Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Reviewing FAQs

These FAQs are designed to help new members of the Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Review Team, and people interested in joining. They are mostly based on real questions, and should give a suitable introduction for those who are new to the article reviewing and selection process.

I'd like to join the review team. Does someone have to approve me, or vote me in?

No, we're just glad to have your help!

I'm ready to help and take part in this wonderful project. What is your opinion about my joining, and how will I start this work - where can I help?

Thanks for considering signing on for the review team! As you guessed, right now the main work that needs to be done is to review articles carefully so we can get a good number of important, quality articles on the next release version. Please take a look at the to do list, and see what interests you. Much of the future selection work will be done by WikiProjects (with data compiled by bot), but we also have a general nominations page and set nominations page to the community; this helps ensure that all subject areas are covered. We'd really appreciate your help in clearing the backlog. I notice you list AAA and BBB as interests, and there are plenty of articles in those areas that need reviewing!

I've heard that there may be a bot choosing articles. Doesn't that make the review team redundant?

Not at all. SelectionBot is now our main article selection method. It will be a great asset, but many articles will still fall through the cracks unless we have humans to review things. Also, during this critical test period we need lots of guidance to ensure the bot has done its job well.

How many articles will be published on the next release?

Version 0.5 was 2000 articles. Version 0.8 included around 31,000 articles. Version 0.8 had approximately 47,000 articles. The size of Version 0.9 (or whatever we call it) still needs to be agreed with the team and the publisher.

Who will make the last decisions about articles?

The reviewer normally has the last word, but only after weighing the bot's scoring and the nominator/WikiProject comments. For Version 0.5, if a valid reviewer passed it, it went onto the CD. We run cleanup scripts to look for (& remove) inappropriate bad language, but no articles were removed from the Version 0.5 selection. For Version 0.7 and Version 0.8, the bulk of the selection was made by bot, but we listened to WikiProjects suggestions for removing or adding articles. Our job as reviewers is to act as a reality check, if someone is trying to include a poorly-written or obscure article.

What is the process of reviewing and passing/failing an article?

Please see the right hand side of the nominations page, which describes this in detail. If you pass an article, please be sure (a) to change the "nomination" template to an "included in Version X" template, and (b) include a category, assessment and (ideally) importance for the article (see {{WP1.0}} for details). If you think an article is good but a little too obscure, add it to the held nominations page for discussion.

How do I know whether or not to pass an article?

Review the criteria, and also the assessment scheme. Generally speaking, unless the article is particularly important (or needed to complete a set) an article needs to be B-Class or better. Some articles may seem borderline (especially when you are just starting out), in which case you should ask another reviewer for a second opinion. Please ask if you need more guidance. In general, we have to trust that the nominator is acting in good faith, and knows the topic well enough to judge, so the norm should be to pass a B-Class (or better) article, but you will have to weigh the factors of importance and quality.

It's really hard to judge whether something is important enough to be in the release. Can you provide any guidelines and/or examples?

That's very true - is a certain American baseball player more important than a particular Chinese city? That's where the bot's importance score can come in helpful - you should find the article under the relevant project on the list, and if the article score below 700 (importance only) it is unlikely to be important enough, though it may be needed to complete a set.

Can you tell me more about the 1.0 project in general?

Please take a look at the main project page and the Wikipedia:Version_1.0_Editorial_Team/FAQs.

Thanks for your help!