded into the answer itself, not just the headline (which is an answer in itself - albeit not a great one).

Whether the information is true or not, and whether the source is reputable or not is not up to the moderators to decide. If you believe it is not a good answer or it is misleading please downvote it, and potentially add a comment on why you believe the answer is bad, and potentially include details on how it can be improved. Alternatively, edit the question and include the more details. You should have enough reputation to do that already.

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  • Thanks for the clarification. I just wasn't sure that information like you can use a B1 can be considered answer or not. I will keep this in mind for future reviews.
    – Dipen Shah
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 19:57
  • @DipenShah we don't really a have a policy on what we consider a proper answer. It might be worth starting a new meta topic on it. Some SE sites are for example quite relaxed on it (e.g. the linked answer would be considered an answer), while others are very strict. I don't remember whether we have any policy on this or not
    – SztupY Mod
    Commented Mar 22, 2017 at 20:00

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