CZ:Proposals/Involving authors in approvals
This proposal has not yet been assigned to any decisionmaking group or decisionmaker(s).
The Proposals Manager will do so soon if and when the proposal or issue is "well formed" (including having a driver).
For now, the proposal record can be found in the new proposals queue.
Complete explanation
1) Anyone should be able to nominate any article for approval (even their own article).
2) To approve articles requires the support of relevant editors. But authors should also be able (and indeed be encouraged) to express their support or otherwise for approval. Here, in broad strokes, is how the approval process goes:
This will need the following changes to the Approval Processes.
Existing text An editor in the article's workgroup will be needed to nominate the article for approval. If the editor has worked on it herself as an author, she asks another editor to approve it; or, if there are several editors all doing significant work as authors on the article, then at least three of them can agree to approve it. (These rules are to prevent a single person from approving his or her own work without involving review by experts who were not authors.)
Replace with:
Any member of Citizendium, including any of the authors, may nominate an article for approval. The nominator should briefly justify their nomination in a mssage on the article Talk page, referring to the criteria for Approved articles.
Existing text:(proposed replacements in bold)
So then (one of) the nominating editor(s) (nominator) places a [] template on the article's talk (discussion) page.
If another editor (any editor) in the article's workgroup finds that the article is so objectionable that approval, in his considered opinion, should not be granted,
If the nominating editor (nominator) notes that the discussion on the talk page that has occurred since the nomination for approval template was originally placed brings up important objections, then the editor (nominator) may delay the date for approval on the "to approve" template,to allow for work to continue before the stable version is generated. The nominating editor(s) (nominator(s)')may also change the version nominated for approval on the "to approve" template to an updated draft that is considered superior to the one first nominated.
Addendum: after approval, copyediting may be performed by a nominating editor (...the nominator or by any editor of the relevant workgroup) with the help of the approvals editor. This may occur at any time.
Present text
Who may approve For any given topic, only editors who may be considered experts on that topic may approve an article on that topic, at a minimum, these experts must be editors in the article's workgroup.
Replace with:
Nominators may select either to seek Community approval or expert approval, depending on the nature of the article. If the article is technical in nature, then expert approval will be the only option. However if the article is broadly based, or of general interest, or intended for a very general readership, then Community approval will generally be more appropriate.
Add
Community approval.
Community approval will need the support of at least four members of the community other than the nominator, who should declare and briefly explain their support on the Talk page. If any editor in the relevant workgroup opposes approval then he or she should explain why and may delay or block approval. Opposition to approval from other readers should be expressed clearly (politely and constructively) on the Talk page and the points raised should be addressed. However some dissent will not prevent approval if there is, in the view of the Approvals Manager, a general balance of opinion favouring approval
Reasoning
1) I see every reason why all contributors to Citizendium should feel encouraged to read articles with potential approval in mind.
2) As Citizendium values fluency and style, then the opinions of (non-expert) readers are very important in an Approval process that properly matches the ambitions of Citizendium.
Citizendium rightly values expert knowledge and understanding. But these things alone do not a great article make. Style, presentation and readability are at least as important, and on these things the opinions of technical experts are no more relevant and often less useful than those of non-experts. We want people to read our articles for goodness sake so let us hear and value those opinions. Obviously how much weight they carry will vary by article - a highly technical article on a specialised topic needs to be clear concise and accurate, not accessible. Other articles are the reverse - they need to be engaging, accurate and interesting but need not be exhaustive and academic.
Implementation
Discussion
This needs some implementation details, but I think it is rather a good idea, especially given the paucity of active editors in some workgroups. Right now, someone may create really good articles about engineering, but unless the (other) editors are paying attention, or are notified by the authors, they may languish. If the author notifies a few of the editors listed in the workgroup, but chooses only inactive editors, the article will still languish, unchecked, and unapproved.
I see two things which may need technical implementation. First, I think that there should be some way to distinguish non-editor nominations and self-nominations by editors from outside nominations by editors (which currently lead to semi-automatic approval). Second, in the case of author nominations and self-nominations by editors, it might be nice to notify all the editors in the appropriate workgroups of the nomination, so they can weigh in on it. Anthony Argyriou 14:58, 14 February 2008 (CST)
I'm inclined to support both points. It desperately needs a driver and to be spelled out in considerably more detail, however. --Larry Sanger 19:13, 14 February 2008 (CST)
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