CZ:Article mechanics

The nature or purpose of an encyclopedia article

While the Citizendium may not (yet) call itself an encyclopedia, its aim is to build up a body of articles that serve as encyclopedia articles. Therefore, the purpose of every article (as distinguished from lists and other supplementary material) in the Citizendium is to introduce the topic named in its title. Introductions differ from mere summaries or lists of information. An introduction is an extended, connected piece of prose, meant to be read all the way through. It is not merely a list of facts. It places what facts it presents into a context that makes them meaningful to someone who presumably needs an introduction. Indeed, the very notion of an introduction carries in it the idea that the topic introduced is new to its ideal reader.

Introductory articles, to be read and used by their intended audience, must be somewhat selective and simplified in the information they present. If an article contains information presented too densely, or in too abstract a way, it becomes merely a catalog or record of what experts know--of some interest to experts, perhaps, but not to people who actually need an introduction. This does not mean that an introduction must be brief, but that it spend the space needed to make whatever it does say clear to a university-level audience that is prepared to receive an entree to the topic.

Introductory material

Bold titles

In most articles, we should bold the title of the article. For example:

Philosophy, both the field and the concept, is notoriously hard to define. The question "What is philosophy?" is itself, famously, a vexing philosophical question. It is often observed that philosophers are unique in the extent to which they disagree about what their field even is.

But on some pages this is unnecessary, particularly where it would produce strange or nonsensical results. Such pages include lists, as in list of snake scales, or where the title of the article is an idiosyncratic phrase that does not name a single, particular item to be defined or briefly described, such as potassium in nutrition and human health.

The first sentence

What the first sentence of the article should look like depends on whether the article concerns a concept or, instead, a particular thing.

Generally, in articles about concepts, or where the word in the title has a definition, the first sentence in the article is a definition. For example:

Dermatology is the specialty of medicine concerned with the skin and with the skin appendages (hair, nails, sweat glands, etc.).

If, however, there is no agreed-upon definition, and particularly where the disagreement about the definition is an important aspect of the topic--one thinks of freedom or racism--it is preferable not to begin with a single (and controversial) definition. In such cases, it is actually preferable to begin in some other way, even by describing the difficulty of or the controversy over the concept. (See the "Philosophy" example above.)

In articles about particular things, such as persons, historical events, or publications, it is usually preferable to begin the article with a description of what the item in question is most notable for:

Princeton, New Jersey is located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, and is best known as the home, since 1756, of Princeton University.

William Shakespeare (baptised April 26, 1564 – died April 23, 1616) was an English poet and playwright widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, as well as one of the greatest in Western literature, and the world's preeminent dramatist.

Etymologies

Most etymologies of terms are not so interesting or important that they deserve more than cursory treatment. So, usually they should be placed in parenthetical clarifications

Physics (from the Greek physikos, nature) is the science of nature at its most fundamental form...

or even in footnotes, where the etymology is of interest, but is desired not to interrupt the flow of the article.

But occasionally the etymology of a term is itself of such interest that it can be made a subject of its own sentence, paragraph, or even section:

The word morphology came into English in the mid 19th century from Greek words μορφή (morphi) meaning "shape or form" and λόγος (logos) meaning "speak". In English the suffix "-(o)logy" means "the study of". For ancient Greeks, study often involved a great deal of debate; and this is still true for scientists today.

A lengthy etymology is called for particularly when discussion sheds some special light on other than merely linguistic facts. A classic example can be found, again, in philosophy.

Authors are encouraged to follow one of the above conventions for reporting etymologies.

Definitions

To learn how to write a good definition, you might consult the many good explanations found in introductory logic and critical thinking textbooks. The requirements we have will be approximately the same that you will find there.

Perhaps most general terms in the Citizendium have more or less agreed-upon definitions. But there are many terms of which there is no agreed definition, and where the definition is in fact a central matter of dispute. This is true of many abstract concepts in the humanities and social sciences, and sometimes in the hard sciences. We must weigh two concerns: on the one hand, the desire of the user for a straightforward account of the topic; on the other hand, an unbiased article, i.e., one that does not violate our Neutrality Policy.

