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Wikipedia:WikiProject Science

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Lelouch.Angelo. (talk | contribs) at 00:29, 27 December 2008 (→‎Guest book). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?"

- Albert Einstein

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Parentage

WikiProject Science is parent of the below categories:

WikiProject Astronomy
WikiProject Biology
WikiProject Medicine
WikiProject Chemistry
WikiProject Computing
WikiProject Computer science
WikiProject Software
WikiProject Programming Languages
WikiProject Engineering
WikiProject Physics
WikiProject Mathematics

Scope and goals

This WikiProject aims primarily to coordinate the efforts of Wikipedians interested in Science in an effort to improve popular articles in Science. It is motivated by the belief that a good scientific article should be understandable by the "general public", as well as interesting to the scientifically inclined.

We believe that this is important because popular articles are most read, and improving them benefits many. At the same time, contributing to them brings us the satisfaction that it will be appreciated by many.

Thus, the goals of this WikiProject are as follows:

  1. To attract Wikipedians to the cause, and focus the effort for maximum efficiency
  2. To serve as a nexus and discussion area to build consensus on how to write good scientific articles.

Other science projects

Some other wikipedia science projects are listed at the WikiProjects page and there is this list_of_topics_(scientific_method). See the current Science Portal for helping develop a Big picture concept for how Science articles can be arranged topically and linked to and from child WikiProjects and Wikiportals.

Plan of approach

The approach is to start with the most popular scientific articles, and follow on with the more specific ones. We consider that the most popular scientific articles are the ones that are most referenced by other articles (as Google does).

How you can help

Anybody can help!

  1. Identify target articles
  2. Improve and discuss the proposed structures of articles
  3. Improve target articles
  4. Sign the Guest Book below, and add this page to your watchlist to see what is going on




See more details below. Thanks for helping out !

Target articles

The list below contains scientific articles that are referenced more than 500 times by other articles, in alphabetical order:

Not reviewed yet (insert new ones alphabetically):

Activation, Albert Einstein, Aluminium, Anatomy, Animal, Apsis, Aristotle, Asteroid, Astronomy, Bacterium, Bird, Botany, Carbon, Cat, Chemical element, Chemistry, Color, Comet, Crater, Darwin, Charles, Density, Desert, Dog, Earth, Earthquake, Enzyme, Evolution, Eye, Fish, Forest, Gas, Gene therapy, Geography, Gold, Gravity, Heart, Hydrogen, Ion (physics), Iron, Jupiter (planet), Kilogram, Kilometre, Mammal, Mars (planet), Metal, Mineral, Mitochondrion, Molecule, Moon, Natural organic matter, Neutron, Newton, Isaac, Ocean, Oxygen, Physics, Planet, Plant, Protein, Radiation, Reptile, Scientific classification, Second, Silver, Solar system, Species, Star, Sun, Time, Universe

Need restructuring - with no to-do list yet (insert new ones alphabetically):

Electric_glow_discharge, Magnetism, Orbit, Pressure, Sound, SI

Structure identified (insert new ones alphabetically):

Dinosaur, DNA, Electricity, Energy, Frequency, Geology, Light, Temperature

In progress (insert new ones at the end):

Force, Mass, Atom, Photosynthesis, Biology (not specifically using template here, but a major rewrite for nontechnical and introductory readers), Fungus

Requested pictures

Category:Wikipedia requested photographs of Science

Done (insert new ones alphabeticallykk

Brain, Cell (biology), Electron, Gene, Quantum mechanics, Soil, Virus, Volcano, Water

Feature articles (insert new ones alphabetically; see also Categorized feature articles, archival listing):

Here is the procedure to add an article to these lists:

