What is this?

If you have never edited Wikipedia, and you are a practitioner in the field of OER, then in 20 minutes this guide will help you post a proposal to add missing content to a Wikipedia article.

This is a guide to introduce people with OER expertise to the concept of Wikipedia in 20 minutes by assisting them as they make a contribution to an article. Using this guide you are reading right now, someone who has never before edited Wikipedia may add a statement with a citation to an OER article on Wikipedia, plus add any other suggestions for improvement to that article's "talk" page.

Read this in 2 minutes, finish everything within 20!

1. Read through this list to understand what will happen.
2. Go down this page and follow the instructions in bold. If you have problems, read the text which is not in bold.
3. It would be fantastic if right now you had a good source of information from which to take a fact, cite a reference, then make a proposal to add it to the article. Review articles and secondary sources are best!
4. Create a Wikipedia account and log in.
5. Return to this page.
6. While logged in, go to the participant list on this page and sign your Wikipedia name in the list of reviewers.
7. Copy the review template in the section below.
8. Choose any article you would like to review and go to it.
9. Click "talk" at the top menu of the article to be reviewed.
10. Click "edit" at the top menu of the talk page for the article to be reviewed.
11. Paste the review template at the bottom of the talk page text box.
12. Write a review within the template.
13. Click save at the bottom of the text box.
14. You made a useful contribution to Wikipedia which many people will read! Thank you!

Create an account and login, then return to this page

Open this link in a new tab to create a Wikipedia account or login here.

The purpose of asking you to create an account is so that other Wikipedians can find your contribution and suggestion and implement it into the article.

Put your name on the below list

Copy this
* {{user|YOUR WIKIPEDIA USERNAME HERE}}
then click "edit" to the immediate right and just above this line. Paste the template at the bottom of the list and type your username into it. Click save at the bottom of the text box and you will return here.

• Peteforsyth (talk · contribs)
• Snarfa (talk · contribs)

Find a reference

Time to select a reference. Use whatever means are most comfortable for you to find a reference to cite as you propose to add a statement to an article. This could be a scholarly review article or a textbook. Locate a fact in that source that you want to share, then go to the relevant Wikipedia article and make sure that said fact is present in the appropriate section.

Need a starting point?

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): Free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals, covering all subjects and many languages

Copy this, then paste it on the bottom of an article's talk page

You will copy and paste this text to the talk page of the article you review. Copy this now, then go to the next section. The text inside parentheses is optional; remove the parentheses if you like the content or otherwise delete it.

==My review of this article==
I am a (student/staff worker/professor/researcher/administrator) at (school or institution). 
I am reviewing this article according to the instructions at (our recipe URL goes here).

I suggest changing the article in the following ways:

I think that this article could be improved by adding this statement:

This reference supports the above statement:

(Use major identifiers like title, author and journal - even a book's ISBN # or other identifying #'s from 
[[review articles]] is usually sufficient. Note that internal URLs from your institution university are not viewable by others.)

Thank you for your attention. ~~~~

Go to an article to add your fact

Search for a Wikipedia article where you can add your fact. When you find it, at the top click talk, then click edit, then paste the template at the bottom of the text box. Full in the template blanks and click save below the text box.

1. Since you are about to go to a Wikipedia article, open a copy of this page in a new window or tab (our url here!)#Go_to_an_article_to_add_your_fact|with this link so that you do not lose your place in these instructions by leaving the page.
2. Use the search box to find an article you wish to review.
3. Review the article.
4. Click "talk" at the top of the article page to go to the talk page where editors discuss that article.
5. Click "edit" at the top of the article talk page.
6. You just copied a template from this page - now paste it at the bottom of the editable article talk page.
7. Write your review using the prompts.
8. Click save at the bottom when you are done .
9. You have just posted a suggestion for improving the article. This finishes the project. Thank you!

Support

Hopefully you found the instructions on this page sufficient for making your suggestion. If you want further support then here are some options.

1. Post a question or comment on this project's talk page. Do this by going to the top of this page, clicking "talk", then at the top of the talk page click "edit". Write something at the bottom of the talk page.
2. Go to the Wikipedia Teahouse. Friendly people are there to quickly answer beginners' questions about Wikipedia.
3. If you want to talk to other people who are interested in health related articles, go to Communicate OER and its related talk page. Access the talk page at the top of the project page; edit the talk page by clicking edit at the top.
4. If you want to review Wikipedia's exhaustive help archives, go to WP:HELP

About

OER-related articles on Wikipedia need regular review, assessment, and suggestions for improvement.

Follow up

Want to learn more about Wikipedia? Individual editors can go to Wikipedia:Tutorial. If you are an instructor or educator and would like assistance organizing a group Wikipedia editing event, contact (ummmmm?).

References