Guidelines[edit]
- Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and has a distinct style that may take some time getting used to.
- It is important that articles use the best sources and content is given due weight. Different from scientific papers, Wikipedia medical and health content is preferably sourced to secondary sources over primary sources. Citing a review article is preferred over an original trial.
- To get you started and to explain why this is important here are a number of guides and guidelines:
Reliable Sources (medicine) Manual of Style (medicine-related articles) Conflicts of Interest How to edit
- Our guides complement Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines and take great care to explain why they are relevant.
Article Alerts[edit]
Did you know
- 08 Mar 2022 – Hittite plague (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Bruxton (t · c); see discussion
- 22 Feb 2022 – Michael L. Hess (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Philafrenzy (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Jan 2022 – Zero-COVID (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Moxy (t · c); see discussion
Articles for deletion
- 08 Mar 2022 – European Huntington's Disease Network (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Uncle G (t · c); see discussion (4 participants)
- 05 Mar 2022 – Paul Enenche (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by MrsSnoozyTurtle (t · c); see discussion (3 participants)
- 27 Feb 2022 – Samar Alsaggaf (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Snooganssnoogans (t · c); see discussion (6 participants; relisted)
- 24 Feb 2022 – Luis Fernando Cifuentes (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Ingenuity (t · c); see discussion (2 participants; relisted)
- 22 Feb 2022 – Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Adamant1 (t · c); see discussion (7 participants; relisted)
- 28 Feb 2022 – Mohak Bariatrics and Robotics (talk · edit · hist) AfDed by Hemantha (t · c) was closed as delete by Explicit (t · c) on 07 Mar 2022; see discussion (8 participants)
Proposed deletions
- 04 Mar 2022 – Spring Hill VAC (talk · edit · hist) was PRODed by True Pagan Warrior (t · c): non-notable organization
- 26 Feb 2022 – AG2037 (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by Catfish Jim and the soapdish (t · c) was deleted
- 26 Feb 2022 – Cancer recurrence (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by Rsjaffe (t · c) was deleted
Categories for discussion
- 10 Mar 2022 – Category:Films about mental disability (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Marcocapelle (t · c); see discussion
- 10 Mar 2022 – Category:Psychiatric instruments: global scales (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Marcocapelle (t · c); see discussion
- 10 Mar 2022 – Category:Psychiatric instruments: child and adolescent psychiatry (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Marcocapelle (t · c); see discussion
- 10 Mar 2022 – Category:Mental disorders diagnostic procedures (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Marcocapelle (t · c); see discussion
- 31 Dec 2021 – Category:Psychiatric instruments: psychosis (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Marcocapelle (t · c); see discussion
- 21 Dec 2021 – Category:Fictional characters with diseases of the eye and adnexa (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Fayenatic london (t · c); see discussion
- 21 Dec 2021 – Category:Syndromes affecting vision (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Fayenatic london (t · c); see discussion
- 21 Dec 2021 – Category:Diseases of the eye and adnexa (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Fayenatic london (t · c); see discussion
- 21 Dec 2021 – Category:Syndromes affecting the eyes (talk · edit · hist) was CfDed by Fayenatic london (t · c); see discussion
Templates for discussion
- 08 Mar 2022 – Template:Cyproterone acetate levels with oral and intramuscular cyproterone acetate (talk · edit · hist) was TfDed by Gonnym (t · c); see discussion
- 08 Mar 2022 – Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/India/Lakshadweep medical cases data by district (talk · edit · hist) was TfDed by Nigej (t · c); see discussion
- 08 Mar 2022 – Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/India/Tamil Nadu medical cases (talk · edit · hist) was TfDed by Nigej (t · c); see discussion
- 05 Mar 2022 – Template:Human appearance (talk · edit · hist) was TfDed by Nigej (t · c); see discussion
- 05 Mar 2022 – Template:Human face (talk · edit · hist) was TfDed by Nigej (t · c); see discussion
- 05 Mar 2022 – Template:Heart diagram (talk · edit · hist) was TfDed by Nigej (t · c); see discussion
- 25 Feb 2022 – Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/Europe medical cases (talk · edit · hist) was TfDed by Nigej (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Mar 2022 – Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/Barbados new recoveries chart (talk · edit · hist) TfDed by Nigej (t · c) was closed; see discussion
- 02 Mar 2022 – Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/International medical cases chart (talk · edit · hist) TfDed by Nigej (t · c) was closed; see discussion
- 01 Mar 2022 – Template:COVID-19 pandemic data/United Kingdom/Scotland medical cases May 2020 (talk · edit · hist) TfDed by Nigej (t · c) was closed; see discussion
- (51 more...)
