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Wednesday, July 23rd, 2025

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Contributions denied for vague reasons

Before anyone reads this, I want you to know that I'm on the autism spectrum, and I'm likely not the only IMDB contributor who is. And I want you to know that the words in this post are not in anger or anything like that, but are instead words of confusion and curiosity. With that out of the way, I'll explain the problem I'm having. I've been a member of IMDB for 25 years, since 2000, and I like being a contributor, and sharing my knowledge. The problem is that ever since I returned to contributing in 2021 after my long break from it. Mostly what I contribute is a plot or a synopsis. It's gotten to where my contributions are too often declined, and the only reason it gives me is a three word phrase: "Unable to verify." That's way too vague for me to figure out what I did wrong. Why can't IMDB be more specific in its message, instead of using a vague three word phrase? I don't know how IMDB verifies things or what they expect, but the movies that I make contributions for are movies that I have watched thoroughly, through and through, and the only things that I contribute are things that I know for a fact are true. I thoroughly verify my contributions myself before I submit them. I have a habit of being so hard on myself for making mistakes that I proofread things before I submit them. Like everyone else on Earth, I'm not perfect, so I do miss something such as a misspelling sometimes. But I do my best to make sure that what I'm contributing is true. According to my contribution history, this has been happening since I returned to submitting contributions in 2021, after a long break from it. I've been patient with this problem, but now it's happened one too many times, which makes me wonder why it happens. One thing I'd like to know is why IMDB can't be more specific with its messaging, instead of being as vague as saying nothing more than "unable to verify?" How am I supposed to know what changes to make so my contributions will be accepted as often as they used to be? I've seen movies with plots and synopses that are full of misspellings and even contain things that didn't happen in the movie, which makes me wonder why the contributions that I've done research on get declined so often. I that hope there are helpful answers to my questions. Right now, I'm not sure if I'm going to be making any more contributions to IMDB. It's one of my absolute favorite web sites, but in my experience, it seems that it's gotten a lot harder than it used to be to get a contribution to be accepted. I honestly appreciate any help.

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11 days ago

jtab: I noted the inappropriate use of "unable to verify" in an idea thread six years ago: https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/data-issues-policy-discussions/is-unable-to-verify-the-right-term-to-use/5f4a7a2f8815453dba9cf154 Please vote in favor of that idea if you have not already done so. If you receive an "unable to verify" rejection message, and you have checked your submission again and believe it is fully correct, I suggest posting here on this board with your 18-digit submission number, and asking the IMDb staff to re-check the submission in case there was a processing error. I have found that a small percentage of my submissions are rejected for no valid reason, and then when I have posted here to bring them to the staff's attention, it usually turns out that there was a processing error which caused the submission to be rejected, in which case the staff will have it re-submitted. I hope this helps. Good luck!