This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Wikipedia:Articles for creation/Reviewing is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
A trial of a new process for AFC is currently underway. Specific instructions are available at New instructions. The instructions will be incorporated into this page if the new process is adopted permanently. |
The Articles for creation process allows unregistered users to create new articles. Since unregistered users are not able to create new pages, registered users such as yourself are needed to make this project work. Submissions may be any of the following (although the last three are quite rare):
- articles;
- redirects;
- templates;
- categories;
- pages in project namespace, for example, to utilise the AfD process it is necessary to create a page.
This page outlines a series of criteria which can be used as a guideline when reviewing submissions to decide whether they should be accepted or declined.
Contents |
Reviewing articles
Quick fail criteria
Before reading the submission, check whether it meets any of the criteria below. If so it can be declined immediately.
- Blank submission: If the entry is blank, you can tell the user to try Requested Articles instead by tagging the entry with {{subst:afc blank}}.
- Submission not in English: If an article submitted is not in English, don't bother trying to translate it, just tag it with {{subst:afc lang}}.
- Copyright violation: Check that the submission has not been copied from another source. One way to do this is by searching for a portion of the text of the article on Google or another search engine. You could also check the sources provided to make sure it hasn't been copied from there. If the article has been copied, remove any copywritten text and tag the article with {{subst:afc cv|www.website.com}}.
- No reliable sources: In order to be accepted, all articles must include at least one third-party reliable source. If no sources are listed, the only sources listed are unreliable (such as MySpace or Youtube), or the only sources are not published by a third party (such as the subject's website or any Wikimedia site), the article cannot be accepted. Tag the article with the {{subst:afc v}} template.
- Already exists: In older archives particularly, some articles have already been created by the time they get reviewed. Do a quick search for the title of the suggested article, as well as any alternate names that come to mind. If you find an article on Wikipedia on the same subject, tag the suggested article with {{subst:afc exists}} (or {{subst:afc exists|Article name}} if the existing article is titled differently than the submission).
Now follow the instructions to close the request below.
Suitability
Now you should actually read the submission and decide whether it is suitable Wikipedia. To be suitable the article must be about a notable subject and be written in a concise style from a neutral point of view.
The most common reasons that a submission is not suitable are provided below, along with the appropriate templates.
| Reason for denial | Template to use |
|---|---|
| A definition only | {{subst:afc dict}} |
| A neologism | {{subst:afc neo}} |
| Appears to be a joke | {{subst:afc joke}} |
| Doesn't conform to BLP | {{subst:afc blp}} |
| Not written from a neurtal point of view | {{subst:afc npov}} |
| Written like an advert | {{subst:afc adv}} |
| Too short / not enough context | {{subst:afc context}} |
| Too short, but could be merged into Article | {{subst:afc mergeto|Article}} |
| Anything else covered in WP:NOT | {{subst:afc not}} (include an explanation) |
If an article is clearly an attack, immediately remove any libelous content and tag the article with {{subst:afc blp}}. Consider also warning the user on their talkpage.
Notability
Many submissions do not meet notability guidelines, that is, the article does not show that the subject "has received significant coverage in reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject." Depending on the subject, the article may be held to a slightly different standard than your average article. The following table shows the available guidelines and templates for various subjects.
| Subject | Guideline shortcut | Template to use if non-notable |
|---|---|---|
| Academics (Professors, scientists, etc.) | WP:PROF | {{subst:afc nn}} |
| Books | WP:BK | {{subst:afc not}}, with an explanation about notability |
| Fiction, including plot summaries | WP:FICT | {{subst:afc plot}} |
| Films | WP:MOVIE | {{subst:afc film}} |
| Musical performers or works | WP:MUSIC | {{subst:afc band}} |
| Organizations or companies | WP:CORP | {{subst:afc corp}} |
| Pornographic actors | WP:PORNBIO | {{subst:afc nn}} |
| Web content | WP:WEB | {{subst:afc web}} |
| Other people | WP:BIO | {{subst:afc nn}} |
| Any subject not covered above | WP:NOTE | {{subst:afc not}}, with an explanation about notability |
If, at this point, you have not found any reason to decline creation of the article, it should be accepted. Go to the closing directions below and follow the directions for creation.
Redirect requests
Some suggestions at AfC are for new redirects to be created. These are much easier to review, but still require a quick check to make sure they are needed.
