Reliable publications include established newspapers, academic journals and books, textbooks, and other published sources with reputations for accuracy and fact-checking.
Unreliable sources include blog posts and other self-published works, press releases, and social media posts.
In order for a source to be considered verifiable, other editors should be able to consult the source.
Is the source independent of the subject?
Is the source connected in any way to the subject? This is especially important when writing biographies or about organizations.
For example, if you were writing a biography, sources like the person's webpage or personal blog would not be considered independent.
Is the source primary or secondary?
Primary sources include first-hand accounts, autobiographies, and other original content.
Wikipedia allows limited use of primary sources, but typically only for straightforward, descriptive statements of facts, and only if they are published and verifiable without requiring specialized knowledge.
Secondary sources should be the main basis for a biography on Wikipedia.
If you're working on a topic related to medicine or psychology, ensure that your sources follow these special guidelines.
If you're creating a new article, consider the following:
Ensure that your topic meets Wikipedia's notability guidelines.
In order for a topic to meet the notability requirement, you must be able to identify 2-3 sources that are reliable, verifiable, and independent of the subject you're writing about.
Finding sufficient sources to establish notability can be especially hard when writing about people or organizations.
Sources that are not independent of the subject might be useful additions, but don't count towards the notability requirement.
Wikipedia has developed special guidelines for writing about living persons. Please follow these carefully.
Wikipedia has a series of guidelines for writing about different categories of people, such as academics and artists. If you're trying to create a new entry about a living person, please look at these carefully.
If you're not sure whether a source is reliable, ask a librarian! If you have questions about Wikipedia's sourcing rules, you can use the Get Help button below to contact your Wikipedia Expert.
---- Arbuckle, J., et al. 2014. Fishery management plan for rockweed (Ascophyllum nodosum). Maine Department of Marine Resources.[1]
- This first source should be reliable, as the Maine Department of Marine Resources published it. It provides information about the ecology of Knotted Wrack, the condition of the resource, and ways to harvest Ascophyllum nodosum to use as a resource.
---- Pereira, L., et al. A concise review of the brown macroalga Ascophyllum nodosum (Linnaeus) Le Jolis. [2]
- This source should also be reliable as it is a peer-reviewed scientific article. This article talks about a description of Knotted Wrack, talks about its usefulness in the environment, and discusses how Knotted Wrack is used.
---- De Saeger, J., et al. Toward the molecular understanding of the action mechanism of Ascophyllum nodosum extracts on plants. [3]
- This is also a peer-reviewed article published in a scientific journal, so it should be reliable. This article discusses how extracts from A. nodosum can be used to improve plant growth.
Examples:
Luke, Learie. 2007. Identity and secession in the Caribbean: Tobago versus Trinidad, 1889–1980 Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press.
This is a book published by a university press, so it should be a reliable source. It also covers the topic in some depth, so it's helpful in establishing notability.
Galeano, Gloria; Bernal, Rodrigo (2013-11-08). "Sabinaria , a new genus of palms (Cryosophileae, Coryphoideae, Arecaceae) from the Colombia-Panama border". Phytotaxa.
This is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, so it should be a reliable source. It covers the topic in some depth, so it's helpful in establishing notability.
Baker, William J.; Dransfield, John (2016). "Beyond Genera Palmarum: progress and prospects in palm systematics". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.
This is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, so it should be a reliable source for a specific fact. Since it only dedicates a few sentences to the topic, it can't be used to establish notability.
^Pereira, L., Morrison, L., Shukla, P.S. et al. A concise review of the brown macroalga Ascophyllum nodosum (Linnaeus) Le Jolis. J Appl Phycol 32, 3561–3584 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02246-6
^De Saeger, J., Van Praet, S., Vereecke, D. et al. Toward the molecular understanding of the action mechanism of Ascophyllum nodosum extracts on plants. J Appl Phycol32, 573–597 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-019-01903-9
These resources can be used to create a more complete description of Knotted Wrack, to add to the reproduction section of the article, to speak more about the ecology of the seaweed, and to cite more specific sources and examples of the uses, and to discuss harvesting more.
Now that you have compiled a bibliography, it's time to plan out how you'll improve your assigned article.
In this section, write up a concise outline of how the sources you've identified will add relevant information to your chosen article. Be sure to discuss what content gap your additions tackle and how these additions will improve the article's quality.
Consider other changes you'll make to the article, including possible deletions of irrelevant, outdated, or incorrect information, restructuring of the article to improve its readability or any other change you plan on making. This is your chance to really think about how your proposed additions will improve your chosen article and to vet your sources even further.
Note: This is not a draft. This is an outline/plan where you can think about how the sources you've identified will fill in a content gap.