Redirects for discussion
- 06 Mar 2022 – Congean (talk · edit · hist) →Otitis media was RfDed by Eviolite (t · c); see discussion
- 27 Feb 2022 – Elmezzi Graduate School of Molecular Medicine (talk · edit · hist) →Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell was RfDed by Sammi Brie (t · c); see discussion
Featured article candidates
- 30 Jan 2022 – Everywhere at the End of Time (talk · edit · hist) was FA nominated by Wetrorave (t · c); see discussion
Good article nominees
- 01 Feb 2022 – Vitamin A (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by David notMD (t · c); start discussion
- 07 Dec 2021 – Replication crisis (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Marisauna (t · c); see discussion
Featured article reviews
- 28 Feb 2022 – Hippocrates (talk · edit · hist) was put up for FA review by Caeciliusinhorto (t · c); see discussion
Good article reassessments
- 20 Feb 2022 – Circumcision (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for GA reassessment by Markworthen (t · c); see discussion
Requests for comments
- 15 Feb 2022 – Chinese government response to COVID-19 (talk · edit · hist) has an RfC by Adoring nanny (t · c); see discussion
- 15 Feb 2022 – Effects of climate change (talk · edit · hist) has an RfC by Femkemilene (t · c); see discussion
- 14 Feb 2022 – Amantadine (talk · edit · hist) has an RfC by Szmenderowiecki (t · c); see discussion
- 11 Oct 2021 – Malassezia (talk · edit · hist) has an RfC by Alexander Davronov (t · c); see discussion
Requested moves
- 07 Mar 2022 – Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Al-Razi by Iskandar323 (t · c); see discussion
- 01 Mar 2022 – Faculty of 1000 (talk · edit · hist) move request to F1000 (publisher) by Larry.leung.f1000 (t · c) was closed; see discussion
- 16 Feb 2022 – Mask refusal (talk · edit · hist) move request to Anti-mask sentiment by AFreshStart (t · c) was moved to Anti-mask sentiment (talk · edit · hist) by Extraordinary Writ (t · c) on 06 Mar 2022; see discussion
Articles to be merged
- 02 Mar 2022 – Neurotypical (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Neurodiversity by Xurizuri (t · c); see discussion
- 26 Feb 2022 – Autism (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to autism spectrum by Averixus (t · c); see discussion
- 26 Feb 2022 – Autism spectrum (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to autism by Averixus (t · c); see discussion
- 26 Feb 2022 – COVID-19 party (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Pox party by Piotrus (t · c); see discussion
- 04 Feb 2022 – Polypill (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Combination drug by Bawanio (t · c); see discussion
- 24 Jan 2022 – Evacuations by India related to the COVID-19 pandemic (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to COVID-19 pandemic in India by Bbb23 (t · c); see discussion
- 22 Jan 2022 – Health effects of wood smoke (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Smoke by Needforspeed888 (t · c); see discussion
- 17 Jan 2022 – Hi-wa itck (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Lovesickness by Novem Linguae (t · c); see discussion
- 10 Jan 2022 – Tumor antigen vaccine (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Cancer vaccine by A455bcd9 (t · c); see discussion
- 10 Jan 2022 – Cancer vaccine (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Tumor antigen vaccine by A455bcd9 (t · c); see discussion
- (34 more...)