There are several acceptable ways to solve this problem:

• Provide a single vague definition, in plain terms, which does not engage the main topics of dispute.
• Provide a quick run-down of several main definitions.
• Explicitly discuss the difficulty of defining the term; provide examples.

It is rarely if ever acceptable, however, to begin an article with just one idiosyncratic definition when there are many importantly different definitions--particularly when our opening with that definition would imply an endorsement of the Citizendium by a particular controversial view. If for whatever reason this were to be the only reasonable way to begin an article, one would have to qualify the definition. One might say that it is so-and-so's definition, that we (the Citizendium) are using the definition in order to give the reader a rough idea of the concept, but that there are many other ways of understanding the concept, and that we do not particularly favor this one.

The first paragraph

The first paragraph of articles should typically (not always: see above) begin with either a definition or a description of that for which a particular thing is best known. As to rest of that opening paragraph, typically, it should begin a narrative, and be written in an interesting and informative style. It should not simply be a summary of facts stated within the main body of the article. It should attempt to describe a concept that ties together the entire article into a cohesive whole.

It should also encourage reader interest.

The introductory section

Articles begin with an introduction. The introductory section of an article (or, what comes before the first section marker) should at least give background necessary for purposes of understanding the rest of the article. What else an introduction might accomplish depends on the article. Generally, what sort of introduction is needed depends entirely on the subject matter and the approach that the article takes. For example, if the article concerns some abstruse concept, the entire introductory section might be devoted to clarifying the concept. If the article itself is primarily a narrative, the introduction would do "stage setting" for the narrative, such as introducing characters and preparing readers for key events. If the article concerns a controversy, then the introduction might characterize the controversy in a general way, introduce key players, define positions, or do other such stage-setting.

It is acceptable for the introduction to be a summary of the topic itself, that is, to sum up the information found in the article. This is not necessarily the best use of the space, however. Authors are asked to consider whether a summary of the information found in the article clarifies matters for the user particularly; often, the answer will be "no."

In fact, however, a brief outline of the article structure--as distinguished from a summary of the information contained in the article--is preferable when the article is particularly long. If the introduction contains such an outline, the summary should come at the end of the introduction.

The structure of the article body

Narrative coherence and flow

Articles should be written to be read all the way through. To be most attractive to readers, therefore, they should have a unifying plan, or a narrative, which lends coherence and flow, and which as it were invites the reader to go on. This means that articles are not merely collections of facts, which could be easily reshuffled; they are not modular.

This is not, however, an absolute rule that must be followed at all costs. There are certain parts of articles that can be stand-alone, such as tables of supporting referencee material or useful lists. Contributors should bear in mind, however, that such material should not be made to "speak for itself." For example, an article might contain a timeline, a list of subdisciplines, or a list of leading examples. If such material is important enough to include in an article, then it is surely important enough to work at least some of the facts summarized in that way into the narrative itself.

Moreover, sometimes there are two or more different kinds of information to impart about a topic, and there is no plausible way to string them together into a single narrative. In such a case it is all right for an article to have a break between separate narratives, as it were.

Articles in Wikipedia, particularly about disciplines and other broad topics, sometimes tend to take the form of a list of summaries of subtopics. For example, an introduction to Physics might consist of a series of sections listing the different branches of physics, and introducing each. This is greatly to be avoided: a mere list of introductions to subtopics is will rarely if ever succeed in effectively introducing the topic itself. It is much preferable to settle upon an approach--doing so might require considerable creativity--that will encompass a diverse array of subtopics.

An imperfect indicator that article has little narrative coherence is that it has a long series of short sections, such as you can see in this Wikipedia article. Generally, it is important to avoid overuse of section titles (see below).

One of the central tasks of editors who are expert on the topic of an article is to provide leadership on determining a unifying plan for an article. The plan can be discussed on the article's talk page, if it is not obvious from a reading of the article itself. Indeed, particularly for longer articles, it can help to conclude the introductory section with a summary of the article that makes the article plan clear.

