Meeting Wikipedia’s credibility standards and other requirements when creating an article can be time-consuming if you’re not prepared. Here’s what you need to know.
As a scientist, if you’re trying to build awareness around your work or that of a peer, a Wikipedia article can be an invaluable part of your content strategy. Wikipedia is, after all, one of the most discoverable websites on the Internet.
But you can’t just write a Wikipedia article and expect it to stay published for long. Here are some tips for success.
1. Team up with a colleague
Wikipedia frowns on people writing articles for themselves. Why? Because no one can be entirely unbiased when writing about themselves.
Self-written Wikipedia articles “have a certain odor to them” that professional Wikipedia editors (roles filled by thousands of volunteers around the world who maintain the site) can sense. If an editor sniffs out your self-written content — which they can confirm using your IP address and other investigative methods — you risk your article getting taken down and your account banned. It will be very difficult to try again later, too, because your name will be flagged.
Instead, consider collaborating with a colleague to create Wikipedia content for each other.
You will first need to decide if you are both notable enough to merit an article (more on that below). Interview your colleague, audit publicly available information on them, and cross-check each other’s write-ups for accuracy. Share photos (that you or your colleague own) and work together to find credible sources to include in your articles.
2. Know your notability
To give your article the best chance of staying published and gaining a high ranking on search engine results pages, it’s important to understand what Wikipedia calls its “notability requirements”.
A person or subject must be deemed sufficiently “notable” by a Wikipedia editor. Editors will look for reliable sources and unbiased content that show the value of including a particular person (or subject) in the online encyclopedia. This means you’ll have to be extremely selective when choosing sources to support your claim to notability.
Here are a few things that Wikipedia deems notable:
- Significant research contributions: including groundbreaking discoveries, inventions, or advancements in their field.
- Recognition and awards: such as Nobel Prizes, Fields Medals, Turing Awards, or membership in prestigious scientific societies.
- Published works: extensive publication record in peer-reviewed journals.
- Leadership positions: including in scientific organizations, institutions, or research projects.
- Media coverage and public impact: significant media attention and a notable impact on society, including contributions to public understanding of science, involvement in policy-making, or engagement with the public through popular science communication platforms.
3. Gather reliable sources
Familiarize yourself with Wikipedia’s list of reliable and unreliable sources, which categorizes hundreds of websites as either reliable, unreliable, or potentially useable – depending on the context. Government databases, books, interviews, and scholarly articles are a good bet. Press releases and paid placements, on the other hand, are not considered notable or unbiased enough to use as references.
Ensure that each and every fact in your article has at least one reputable source to back it up. Any fact that is left unsourced will be flagged by the editors and could render it too unreliable to be published.
4. Where to dig
If you are struggling to find reliable sources about the scientist you want to write about, here are a few places to go digging:
- alma mater archives, college societies, and alumni magazines;
- local papers;
- online records of awards, distinctions, seminars, and keynotes.
Be sure to find a good photo of the scientist and make sure you own the rights, or have permission from the person who does to submit it for publication on Wikipedia. It’s worth noting that photos that are published on Wikipedia are given Creative Commons license.
Find out more about Wikipedia’s image ownership requirements.
5. Draft, format, and submit your article
Once you’ve done your research and have confirmed that your subject meets Wikipedia’s notability guidelines, you can start drafting your article.
You’ll need to create a Wikipedia account, if you don’t already have one. Once logged in, you can create a new page by searching for the scientist’s name in the Wikipedia search bar and clicking on “Create this page” if it doesn’t exist yet.
Wikipedia has specific formatting guidelines that must be followed. Be sure to format your article using the appropriate headings and subheadings, and include references for all sources used.
Once you have finished drafting your article, take some time to review it and make any necessary edits or corrections before submitting it for review by the Wikipedia editors. The editors may suggest changes or revisions before it is published.
Creating a Wikipedia page for a scientist can take some time, but it can be incredibly valuable. Wikipedia is a highly trafficked website with great visibility on search engine results pages, so creating a page can do wonders for communicating a scientist’s work and achievements.
Remember to take your time to ensure that your submission has the best chance of being published – and hopefully built upon by others well into the future!
Article by Julia Sufrin
Featured photo credit: Ekin Kizilkaya