Articles to be split
- 11 Dec 2021 – Care UK (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Djm-leighpark (t · c); see discussion
- 29 Jul 2021 – Journal of Medical Internet Research (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by 184.146.129.228 (t · c); see discussion
- 24 Jul 2021 – Pyknosis (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Duckmather (t · c); see discussion
- 07 Apr 2021 – Labyrinthitis (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Dam222 (t · c); see discussion
- 04 Apr 2021 – Neurobiological effects of physical exercise (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Fgnievinski (t · c); see discussion
- 16 Dec 2020 – Immunoglobulin therapy (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Artoria2e5 (t · c); see discussion
- 20 Sep 2020 – Leukostasis (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Ozzie10aaaa (t · c); see discussion
- 29 Oct 2019 – Pemphigoid (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Ozzie10aaaa (t · c); see discussion
- 19 Mar 2019 – Dysfibrinogenemia (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Ozzie10aaaa (t · c); see discussion
Articles for creation
- 10 Mar 2022 – Draft:Alafia Samuels (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by BigYellowDuckie (t · c)
- 09 Mar 2022 – Draft:Ihor Huk (surgeon) (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by ElizabethBartlett (t · c)
- 08 Mar 2022 – Draft:EmPATH units (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by PapayaSF (t · c)
- 08 Mar 2022 – Draft:Large Urology Group Practice Association (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Eishajpa (t · c)
- 08 Mar 2022 – Draft:MarkAlain Dery (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Johncrow1 (t · c)
- 08 Mar 2022 – Draft:Sardar Agha Muhammad Baqir Qizilbash (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Ethnohistory1 (t · c)
- 08 Mar 2022 – Draft:Carolyn Quadrio (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Bcritical (t · c)
- 07 Mar 2022 – Draft:Alexander R. Marmureanu (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Alexandra Gorcea (t · c)
- 06 Mar 2022 – Draft:Felix Linetsky (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by GBonator (t · c)
- 03 Mar 2022 – Draft:Nirsevimab (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Ahong080 (t · c)
- (63 more...)
Recent changes[edit]
- Articles and their talk pages
- In all Medicine articles / talks
- In articles with Top-, High-importance
- In articles with Mid-importance
- In articles with Low-importance
- In pages with N/A or unknown importance
- In the 1000 most popular articles (source)
- Non-articles
- In all non-articles
- In all templates
- In Medicine navigation templates
Tasks[edit]
Maintenance tasks[edit]
Assess for quality
Determine the quality of these articles
Not tagged by the WikiProject
These pages are potentially in the WikiProject's scope.
-
Category:Anatomists by nationality (talk)
Predicted class: Category -
Category:Novels about HIV/AIDS (talk)
Predicted class: Category -
Category:Alcohol-related deaths in Denmark (talk)
Predicted class: Category
Other tasks[edit]
- Clean up articles – gigantic sorted list of articles with tags
- Write new articles
- Ideas for technical projects
- Check for retracted papers. See Category:Articles citing retracted publications for articles that may wrongly cite retracted publications.
- Remove inappropriate external links. Some medicine-related articles attract inappropriate links, such as internet chat boards and advertisements. You can review the external links in any article, or you can use Special:Linksearch to find articles containing a specific link, such as *.clinicaltrials.gov or *.groups.yahoo.com. Details available in the full guidelines for all of Wikipedia and also the specific guidelines for medicine-related articles.
- Help evaluate articles nominated for deletion. Help identify deletion discussions that relate to medicine.
- Sort stubs. See the list of specific stub templates. Replacing {{stub}} or {{med-stub}} with a more specific template is helpful.
- Assess quality and importance of articles. Use the Rater-tool and assess the article according to our assessment scale. A bot-generated list of new articles that might be medicine-related is here.
- 'Help with completion of translation into French and Chinese'. Help is needed to review and help the article that is practically ready https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89couter_sans_risque. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:GWei13/%E5%AE%89%E5%85%A8%E8%81%86%E5%90%AC
- Improve categorization of articles. Several popular Wikipedia categories like Medicine and Category:Diseases and disorders need people to sort articles into more specific subcategories. Tools like HotCat may make this easier.
Requests[edit]
Templates[edit]
[edit]
Category:Medicine templates contains all templates used on medicine-related articles.
{{WPMED|class=|importance=}}
- Placed on talk pages of medicine-related articles and used to assess articles.{{reqphoto|medical subjects}}
- Used on talk pages to request that photographs be added to the article.{{med-stub}}
- Used on stub articles (here is the complete list){{Medref}}
- Used to indicate an article in need of adequate references.{{Medref|section|{{subst:DATE}}}}
- Used to indicate an section in need of adequate references.
