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There has been a few questions recently which have been closed and then reopened (How to physically handle hundreds and hundreds of papers, How to deal with the frustration of doing PhD at a low-ranked university). As a moderator, it was particularly difficult to deal with these questions because there were not enough comments explaining the motivations of each "side".

Of course, it's ok to vote to close a question, but if you believe this question can be improved, leave a comment explaining why it should be closed and how it could be improved, or upvote a comment left by a previous user. If nobody edits the question, then it's ok to delete it.

Similarly, it's ok to vote to reopen a question, but if the nobody edited the question, please do so, or leave a comment explaining how you believe it could be improved.

Also, feel free to use up/down-votes! The more information you provide (in addition to your votes), the better.

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  • "If nobody edits the question, then it's ok to delete it." - I am sure if I agree with it (unless with additional remark "with no [good] answers.").
    – Piotr Migdal
    Commented May 15, 2013 at 8:30
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    @PiotrMigdal: F'x pointed once to this answer from Grace Note. Basically, closed questions should be deleted or reopened. If there is a good answer, then the question should be edited to fit with that good answer.
    – user102
    Commented May 15, 2013 at 10:34
  • Editing a question to fit an answer really seems like a solution hunting for a problem.
    – Matthew Whited
    Commented Aug 9, 2017 at 10:49

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To add to this: if a discussion is getting long, don't hesitate to bring it here - a meta thread can give folks a lot more room to discuss a closed question, and make it much easier to find past discussions if a similar issue arises in the future.

Just don't forget to provide a link to the discussion in a comment on the question being discussed.

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