  • scan a list of articles, eg. in a category, to find popular articles
  • go to the article and click on "What links here" to see how many references it has.
  • check that it has more than 500 references
    This can be done by using the "limit" and "offset" parameters in the "what links here" link where limit=20 and offset=495, for which 3 different outcomes are distinguishable
    1. "no pages link here" which occurs if there are <495 links to an article (example WHYY)
    2. >5 articles, which indicates that there are >500 articles linking to the targer (example Brain)
    3. <5 articles, meaning that there 495<n<500 articles link to the target {no example}
note that the article count includes links from the Wikipedia, Category, Talk, and other non-Main article spaces
  • --> Review not complete (Reviewed for "Done" items in listing above)
  • check if it needs restructuring (see the proposed article structure below).
  • if it does not need restructuring:
    • -->Done
  • if it needs restructuring:
    • --> Need restructuring
    • Optional: write a to-do list
      • add {{todo1}} at the top of the talk page of the article; this creates a to-do list of priority 1.
      • click "Edit this list" and add the tasks to be done to improve it; please add a reference to Wikipedia:WikiProject Science, in order to advertise our project.
      • it is good etiquette, but not a requirement, to contribute to an article before creating a to-do list.
      • --> Structure identified
    • restructure the article by moving things around (Be bold : avoid using a temporary page)
    • remove the to-do list
    • add {{WPStructure|Science}} at the begin of the talk page
    • --> In progress
    • fill any missing sections
    • --> Done
    • bring it to Feature Article status
    • --> Feature article

If it has less than 500 references but still needs improvements, you are still encouraged to insert a to-do list of lower priority ({{todo2}}, ... ). Again, include a reference to Wikipedia:WikiProject Science, in order to advertise our project.

Proposed structure of articles

See "Wikipedia:How to structure the content of an article" for general principles.

We propose that the first part of article be targeted to the general public, while the second part be targeted to the scientifically inclined. The recommended section headings are in bold below. 

Note: please add {{WPStructure|Science}} at the begin of the talk page
if you use one of these structures.

Scientific object / concept

(a "What": temperature, atom, electric current, DNA, brain ...)

  • Introduction (with the major points, accessible to the general public)
    • What field / theory is the concept used in?
    • What other concepts is it related to, and how ?
    • How is it significant ? What does it help understand ?
    • Is it known to be incomplete or incorrect?
    • Are there any individuals who should be noted as primary theoricians of the concept?
    • Pictures and diagrams are most helpful here
  • "What is <Concept> ?" (some sections below might not be relevant; avoid discussing how it works here)
    • Types / classifications of <Object/Concept>
    • Properties / capabilities of <Object/Concept>, with the range of values / behavior that can be observed, or significant values
    • Units of measure
  • "<Concept> and its environment"
    • <Object/Concept> in Nature / in the Universe / on Earth: where it can be found; since when; how it appeared naturally
    • <Object/Concept> in everyday life
    • <Object/Concept> in medicine: applications
    • <Object/Concept> in industry: applications
    • <Object/Concept> in culture
    • <Object/Concept> in religion
  • <Object/Concept> in the laboratory
    • Founding experiments / observations
    • Measurements / observations of each of the object's property / behavior
    • Use in the lab (to study other objects)
  • Theory of <Object/Concept>
    • Fields of study: descriptions of the fields that study the concept / object
    • Structure / anatomy: describe the sub-elements of the concepts, and the structures in which it takes part
    • How it works: describe how the theory explains the <concept / object> properties and capabilities
    • Current research: topics currently under investigation
  • History
    • Describe how the concept came about
    • Consider previous concepts, and their limitations.

Scientific theories and discoveries

(the "How it works")

  • Introduction: Explanation accessible to the general public.
    • What field is the theory/discovery in?
    • What other theories/discoveries is it related to, and how?
    • How is it significant ? What does it help solve ? What are its successes ?
    • Is it known to be incomplete or incorrect? (Consider Newton's laws, relativity, quantum mechanics, etc.)
    • Are there competing contemporary schools of thought and/or individuals or groups who should be noted as primary architects or discoverers?
    • Pictures and diagrams are most helpful here
  • Theory
    • It's fine to add equations and supporting technical material here.
    • Full discussion of limitations, unsolved problems, and proposed replacement theories (or links thereto).
    • Current research: theoretical topics currently under investigation
  • Applications (avoid theory here)
    • In everyday life: What is the impact on every day life?
    • In industry
    • Impact on society: What are the economic or political implications ?
  • History
    • Founding experiments or observations: describe the major experiments or observations that are the basis for the theory
    • Consider making this a separate article for longer pieces, or making a common history article that several related theories/discoveries can use in common, rather than re-telling the same story over and over again.
    • Describe how the modern theory came about.
    • Consider previous theories, discoveries, and beliefs.
    • Consider the points raised by Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions.

