User:Marskell/FA/FAQ
General[edit]
Q. "Is there an 'importance' requirement for Featured articles?"
A. No. Any subject that has sufficient material to grow past stub size may become an FA.
Q. "Is there a length minimum or maximum?"
A. The FA requirements demand comprehensiveness, not length. In practice, stubs cannot become FAs and just-past-stubs are generally not comprehensive (1b). However, relatively short articles may pass FAC and FAR (see Australian Green Tree Frog and Common scold). Long articles are often criticized for not staying tightly focused on their subject (4) and extremely long articles are actively discouraged: they often violate summary style; may be so long that readers will decline to finish them; and can frustrate those who access Wikipedia with a dial-up connection. Consider sub-articles and use common sense in explaining without over-explaining.
Q. "What's up with Fair use images? If an article has few or no images can it not become an FA?"
A. Fair use images are increasingly deprecated on Wikipedia and especially on FAs. The policy may be found here and here. To err on the side of caution with our best material, avoid fair use images as much as possible. If few or no free images can be found, this isn't held against the article and it may be still become an FA.
Referencing[edit]
Q. "Do I have to use footnotes?"
A. No. Inline citations can be provided with either footnotes,[1] or Harvard referencing (Smith 2007, p. 1). Embedded links[1] are still allowed by policy, but not on FAs; they may occasionally be used in explanatory notes.
Q. "Well, do I have to use inline citations to begin with?"
A. In practice, it is extremely unlikely an article will have no quotations, statistics, or assertions "likely to be challenged," all of which should be cited inline. References to primary source material should also occur inline: "Let there be light"[2] or (Genesis 1:3). Note, that this is the minimum citation requirement; if editors request further citation, article authors should be ready to provide sources and explanations.
Q. "What does 'likely to be challenged' mean?"
A. Statements for which an informed but not necessarily specialist reader might offer a plausible alternative explanation. If you know nothing about a topic, be careful about challenging its assertions because you may only exasperate the people who do. If you do request citation, offer a plausible reason why the assertion(s) might be incorrect or challengeable. Reviewers should be proportionate; editors experiencing a review of an article they have worked on, should be responsive to challenges. The burden of evidence lies with the editor wishing to add or retain the material.
Q. "Is there anything I must cite?"
A. Yes, quotations must be cited. Though not written into policy, the same is usually expected of statistics. Also, biographical material on a living person anywhere on Wikipedia absolutely must be cited, and may be removed if it is not.
Q. "Does the level of referencing expected vary between articles?"
A. Policy applies equally to all articles, but in practice different types of material will have different levels of in-line referencing. Look for three Cs: is it complex, current, or controversial? If a Featured article is all of the above, it ought to be heavily cited; if none of the above, less so.