This help page is a
how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of
consensus and
vetting. |
Contributing to Wikipedia ( Tutorial) |
---|
Policies and guidelines |
Introductions |
How-to pages |
Writing advice |
Community |
Directories and indexes |
Interactive help |
Discovering that pages need basic copyediting, i.e., correcting for grammar, spelling, readability, or layout, may surprise new visitors to Wikipedia, but this is the "encyclopedia that anyone can edit": it is not perfect yet! Thousands of articles need simple improvements you can make without being an expert in the subject. Copyediting involves the "five Cs": making the article clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent. [1] The following is a guide for new copyeditors.
{{
copy edit}}
, with a date inside the braces.Please be careful when using these and other tools; they are not infallible. You should manually check the output of online tools and spelling checkers for factual accuracy, grammar, spelling and the correct variety of English, and the output should be corrected where necessary. Editors are fully responsible for their own edits regardless of any tools they use.
These are some common errors you may find in articles:
its and it's; there, their, and they're; your, you're, and you; lose and loose; lie and lay (and their tenses); who's and whose; have and of (should of for should have)
{{
sic}}
, which displays as [
sic]. Legitimate insertions and omissions are acceptable if marked by square brackets and ellipses, respectively. See
WP:MOSQUOTE for details.External links belong at the end of an article under the heading External links or Further reading. Articles, books, and websites used as sources are listed separately in a References or Notes section.
With the exception of direct quotations and names, do not use contractions in articles. Spell out the words in full, i.e., write "do not" instead of "don't"; write "cannot" instead of "can't"; etc.
Correct spelling mistakes and typos. See Wikipedia:Spellchecking for complete advice on how to do this well; the main points are:
Some style guides advise against grammatical constructions, such as passive voice, split infinitives, restrictive which, beginning a sentence with a conjunction, and ending clauses in a preposition. These are common in high-quality publications and should not be "fixed" without considering the consequences. For example, changing even one passive sentence to make it active can easily alter the meaning of an entire paragraph. Attempts to improve any passage must be based on tone, clarity, and consistency, rather than blind adherence to a rule.
Wikipedia does not prefer a single national variety of English. In general, do not change one to another except under the circumstances described in § Spelling above.
Remember that Wikipedia is a collaborative, consensus-based environment. Be bold in making changes, but if you find your work has been undone by another editor, visit the talk page of the article and start a discussion before reinstating it. According to Butcher's Copy-editing:
The good copyeditor is a rare creature: an intelligent reader and a tactful and sensitive critic; someone who cares enough about the perfection of detail to spend time checking small points of consistency in someone else's work but has the good judgement not to waste time or antagonize the author by making unnecessary changes. [2]
Articles in need of basic copyediting may be tagged with templates, such as {{ copyedit}} or {{ copyedit-section}}. A list of such articles can be found in a few places. The easiest places to get started are:
This help page is a
how-to guide. It details processes or procedures of some aspect(s) of Wikipedia's norms and practices. It is not one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, and may reflect varying levels of
consensus and
vetting. |
Contributing to Wikipedia ( Tutorial) |
---|
Policies and guidelines |
Introductions |
How-to pages |
Writing advice |
Community |
Directories and indexes |
Interactive help |
Discovering that pages need basic copyediting, i.e., correcting for grammar, spelling, readability, or layout, may surprise new visitors to Wikipedia, but this is the "encyclopedia that anyone can edit": it is not perfect yet! Thousands of articles need simple improvements you can make without being an expert in the subject. Copyediting involves the "five Cs": making the article clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and consistent. [1] The following is a guide for new copyeditors.
{{
copy edit}}
, with a date inside the braces.Please be careful when using these and other tools; they are not infallible. You should manually check the output of online tools and spelling checkers for factual accuracy, grammar, spelling and the correct variety of English, and the output should be corrected where necessary. Editors are fully responsible for their own edits regardless of any tools they use.
These are some common errors you may find in articles:
its and it's; there, their, and they're; your, you're, and you; lose and loose; lie and lay (and their tenses); who's and whose; have and of (should of for should have)
{{
sic}}
, which displays as [
sic]. Legitimate insertions and omissions are acceptable if marked by square brackets and ellipses, respectively. See
WP:MOSQUOTE for details.External links belong at the end of an article under the heading External links or Further reading. Articles, books, and websites used as sources are listed separately in a References or Notes section.
With the exception of direct quotations and names, do not use contractions in articles. Spell out the words in full, i.e., write "do not" instead of "don't"; write "cannot" instead of "can't"; etc.
Correct spelling mistakes and typos. See Wikipedia:Spellchecking for complete advice on how to do this well; the main points are:
Some style guides advise against grammatical constructions, such as passive voice, split infinitives, restrictive which, beginning a sentence with a conjunction, and ending clauses in a preposition. These are common in high-quality publications and should not be "fixed" without considering the consequences. For example, changing even one passive sentence to make it active can easily alter the meaning of an entire paragraph. Attempts to improve any passage must be based on tone, clarity, and consistency, rather than blind adherence to a rule.
Wikipedia does not prefer a single national variety of English. In general, do not change one to another except under the circumstances described in § Spelling above.
Remember that Wikipedia is a collaborative, consensus-based environment. Be bold in making changes, but if you find your work has been undone by another editor, visit the talk page of the article and start a discussion before reinstating it. According to Butcher's Copy-editing:
The good copyeditor is a rare creature: an intelligent reader and a tactful and sensitive critic; someone who cares enough about the perfection of detail to spend time checking small points of consistency in someone else's work but has the good judgement not to waste time or antagonize the author by making unnecessary changes. [2]
Articles in need of basic copyediting may be tagged with templates, such as {{ copyedit}} or {{ copyedit-section}}. A list of such articles can be found in a few places. The easiest places to get started are: