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Helping the source become famous, or publicizing people you respect or admire is not a good reason to turn a
Knowledge article into a publicity machine for the source. Inventions and discoveries, for example, are usually presented very plainly: "The gene for ____ causes jellyfish to glow." Outside
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Just state generally accepted facts (according to mainstream views) without a lot of folderol about the specific source. The information about the source belongs in the citation, not in the article. Don't clutter up your article by blathering on about the credentials for an excellent source. Do not
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The only good reason to include details about a specific source in the text of the article is to indicate that the information represents a minority view or the personal opinion of a single expert. So you write, "The Flat Earth
Society believes the earth is flat", but just use a plain statement for
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Avoid persuasive language. Knowledge's purpose is to collect (the current state of) human knowledge. We're not trying to convince anyone of anything. Knowledge is WP:NOT advertising/promotion/public awareness/anything else. We're not here to save lives, improve the environment, or change the
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Use a dispassionate tone. Encyclopedia articles do not tug on the heart strings. They are not emotional or prejudiced. The reader should not be able to guess from the final product whether your personal view of any aspect of the subject is "pro", "anti" or something
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of a history section about the gene's discovery, it's not necessary to name the scientists that identified the gene, their employers, their funders, their managers, or their bottlewashers, because all the important information is already present in your ref.
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Use an impersonal tone. Do not share anecdotes. Do not focus on individuals (unless the article is specifically about that individual). Write about the subject in general: do not write about one person's (or one group's) experience of the
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In general, a well-written description of a thing should obviate the need for examples of that thing. Examples, when given, should be thoughtfully chosen and limited to the fewest number possible to convey the important information.
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style. Encyclopedia articles describe their subjects, report classifications, list facts, and put information in an informative context for the reader. They do this by using plain and direct language.
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for the reader. Why is this specific subject important? Is this subject the biggest, oldest, hottest, driest (etc) in its class? How does it relate to similar people, places, things or ideas?
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Present the important facts, plainly and concisely, but omit unnecessary supporting details. For example, very few statements of fact require the inclusion of supporting details like these:
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If a good source is enormously important to the world, then write a
Knowledge article about the source, and link to that article -- preferably in the ref.
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introduce facts with prefatory statements like, "In 2006, Dr I.M. Portant, president of Snob B. College of
Medicine published a paper in the
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The official job titles of the participants (or the full names of the participants, if they were acting in their official capacity)
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Use a formal, businesslike tone. Do not use slang. Do not use fanciful analogies. Do not entertain the reader.
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When writing the first sentence, do not assume that the reader knows anything about the subject.
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trying to solve any real-world problem other than how to write a five-page essay for school.
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Show respect for the reader's time and attention by writing concisely. Read
54:." Your text should not normally duplicate information present in your ref.
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Is this article about a person, a place, a thing, an idea, or an action?
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The name of the publication or the journalist that first reported it
85:. Assume that your subject arrived at the article by clicking
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the widely accepted fact, "The earth is more or less round."
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What various opinion polls indicated about the comment
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should almost never appear in an encyclopedia article.
177:How many times it was broadcast in which countries
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168:The clothing they were wearing at the time
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219:Provide the context
136:Omit needless words
213:State the obvious.
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122:and
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