Nápověda:Article Guidelines

When creating or editing an article on WikiSofia please follow these guidelines. You will substantially contribute to the quality of these texts and their subsequent use as student textbooks.

General Rules

Legibility and Clarity

• Use simple, direct language and logical sequencing of information
• Short clauses are better than complex sentences.
• If necessary use indents rather then lists within the text.
• Avoid literary style (the aim of your article is not to mesmerize the reader with the beauty of your language but to provide a comprehensible introduction to the issue at hand.

Grammar and spelling

Use standard, grammatical language and check your spelling before saving the article. It is effective to write your articles in a text processor already equipped with a spell check. Alternatively, have someone go over your text. If, while reading articles on WikiSofia, you discover a stylistic or spelling mistake don not hesitate to correct it.

• All WikiSofia articles should use standard (British or American) English spelling.

Use of sources

Before you start writing an article on WikiSofia, gather all sources you intend to use. Using secondary literature is required with all academic texts on WikiSofia, and citing your sources is a basic part of the structure of articles.

• How to cite and work with sources?

Formatting and textual organization

Headings and subheadings

Use headings and subheadings to achieve a well arranged structure of your article. It is advisable to think of the structure in advance (see Model Article). Individual parts of your article will be written more easily that way.

Paragraph

The structure of an paragraph should roughly follow this outline:

1. Introductory sentence containing some statement or the main piece of information
2. A text which supports or further develops said statement or piece of information
3. Concluding sentence summarizing the preceding paragraph or referring to the following one

Picture, tables and graphs

Using pictures, tables, and graphs for illustration and further enhancement of the text increases clarity and comprehensibility of the text. Bear in mind, though, that a sparing and considerate use of these media is much more appropriate than overloading the reader with graphs and tables. Generally speaking, it is advisable to follow the rule of using one picture, table, or graph per one subheading at most.

There are two options how to insert a picture into the text. First, you can insert a Wikimedia Commons link in the text in the following format:

[[Image:file name in Commons|thumb|descriptive text]]

The second option involves loading the particular picture to WikiSofia (Tools – Load File) and subsequent insertion of the picture by means of the editing panel (File button).

Keyword requirements when assigning articles to students

• Keyword is primarily an academic text; its aim is to define the meaning of a particular term (i.e. to help the reader understand how to conceive that term)
• The content of the article is based on secondary literature stated in the text (at least 3 sources)
• The text complies with all standard requirements of an academic text (citations, bibliography formatting)
• Related to the abovementioned issue of formatting is the fact that the text must contain links to other keywords (cross references) mentioned in the text (at least 5 other terms must be referred to).