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Talk:Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford/GA1

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GA Review

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Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch

Reviewer: SyntheticSystems (talk · contribs) 21:07, 21 February 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Criteria

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Good Article Status - Review Criteria

A good article is—

  1. Well-written:
  2. (a) the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct; and
    (b) it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.[1]
  3. Verifiable with no original research:
  4. (a) it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline;
    (b) reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose);[2]
    (c) it contains no original research; and
    (d) it contains no copyright violations or plagiarism.
  5. Broad in its coverage:
  6. (a) it addresses the main aspects of the topic;[3] and
    (b) it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).
  7. Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.
  8. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.
  9. [4]
  10. Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:
  11. [5]
    (a) media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content; and
    (b) media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.[6]

Review

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  1. Well-written:
  2. Criteria Notes Result
    (a) (prose) Prose is good but lead could be bigger. On hold On hold
    (b) (MoS) No MoS violations. Pass Pass
  3. Verifiable with no original research:
  4. Criteria Notes Result
    (a) (references) References match up what is in the article. Pass Pass
    (b) (citations to reliable sources) All statements are sourced. Pass Pass
    (c) (original research) No original research. Pass Pass
    (d) (copyvio and plagiarism) No plagiarism. Pass Pass
  5. Broad in its coverage:
  6. Criteria Notes Result
    (a) (major aspects) All major aspects are covered. Pass Pass
    (b) (focused) In-depth coverage. Pass Pass
  7. Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.
  8. Notes Result
    Neutral. Pass Pass
  9. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.
  10. Notes Result
    No edit wars. Pass Pass
  11. Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:
  12. Criteria Notes Result
    (a) (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales) Images need alt text. On hold On hold
    (b) (appropriate use with suitable captions) Image placement is good. On hold On hold

Result

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Result Notes
On hold On hold Needs more improvements but is workable.
@SyntheticSystems: To me, this review looks extremely superficial. For instance, how thoroughly did you check the sourcing? There are many footnotes to sources from the University of Oxford; did you check that editorial opinions like "one of the largest mathematics departments" are not backed up by such primary sources, but come from reliable secondary sourcing? What makes you think that ukwhoswho.com should pass as a reliable source? Did you check that the prose even makes sense? For instance, "Sir Michael Atiyah was a member between 1961 and 1990": member of what, and how does this relate to being an alum? Why do you think that changing the timing of exam length in 2017 meets the requirement that the article "stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail"? What I expect to see in a review is a detailed textual summary of how well the article stands up to each criterion, and a detailed analysis of what can be improved (on the order of a paragraph's worth of suggestions per section of the article, at least), not merely checking some boxes and calling it done. —David Eppstein (talk) 08:21, 7 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It looks to me like a number of claims are not verified by suitable independent sources, including "one of the largest mathematics departments", and "the largest grant ever for a mathematics department in the UK". I also noticed that "The earliest ‘mathematical institute’ in Oxford may have been the School of Geometry and Arithmetic" in the source (from the University of Oxford) cited has become a much more definitive "The earliest forerunner of the Mathematical Institute was the School of Geometry and Arithmetic" in the article. The article also only cites the Guardian league table for mathematics, where Oxford comes top, ignoring (in a pretty clear case of cherry-picking) the Complete and Times/Sunday Times tables where Cambridge beats Oxford. Overall, there's a distinct lack of independent references, to the point where I wonder about the notability of the institute (I think it almost certainly is notable, but the references currently cited don't really show this). It's clear there's a lot of work needed to bring the references up the GA standard and this is closer to an insta-fail than a pass. Robminchin (talk) 19:45, 15 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Status query

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SyntheticSystems, MartinPoulter, where does this nomination stand? I don't see any sign that any edits have been made to address the issues raised by David Eppstein or Robminchin, nor any response by the reviewer to same. If the inaction continues for at least another seven days, perhaps the review can be taken over by David Eppstein or Robminchin and concluded; given the maintenance tags that have been on the article for eight weeks, it clearly can't pass GA in its current form. BlueMoonset (talk) 00:35, 11 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@BlueMoonset: Apologies, everyone. I withdraw the nomination which I now see was premature. Robminchin and David Eppstein make a very good case that the article has problems which need a longer-term fix.Thanks for your time! MartinPoulter (talk) 10:06, 11 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
  1. ^ Compliance with other aspects of the Manual of Style, or the Manual of Style mainpage or subpages of the guides listed, is not required for good articles.
  2. ^ Either parenthetical references or footnotes can be used for in-line citations, but not both in the same article.
  3. ^ This requirement is significantly weaker than the "comprehensiveness" required of featured articles; it allows shorter articles, articles that do not cover every major fact or detail, and overviews of large topics.
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