{{Medicine}}
- The bottom navbox template to be used on articles about broad disciplines of medicine.{{medical advice}}
- placed around requests for medical advice on talk pages (box ends with{{cob}}
).{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Medicine/Navigation}}
- transcludes the navigation template shown to the right.{{Reliable sources for medical articles}}
- updated template providing links to recent reviews, for use on Talk pages
Inline with article text[edit]
{{medical citation needed}}
or{{medcn}}
- Used after text without a reliable medical source. Generates: Some text.[medical citation needed]{{medical citation needed span}}
or{{mcns}}
- Used after text without a reliable medical source. Generates: Some text.[medical citation needed]{{unreliable medical source}}
or{{ums}}
- Used after text with a questionable medical source. Generates: Some text.[unreliable medical source?]{{primary source-inline}}
or{{npsn}}
- Used after text that cites a primary source. Generates: Some text.[non-primary source needed]
Infoboxes[edit]
WP:Infoboxes have been created for a number of article types including:
- Template:Infobox medical condition for articles on diseases
- Template:Infobox medical intervention for articles pertaining to procedures
- Template:Infobox diagnostic for diagnostic test
- Template:Infobox drug for medications
- Template:Infobox drug class for classes of medication
[edit]
For other editors[edit]
- Welcome messages (all of these should be substituted onto a user's talk page):
{{subst:WPMED welcome}} ~~~~
– Welcome message for new Wikipedians (with invitation to join us) – newish, with video{{subst:Welcome medical student}} ~~~~
– For welcoming new editors who appear to be students associated with a course{{subst:Student}}~~~~
– For welcoming new editors who appear to be students associated with a course, with more detailed advice
[[File:New medical editor.ogv|thumb|right|thumbtime=2:59|320px|Welcome to Wikipedia]]
A video that can be transcluded onto the pages of new users.{{subst:RSPlease}} ~~~~
– User Talk page request to use MEDRS sources
For WP:MED contributors[edit]
{{User WPMed}}
– Userbox for members of this WikiProject.{{WikiProject Medicine topicon}}
– For members of this WikiProject. Adds a topicon to your user page.{{User MedLat}}
– Userbox for those who understand Medical Latin (Babel-compatible; just add|MedLat
to your Babel template)
Wikipedia Library[edit]
The Wikipedia Medical Library
The Wikipedia Library grants Wikipedians who have 500+ edits, account age 6+ months, and meet some other criteria free access to certain academic journals. As of February 2021, it provides instant access to 26 journals, and you can request individual access to journals such as the BMJ, Cochrane Library, and Science Direct (SD includes access to The Lancet).
- Found a source that you can't access? Check out the: Resource Exchange
Or try an Interlibrary loan - Need help finding sources?: Help:Find sources
- Need help finding your local library?: Wikipedia:Find your library
Finding images[edit]
Most images from the internet are copyrighted and should not be used in Wikipedia.
The NIH has an search engine for open images HERE. Use with care as many of the images are NC licensed and therefore not compatible with Wikipedia.
Community members interested in creating images[edit]
We also have a few people who are interested in creating images for Wikipedia including:
Requested images[edit]
- ...
Non-suitable images[edit]
- Medlineplus [1]: even though it is a US government source, it uses images that may be copyrighted by others.
- Other sources in the ".gov" domain may use images from istock photos, and such images may not be in the public domain.
