The question often arises, if one person says one thing, and a second person says another thing, who is right? The answer is often both, but then which do you go with? In this lesson we discuss the hierarchy of sources that are considered valid references. Though there is much disagreement about some sources, a set system needed to be established for sanity's sake.

The criteria for validity in this list is based upon two assumptions. First, like the producers, it is assumed that only the TV show and movies are valid. While there have been a great many novels published in the Star Trek Universe, many of them very good, they often contradict each other. It is also impossible to keep up with all of them. For that reason, novels are not considered canon, in general.

There are a few special cases. The cartoon series of the original cast was not produced by Paramount and Rodenberry, so it too is ignored by the producers. Therefore, we overlook it as well. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is sometimes considered to be apocryphal as well. In fact, it is rumored that Rodenberry liked to ignore it, so that is also on the exempt list. Finally, there is the Voyager episode that is a disgrace to the series, "Threshold." Supposedly, by finding a new, more stable type of dilithium Tom Paris is able to use a shuttle to break the warp 10 barrier, which causes him to evolve at a highly accelerated rate along the predefined course of human evolution. After fans stopped laughing at the utter stupidity of the episode, most agreed that it was safest to pretend it never happened, as it is the worst break of scientific rules, both modern and Star Trek, in 30 year history of the series.

The second assumption is that there are a select number of books published by people like Mike Okuda and Herman Zimmerman that are also considered valid resources. These are different from the often useful but non-canon books from other authors. Only those written by the production staff are valid. In order of prescience, these are:

When in doubt, go with what these books say. In addition, modern science is always valid, unless Star Trek physics has contradicted it, in which case Star Trek physics takes precedence.

You will likely object to this list, but this is the list the STF Administration has agreed upon, because these are the most readily available and reliable sources. Numerous other sources may be useful references, and may sometimes be referred to, but when in doubt, the above texts are right, and others not wrong, just ignored.