Prioritization of article sections

As a general rule, to which there are many possible exceptions, information that is most important, fundamental, or earliest should be presented first. Major achievements of individuals should be presented before minor ones; the basic tenets of a theory or system of thought should be presented before derivative ones; earlier events should be recounted before later ones. Where there is disagreement as to what is most important, the order can be determined by reference to the views of those concerned, or the "constituency" of the article, and with special but not exclusive weight being given to expert opinion.

The main category of exception will probably be due to the order in which sections should appear as determined by the article plan, or by a standard order for the kind of article that it is. For example, an article that recounts the achievements of Abraham Lincoln in historical order would put the Emancipation Proclamation near the end of the article. But the Emancipation Proclamation is one of Lincoln's most important achievements, and so we would seem to want to place this first. A suitable compromise would be to have a paragraph about the Emancipation Proclamation in the introductory section of the article, or in a "Major Achievements" section that would come immediately after the introductory section.

Section titles

Section titles should be descriptive, lowercase, and needed.

A new section is rarely needed for fewer than three paragraphs; but a single section could be suitable for considerably more than that.

Many and frequent section headings are sometimes used to structure an otherwise disconnected collection of data. A plethora of headings are really not necessary in a well-organized narrative, as this "Biology" article demonstrates.

Standardized information

We might say that there are some articles that have a standardized structure. If there is to be an article about every species on Earth, that is over one million articles, it is probably most convenient for the user to have a standard order in which facts are presented. Other kinds of articles that might benefit from some standardization would be biographies and articles about countries, cities, and other geopolitical areas.

Citizendium workgroups will settle ultimately on any such standard practices. Individual contributors may make proposals, but only workgroups, working according to a procedure yet to be decided, may actually settle upon proposals.

It will be important not to impose too much standardization, for the simple reason that standardization tends to work against readability and narrative flow. Moreover, within any given category, there are bound to be many exceptions and much variation. Any proposals for standardization should bear this in mind.

Miscellaneous style guidelines

Craft articles for maximum readability

Craft articles for maximum readability. Many topics are inherently complex and impossible for a nonspecialist fully to understand. Nevertheless, our task is to write at the university level. Therefore, if a difficult or advanced piece of text can be written in a way to make it more accessible to educated nonspecialists, then it should be.

Scientists, business people, lawyers, and academics are famous for writing mumbo-jumbo that is decipherable only by people in their fields. But, as this is a general encyclopedia, not a single topic encyclopedia, is our obligation to "translate" the jargon of a specialized field, so far as is possible, into elegant English prose.

Even if an article concerns some very abstruse topic, the details of which no one but specialists can be expected to understand, if there is a way to introduce some fundamental aspect of the topic that is accessible to nonspecialists, then the article should begin with such an introduction. For example, the details of quantum mechanics cannot be expected to be understandable by anyone but physicists, but there are certain experiments and analogies that can be used to introduce the topic: if such explanatory devices, accessible to the layperson, are ready to hand, then we should make use of them.

No long quotations

As a general rule, we should not use quotations that are longer than one sentence, and we should not use many quotations in any one article. The purpose of a quotation is typically to illustrate or support some point. Quotations are, therefore, texts that support the main text, which the Citizendium writes.

There are at least two main reasons for this policy against many and long quotations.

First, such quotations prevent collaboration on the substance of the text (quotations are uneditable). It is inherently biased to have an extended quote that speaks for the Citizendium, since in that case the Citizendium is made to endorse a whole series of points that are only that source's idiosyncratic views. Second, the practice of adding a long quotation cannot be generalized. If we have a long quotation that supports one point, why should we not have long quotations that support every point? There is a vast universe of books and other potentially supporting verbiage. We can find long quotations for everything, if we wanted to. Therefore, unless there is some particularly good reason to use a quotation beyond one sentence, don't do it; summarize.

The exceptions will, perhaps, be in cases where texts themselves are the primary subject of an article. Even in this case, extended quotations are to be used sparingly and only with excellent justification.