Skip to Main Content

PSCI 226: Politics of Intervention in Africa: Wikipedia Editing

Politics of Intervention in Africa
Professor: Elizabeth Iams Wellman
Spring 2023

Basic Rules for Editing in Wikipedia

Here are a few basic rules for creating and editing articles in Wikipedia:

Copyright: paraphrasing and citations are necessary. Do not copy/paste text from another website or source - paraphrasing and citation is necessary.

Neutral point of view: all articles must be written from a neutral point of view, representing views fairly and without bias.

Verifiability: all articles must have citations from verifiable, reliable sources.

Usually, academic and peer-reviewed articles are the most reliable sources. Other sources include textbooks, magazines, journals, newspapers, and books.

No original research: all articles must link to reliable, published sources. Articles may not contain your own interpretation or new analysis of published material.

Conflict of interest: You should not edit pages that represent a conflict of interest.

Wikipedia Help

Beginner's guide to Wikipedia - Everything you need to know to get started. 

Wiki markup cheatsheet - Refer to this cheatsheet as you create and edit articles. 


Your first article - Starting from scratch? Learn how to create an article on Wikipedia. 

Editing on Wikipedia - Best practices for editing existing articles. 

Citing sources - How to craft references for Wikipedia articles.


Art + Feminism YouTube Channel - Tutorials to guide you through the basics of editing on Wikipedia.


Feeling stuck? Don't hesitate to ask for help!

Profile Photo
Tath Haver
he/him
Contact:
Research Services
Sawyer Library
th13@williams.edu
Website