Scientific biographies

  • Introduction
    • birthdate, death, briefly what is this scientist best known for
  • Research? -some biographies would do better if Biography and Research are combined
    • Contributions to his or her field of study, major experiments and theories
  • Biography -chronological order of life history
    • Birthplace and early life
    • Where he/she was educated
    • Life outside of science (eg political activism, military service)
    • Positions held and awards
    • Cause and place of death
  • Bibliography
    • Do not include all papers, only major papers and books
  • References

Other

Please consult other scientific WikiProjects for proposed structures for chemical elements, particles, space, chemistry, etc.

IUPAC Standard

In the interest of consistency and clarity the IUPAC standard should generally be used for chemical names in science articles. Alternative spellings and names should be referenced in addition, especially when dealing with regional issues and historical development.

The IUPAC currently recommends these spelling for element names:

  • Aluminium instead of aluminum
  • Caesium instead of cesium
  • Sulfur instead of sulphur

However, some exceptions apply, especially for more complex molecules that are better known by their common name. For a more detailed discussion of this topic, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Chemicals/Style guidelines#Title.

Reference

PDF HTML

Categories

While not a key objective of this WikiProject, we propose the following guidelines when categorizing articles:

  • The category mechanism makes it easy to see all the articles in a particular field. To add an article to a category, simply add [[Category:aField]] at the end of the article (where aField is replaced by the relevant field).

Wikipedia:Science collaboration of the month

Scientific Peer Review

Peer review at this project is no longer active and scientific articles should be directed to the general Wikipedia peer review. Reviews of articles that were completed are archived here.

Comments

As noted at Talk:Environmental chemistry please do any work in consensus with other editors. Removing large sections leaving bare headings is not the right way to proceed.  Velella  Velella Talk   08:50, 12 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

A refereed journal on Wikiversity

I think I posted this on an archived discussion and will look for a better place to post--Guy vandegrift (talk) 09:49, 14 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

According to this survey, the prime disincentive against making scholarly contributions to Wikipedia is that it will not advance careers. Wikiversity:First Journal of Science will be a peer-reviewed journal that should alleviate this problem for recent college graduates who are not expected to have published in the established scholarly journals.

The word "First" in the title is intended to suggest that we need more journals like this. The Wikiversity:First Journal of Science was patterned after the Wikiversity Journal of Medicine, but will have a somewhat more informal flavor, consistent with this new journal's intent to focus on teaching at the undergraduate college level. Wikiversity:First Journal of Science will attribute with bylines that list usernames only, in contrast with the use of real names by the Wikiversity Journal of Medicine

Another unique feature of Wikiversity:First Journal of Science is that edited versions of Wikipedia articles are welcome, and are presented as Wikipedia articles on the Wikiversity journal via permalinks to the history of Wikipedia articles. This is currently accomplished in a rather awkward fashion, by moving the Wikipedia article into the editor's user space, and after proper attribution, deleting all that extraneous prose that Wikipedia articles tend to acquire. An example of this shown in one of the three "pseudo-articles" that were used to create a mockup issue. Of the three "pseudo-articles" in this mockup, I consider only one to be suitable for publication. It is Wikipedia's Introduction to quantum mechanics. Note how the logo was inserted into the "pseudo-accepted" version without permission of the article's current editors. In other words, all of Wikipedia's 5 million articles are candidates for publication in this journal, and in a manner of speaking, have already effectively submitted their manuscripts to Wikiversity:First Journal of Science for review--Guy vandegrift (talk) 05:24, 14 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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