Finding sources[edit]
Source | url | Comments |
---|---|---|
TRIP Database | http://www.tripdatabase.com/ | This resource is useful to find references suitable for Wikipedia as it breaks the literature down into secondary sources versus primary sources. It searches the Cochrane Library and many other databases containing systematic reviews, medical guidelines, and evidence-based synopses among others. TRIP Answers is a website related to the TRIP Database which aims to answer clinical questions directly. |
Pubmed | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ | A large collection that includes more than 22 million citations and abstracts and tens of thousands of links to the full-text articles. If desired by the user, search results can be limited to show only review articles, full-text articles freely available to the public, or studies from some 120 "Core Clinical" journals (they are all English-language journals). Results are also sortable by publication date. The PubMed identifiers (PMIDs) can be used with the "cite" button found at the top of the edit window. On the left side of a Pubmed abstract you will find filters for "Article types" and you can select "Reviews" there; you can also filter by "Text availability". Pubmed abstracts also have a field called "Publication Type" at the bottom, that shows how Pubmed has classified the study; check to see if the source is a review or not, before using it. |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | http://www.cdc.gov/ | Reliable source for public-domain information, especially for infectious diseases. Also has a library of copyright-free images. |
NCBI bookshelf | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books | Free access to over 700 health-science textbooks |
Google Scholar | http://scholar.google.com/ | A Google search portal limited to scholarly work (including not only medicine, but also legal articles and patents). Allows easy access to many University and Institutional online collections (with proper affiliation). A useful feature of Google Scholar is "Cited by...", showing who else has cited a particular paper. |
Google Books | http://books.google.com/ | Makes available free, limited views of a number of medical textbooks. ISBNs are available, aiding referencing. |
DynaMed | http://dynamed.ebscohost.com | Subscription required. Provides evidence-based topic overviews and summaries, with plenty of links to the full text of key published clinical evidence, including international guidelines. It also includes live links to PubMed. Trial access may be obtained here. |
Emedicine | http://emedicine.medscape.com/ | Also known as Medscape Reference. Free, but registration is required. Not the best source of content, with concerns that advertising affects its reliability. |
Cochrane collaboration | http://www.cochrane.org/ | Perhaps the foremost evidence-based group. Complete access to their collections is available in many countries.
Also produces the Cochrane Library. |
NICE | http://www.nice.org.uk/ | The guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the UK. |
PLoS Journals | http://www.plos.org/ | A collection of open-source scientific journals, including PLoS Medicine |
SIGN | http://www.sign.ac.uk/ | The guidelines from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network in the UK. |
World Health Organization | http://www.who.int/mediacentre/ | Fact sheets from the WHO. |
EB medicine | https://www.ebmedicine.net | Excellent reviews of emergency-medicine topics. Issues more than 3 years old are freely available to the public. |
USPSTF | http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org | Thorough evidence-based evaluations of medical topics by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) |
PTSDpub | https://search.proquest.com/ptsdpubs/index | Managed by the VA's National Center for PTSD on the Proquest platform, this robust search engine provides citations and abstracts to the peer-reviewed PTSD literature. Not limited to combat trauma. Previously known as "PILOTS". |
Other useful Search Engines include:
- NHS Evidence: Search portal for health and social care produced by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for NHS England. Includes a one-stop search engine covering a wide range of sources, including the Cochrane Library, British National Formulary, and UK and international guidelines. Much of the content of NHS Evidence is free to view, but access to certain sections (e.g. many full-text journals and the databases AMED, BNI, CINAHL, EMBASE, Health Business Elite, MEDLINE and PsycINFO) requires a NHS Athens username & password – see the NHS Athens eligibility criteria here
- Prodigy Knowledge http://prodigy.clarity.co.uk (previously known as Clinical Knowledge Summaries - CKS) is aimed at clinicians in primary care. It provides reliable evidence-based information and practical "know how" about the common conditions managed in primary care.
- EMBASE: A high-quality medical index that often generates better results than PubMed. It is proprietary and requires a paid subscription.
- CINAHL: A proprietary index focusing on nursing and allied health care. It requires a paid subscription.
Historical documents[edit]
Documents published before 1923 are, in most cases, not copyrighted. While many of these documents are outdated, they can still be of great utility in supplementing "History" sections of certain medical articles. Also, historical images can still depict symptoms of diseases, normal anatomy, and other features quite accurately.
Possible sources of useful images and text of historical interest include:
- Images from the History of Medicine (IHM) and, more generally, the digital collections maintained in the National Library of Medicine: Care must be taken in choosing materials here since most, but not all, content is in the public domain.
- The Pierre and Marie Curie University has an important digitalized collection of documents [2] useful for writing articles about the history of science (especially French). Its "Charcot collection" specializes in medicine (particularly neurology) and has many valuable images available.
- The Library of Congress U.S. Historical, Cultural Collections and the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Both of these sources contain medical and non-medical images and other potentially useful media files. Again, great care must be taken in choosing items to use since not all content is in the public domain.
- "Images of Surgery" [3] is a resource containing a number of historical images and depictions of surgical procedures across time.