Wikipedia:WikiProject scope creep

This essay is not a discussion of article notability, nor is it a discussion of when it is appropriate for an article to be deleted. See WP:GNG or WP:DELETE for those topics.

Over the decades of Wikipedia's existence, millions of articles have been created and with them came hundreds of WikiProjects, cabals of editors dedicated to the cause of advancing knowledge about a topic area they find fascinating. These WikiProjects almost universally declare their scope, those topics they consider to be under their stewardship. Some projects do this formally with a heading on their main page or subpage; others leave it to a short sentence in the lead or even to the title of the WikiProject itself. In theory, it should be easy to tell exactly what one might find under the purview of any properly named WikiProject. In practice, many projects have become bloated with responsibilities for articles thrust upon them with which they have only the most tenuous of connections, making it nearly impossible to set meaningful goals for the care of the knowledge they have claimed is in their stead. This is most present in WikiProjects for U.S. states.

Defining scope

Though passionate new editors may not often consider the scope of a project when assigning WikiProjects to their AfC drafts, it's crucially important editors of WikiProjects define the scope of their work and ensure that their projects prune away those additions that are at best tangentially related to that project's mission. By making clear what topics are part of a project, the editors involved in that project can set realistic expectations and goals for the articles under their care.

WikiProjects vs. categories

It is the case that many articles purportedly part of a given WikiProject are only there due to a tangentially related category. By reviewing the stubs of any WikiProject, and particularly those of WikiProjects for individual U.S. states, it's easy to see that many articles have been added to a WikiProject solely because of a loose connection with a category. This is most prominent in biographical articles, where a person may be born in a particular state, but ultimately have little connection to, or more importantly, impact on that state. Too often, these articles are lumped in with articles about a state's economy and government and biggest cultural events simply because they belong to a category like People from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

It is important to remember that just because a category may be appropriate for an article, and the category may appear to be related to a WikiProject, that does not mean the article itself is in the scope of a given WikiProject. In the above example, both the articles on Alexander Gelver and Charles Frederick Burgess are categorized as being about people from Oshkosh; however, Gelver was known for defecting to the Soviet Union, while Burgess founded the chemical engineering department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a company that manufactured batteries in Madison. It's immediately clear that one of these people left a far more significant impact on the State of Wisconsin than the other. Categories are distinct from the scope of a WikiProject and should not be used as the sole determination of if an article is added to a project's cadre.

Defining relevance to state WikiProjects

Articles in WikiProjects about U.S. states (or provinces/states of other countries) should collect the knowledge about the people, organizations, places, food, culture, arts, biology, and geology that define those states, or that have made the most impact on those states. Just because pine trees may grow in a state, that does not mean the article about pine trees is within the scope of that state's WikiProject. In all cases, individual exceptions should be decided on by the consensus of the editors on the project.

Art, food, culture, and music

If a food item, musical genre, or art style originated in a state (like Detroit-style pizza or Music of Tennessee), then that article is necessarily part of a state's WikiProject. Likewise, if a cultural event originated in or is held only in one state (as with Burning Man) it necessarily is part of that state's WikiProject.

The exception to this is articles about iterations of traveling events. If a cultural event takes place in a different state every year (as is the case with the Super Bowl), it would not be appropriate for the article about that event to be tied to a particular state's WikiProject.

Biology and geology

Articles about various species of organisms are part of a state WikiProject if that species is native to and is found only in that state, or a few states (like Sequoia sempervirens). Similarly, if an organism is of particular importance to a state's culture or history (like the Texas Longhorn), it is also part of that state's WikiProject. Individual state WikiProjects should discuss and reach consensus on whether various state animals and plants should be part of their project.

Similarly, articles about minerals and geological features are part of a given state Wikiproject only if they are only found in that state or in a limited geographical area outside the state In the case of geological features, specific geological features tied to specific locations are part of a state WikiProject, but not the general concept of the feature. For example, Dell (landform) is not part of WikiProject Wisconsin, but Dells of the Wisconsin River is.

Buildings and places

Physical locations, including but not limited to parks, buildings, cities, lakes, forests and mountains, fall under the purview of a state WikiProject if they are located within the borders of said state. Some locations, like Yellowstone National Park, cross state lines, and in such cases, the location would also be under the purview of any adjoining states' WikiProjects.

The exception to this rule is if a location would be more appropriate to a child project, such as a specific project about a city. All articles in child projects are necessarily under the purview of their parent project; it is therefore redundant to list the state project when a child project would be more appropriate.

Companies, organizations, and sports teams

Articles about companies and organizations are part of a state WikiProject when they are founded in and/or are best known for their work in a particular state. Similarly, sports teams based in a state (like the New York Yankees) are relevant to that state's WikiProject as they are part of that state's culture and history. See below for individual athletes and seasons.

In cases of companies or organizations which operate in many states and/or abroad (like Rotary International), members of the state WikiProject should reach consensus on whether to include a given organization in the rolodex of articles for which they claim responsibility.

Economy, government, and military units

In all cases, articles relating to the economy of a state as a whole or individual components of that economy (such as Oil in Oklahoma) are part of that state's WikiProject. Likewise, all articles about branches of a state government, state government officials and legislators, and state government administration are part of that state's WikiProject.

In the case of military units, only those units which answer to the state government are under the purview of that state's WikiProject. For example, the article about the Georgia National Guard is necessarily part of WikiProject Georgia, but the 75th Ranger Regiment is not even though it's based in Georgia, as the unit is purely under federal control.

People

Articles about people are only part of a state WikiProject if that person had a significant impact on the state. The meaning of "significant impact" is malleable, but generally means that the person had some kind of quantifiable impact on the state.

Indicators of significant impact include, but are not limited to: being inducted into a city- or state-level hall of fame; being recognized by reliable, third-party sources as a prominent citizen of a state; starting a business, holding elected office, or building something notable in the state; starting a cultural trend, artistic or architectural movement, notable musical (sub)genre, or creating a notable food item in the state; and/or making a significant contribution to understanding the historical or scientific nature of the state. If a biographical article is relevant to a state WikiProject, its primary claim to notability should reflect that person's impact on that state.

If a person was only born in, received an education in, or played for a sports team in a state, that is not enough for an article about that person to be considered relevant to that state's WikiProject.

For example, Ben Johnson was both born in Wisconsin and played for the Wisconsin Badgers football team, but the primary claim to notability in the article about him is his NFL career, during which he played for teams in Detroit, Michigan, Chicago, Illinois, Charlotte, North Carolina, and San Diego, California. Johnson is not relevant to the projects for any of the five states in which he played football, and his article should instead be part of WikiProject NFL and College football.

Sports seasons

Sports seasons are not under the purview of state WikiProjects. Sports seasons are under the purview of the parent WikiProject for that sport and team, if a team project exists (e.g. 2019 Oregon Ducks football team should be part of WikiProject College football but not WikiProject Oregon).

The consequences of this essay

Following this rubric for inclusion in a project means that state WikiProjects are liable to lose many quality articles, potentially including some good or feature-class articles. It may cause once-achieved goals to go back to being "in progress". It may significantly shrink some projects. This is not a bad thing.

If it is the case that a project loses many articles, it means the project had become unfocused, too large, and had strayed away from its original purpose. By trimming the fat from projects using this guide, state WikiProjects will be able to better focus their efforts on the articles that are more central to their purpose.