Wikipedia is an information-based website that takes pride in their authenticity and validation of the information that is fed in the page. Anyone can be a contributor by merely just signing up. The website gives its users a chance to express and relay information that is valuable to their readers.
But, If anyone can publish on the website then the credibility is at stake which would devalue the site with a lot of negative remarks.
The registered users count being well over twenty-seven billion also means that they have the responsibility to inform these daily readers with the right information.
It is not an easy task to publish articles in Wikipedia in the first go. You may need to learn a lot before the first success. If you have time, then we definitely encourage navigating through the Wikipedia policies and get familiar with its eco-system. But if you are running out of time, we recommend hiring some professional Wikipedia specialists like Wikioo.
If you want to become an editor and you have already posted some of your articles for approval while some of them got rejected then we might know just the reason why.
It is a twenty-year old website with a dedicated faculty checking and verifying every piece of information to it’s absolute authenticity to make sure there are no issues or misinformation involved. As doing so would hamper the status of the website.
The main reasons why your article may get rejected on Wikipedia could be because of these reasons that have been listed below:
Research
First of all the main things that we should focus on is the availability of the topic we are working on as the authorities would not entertain duplicate articles.
You need to research your topic thoroughly before you start writing the points down. You should also make sure that the article does not hold any personal views upon the topic or your views on the same. Most importantly the authorities in Wikipedia expect high quality content that does not affiliate or promote any sort of business. The authorities will make the article as spam if they find any indication of business promotion in them. YOu will also need to provide citations from various sources proving the information value that your article provides. Research is the most important step in getting your article certified and approved by the authorities of Wikipedia as any misinformation can affect all of its users and question the authenticity of the information found making it the site in which you so want to post, not to post anymore.
The Search tool in Wikipedia
On the top of every Wikipedia page there will be a search bar in which you can type in query to easily navigate through the site. There are some hidden features from which there is a function that can help you research topics to write your article.
WP: Wikipedia
RA: stands for Requested Articles.
If you want to see a list of articles that are requested to be created then you will have to type WP:RA in the search tool that will result in a list of topics that are requested by the users. It is a great feature offered by Wikipedia for editors to know what to write about.
Registration
Wikipedia is free of any kind of charges and you can become a registered user for free.
There are a lot of benefits if you become a registered user which includes receiving messages from other users if there has been any kind of modification made in articles that you are keen to. You can also receive credit for your contribution to any articles in the portal. But, If you choose to not become a registered user you can still submit an article proposal through “Wikipedia’s Article Creation” by toggling to the search bar and typing WP:AFT.
Wikipedia Sandbox editor
Wikipedia provides a writing tool for their editors known as “Sandbox” where you can directly post an article for approval. I would urge you to utilize the sandbox editor and get familiar with the features it provides. If you would like to know more about the Sandbox you can just simply style in WP:SB in the Wikipedia search box.
You can write the document in a word file and copy paste it on the sandbox to submit.
References
Upon successfully submitting the article you also need to send the citations and reference validating the facts in your article. Articles that are less credible may not be accepted by the authorities at Wikipedia. You can simply type in WP:CITE for informative guides and tips about references. External sources such as your own personal blogs may not be accepted as they require a credible platform to base the facts upon. It could be from newspapers, journals, published books, etc.
Reviewing
Search for your topic in Wikipedia and see if it is still available to write or already done by other users. If there are no new articles published on your topic in that span of time then you can proceed on submitting the article. Click the link of your subject and you will be re-directly to the sandbox where you can paste your article from the word file and then click on the preview button which will be situated at the bottom of the screen.
The page will then display how your article would look on the webpage and if you are satisfied with the results then you can click on the save page button which will send your article to the publishers for approval.
Approval
The Wikipedia staff will check the facts and the authenticity of your article and may also request more citations if necessary. However, If everything is perfectly done then it will be posted on the website for the users.
| Wikipedia Help desk | WP:HD |
| Guide to Reference | WP:CITE |
| Requested Articles | WP:RA |
| Article Creation (Non- Registered) | WP:AFT |
| Sandbox Editor | WP:SB |
If you want to view all the shortcuts you can do so by clicking here.
Note: Vocabulary and the tone of speech plays a very important role and it should be kept professional to justify the integrity of the site.
Summary
Research: The topic of the article should be thoroughly researched.
The Search tool in Wikipedia: The search tool has functions that you could make use of.
Registration: You could register yourself and contribute towards various articles which would show your credibility to wikipedia.
Wikipedia Sandbox editor: It is an editing tool that helps you with essential features assisting you in writing.
References: Citations are a very important part of your article as it gives weight to the claims you make in the article.
Reviewing: You must review your article upon completion for any grammatical errors as it may lead to unapproval.
Approval: The authorities at Wikipedia might request for more citations if necessary upon satisfaction the article will be published.
