User:Neopeius/B and GA articles

Preamble

As a frequent article creator, I am occasionally baffled by the vagueness of our rating guidelines and the consistency (or lack thereof) with which they are applied. In particular, I have had trouble wrapping my brain around the difference between B class and Good Article status, which largely seems to be that the latter has been reviewed by someone else.

For my benefit and, perhaps, the benefit of others, I have composed a list of the differences between B and GA status. There aren't many, and some (like neutrality, original research, plagiarism, and copyright violation) would seem to be no-nos for any class of article.

Writing Quality

B.

• The article is reasonably well-written. The prose contains no major grammatical errors and flows sensibly, but it does not need to be "brilliant". The Manual of Style does not need to be followed rigorously.

• The article presents its content in an appropriately understandable way. It is written with as broad an audience in mind as possible. Although Wikipedia is more than just a general encyclopedia, the article should not assume unnecessary technical background and technical terms should be explained or avoided where possible.

• The article has a defined structure. Content should be organized into groups of related material, including a lead section and all the sections that can reasonably be included in an article of its kind.

GA

Well written:

1. the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct; and
2. it complies with the manual of style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.

Main difference

• Manual of Style compliance, but only in terms of words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.

References

B.

• The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations. It has reliable sources, and any important or controversial material which is likely to be challenged is cited. Any format of inline citation is acceptable: the use of <ref> tags and citation templates such as cite web is optional.

GA

• Verifiable with no original research:

1. it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline;
2. all inline citations are from reliable sources, including those for direct quotations, statistics, published opinion, counter-intuitive or controversial statements that are challenged or likely to be challenged, and contentious material relating to living persons—science-based articles should follow the scientific citation guidelines;
3. it contains no original research; and
4. it contains no copyright violations nor plagiarism.

Main differences

• List of references.
• Original research, copyright violations, and plagiarism are not explicit disqualifiers for B class.

Scope

B.

The article reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies. It contains a large proportion of the material necessary for an A-Class article, although some sections may need expansion, and some less important topics may be missing.

GA

Broad in its coverage:

1. it addresses the main aspects of the topic; and
2. it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).

Main differences

(none)

Supporting Materials

B.

The article contains supporting materials where appropriate. Illustrations are encouraged, though not required. Diagrams, an infobox etc. should be included where they are relevant and useful to the content.

GA

• Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:

1. 1. media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid fair use rationales are provided for non-free content; and
   2. media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.

Main differences

• Proper tagging (copyright statuses, fair use tagging, and with captions).

GA only requirements

1. Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.
2. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.

Main differences

• Neutrality is not an explicit requirement for B class.
• B class doesn't have to be stable.

Conclusions

Other than review by a disinterested party, and setting aside the differences that are explicit in GA but really are implicit to all ratings, the only real differences between B class and GA appear to be:

• Manual of Style compliance, specifically with regard words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.
• List of references.
• Proper tagging of images (copyright statuses, fair use tagging, and with captions).
• Stability (specifically only stability with regard to content dispute -- a freshly minted article would not be disqualified).