- Does the redirect exist? Do a quick search for the title of the suggested redirect and make sure it doesn't bring you to an article. If it does, tag the suggestion with {{subst:afc exists}} and follow the closing directions below.
- Is there an obvious reason for the redirect? In most cases, a suggested redirect will be a misspelling or common alternate name of the main article. In some cases, however, the relation is a little more obscure. In this case, the user needs to provide an adequate explanation for the redirect. In the event of a very unclear link, sources may be needed to back up the user's statements. For example, one accepted redirect was from Harry Lauder's Walking Stick to Common Hazel - the user provided a link to a gardening site that used the nickname with the scientific name of Common Hazel. If no reasoning is provided and no sources are given, tag the entry with {{subst:afc v}} and close it.
If the suggested redirect passes both tests, then it can be created. Follow the closing directions below.
Categories and Templates
In this case, there are no notability issues. You just need to decide whether the category and template is useful and appropriate to Wikipedia.
Closing submissions
Properly closing an AfC submission is important to identifying unreviewed requests. Please follow these instructions carefully to ensure that no problems arise.
Declining
- Add the appropriate "declined" tag, as specified above, at the end of the article, below the user's signature. Make sure to add your own signature with four tildes (~~~~) in case the user has any questions about your review.
- Add the template {{subst:afc r}} directly below the section header.
- Add the template {{subst:afc b}} (or {{subst:afc bottom}}) at the very bottom of the section, below your reply. Failure to include this template will cause all text on the rest of the page to disappear. Do not forget it.
- Leave an edit summary giving a brief reason why the article was not accepted.
- Preview the page, then save your changes if everything is correct.
Accepting
- Add the template {{subst:afc a}} directly under the section header.
- Add one of the following acceptance templates at the bottom of the section, below the user's signature. Add your own signature afterward with four tildes (~~~~)
| Use this template... | ...in this situation |
|---|---|
| {{afc accept}} | Accepted article at suggested title |
| {{afc accept|Article}} | Accepted article at different title |
| {{afc redirect}} | Accepted redirect at suggested title |
| {{subst:afc redirect|Redirect}} | Accepted redirect at different title |
| {{afc reguser}} | When a registered user made the submission |
- Add the template {{subst:afc b}} at the very bottom of the section, below your reply. Failure to include this template will cause all text on the rest of the page to disappear. Do not forget it!
- Preview the page, then save your changes if everything is correct.
- Re-open the editing screen, and copy the entire text of the article, including sources, into your computer's clipboard.
- Search for the title of the suggested article.
- Paste the article into the edit box. Make any necessary changes for grammar, spelling, and wikification. Don't go overboard - remember this is their work, not yours. You can make more extensive edits after the original text has been saved into archival.
- If the article qualifies as a stub (as is usual), add the appropriate stub templates.
- Add an edit summary similar to the one below. Note that per the terms of the GFDL, you must include the IP address or username of the user that submitted the article.
Created article written by [[Special:Contributions/Example|Example]], as per request at [[Wikipedia:Articles for creation]] ([[WP:WPAFC|please help!]])
- Preview the page, then save your changes if everything is correct.
- Open the article's (or redirect's) talk page.
- Add the WikiProject Articles for Creation project banner by typing {{WPAFC}} at the top of the page. Please give the article an appropriate quality grading (usually Stub or Start. Redirects receive a "redirect" rating.).
- Add any other applicable WikiProject banners.
- Preview the page, then save your changes if everything is correct.
- Go to the user talk page of the user that submitted the article.
- Add the template {{subst:afc talk|Article}} to notify them of the acceptance of their article. Make sure to sign your post.
- Preview the page, then save your changes if everything is correct.
If unsure about a submission
If you're not sure if a particular submission should be created or not, leave a message for other reviewers by adding the code {{afc maybe|Your concerns here}} directly beneath the section heading. This will add the archive page to Category:Wikipedia article creation requests needing further review and let the user who sent in the request know that someone has at least looked at their entry.
See also
- User:Henrik/afc-helper, a script that simplifies the AFC process.
- Wikipedia:Articles for creation/Templates for a full list of templates used by AfC
- Wikipedia:Wikiproject Articles for creation
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 29 August 2008, at 12:08.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Wikipedia:Articles for creation/Reviewing".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.