Wikipedia talk:Good article nominations

This is the discussion page of the good article nominations (GAN). To ask a question or start a discussion about the good article nomination process, click the New section link above. Questions may also be asked at the GA Help desk. To check and see if your question may already be answered, click to show the frequently asked questions below or search the archives below.

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Frequently asked questions (see also: GAN instructions)

Good article nominations

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WP:GAFAQ

This is the list of Frequently asked questions about nominating and reviewing Good articles. If you cannot find the answer to your question here, you might want to ask for assistance at the GA nominations discussion page.

Nomination process

The backlog is huge! Is there something we can do to restrict nominations?: There have been complaints about the perceived backlog in reviewing since the Good article status was created in 2006. Generally speaking, we don't want to restrict nominations along their path to GA. In the beginning, as many as 100 nominations were waiting for a reviewer to volunteer. By 2011, each day typically listed 330 nominated articles, of which 260 were waiting. By 2016, 580 were listed, 460 waiting; by 2021, 470 were listed, 300 were waiting. For comparison, today there are currently 615 nominations listed and 512 waiting for a reviewer.; While it may seem overwhelming, a large backlog isn't a bad thing. It shows that many nominators want to use GA as a tool to improve the encyclopedia. It also allows reviewers to choose from a wide selection of articles that interest them. From a nominator's perspective, the main concern is the expected wait time before receiving a review, not the number of articles on the nominations page.
Can't we force nominators to review articles?: Quid pro quo reviewing (editors must review an article before nominating, perhaps after a grace period) was regularly proposed and always rejected as likely leading to lower quality reviews and fewer nominations from excellent content creators who may not wish to review another person's work.
What order do nominations appear on the Good article nominations page?: One advantage of reviewing articles to help the Wikipedia community is the GAN appearance order: the more articles you have reviewed relative to articles you have nominated, the higher up in the queue your nomination will appear on the GAN page. Note that above this, order preference is given to nominators who are new to GA.
What if the nominator is a (perhaps dynamic) IP address?: Any editor with significant contributions to the article may nominate an article for GA status (while only registered users may review), so significant-contributor IP nominators are permitted. Non-significant contributors should follow the advice above for editors who have not significantly contributed to the article. Dynamically changing IP nominators may want to clarify to the reviewer that, despite their signature, they remain the same person.
Can I nominate an article I haven't significantly contributed to?: No. Nominations from editors who have not substantially contributed will be removed unless the nomination shows that the article's regular editors were consulted on its talk page alongside a note on the GAN template showing their commitment to the process, e.g., |note=Adopted following extensive improvement by another editor. In the past, many drive-by nominators did not know the article or its sources and did not respond to questions by the reviewer.

Review process

I want to review an article. Do I have to review the oldest unreviewed nomination first?: Thank you for deciding to review an article for GA. You may review any nominated article you are not involved in, regardless of the nomination's age or position in the queue.
As a reviewer, I want to help the nominator improve the article, but it already meets the criteria. What am I supposed to do now?: The purpose of a GA review is to determine whether the article meets the GA criteria. Article-improvement discussions are intended to prevent near-misses in nominated articles that almost meet the criteria. If the article already meets the criteria when you first review it, then explain exactly what you've checked in each of the main criteria (e.g., "I have verified there is no original research, copyright violations, plagiarism, unreliable sources, bias, edit wars, or untagged images.") and list it as a Good article. "Quick passes" are as legitimate as quick fails, although they are less common. Please do not make a list of nitpicky details or exceed the written requirements of the Good article criteria in an effort to make the review look rigorous. Instead, thank the nominator for presenting such a polished article, and encourage them to submit another.
Who can respond to the review?: The nominator is expected to respond to the reviewer's suggestions to improve the article, while everyone interested in the article is encouraged to participate in the review, not just the person who happened to nominate it. Nominators have no special privileges over other editors except that they can withdraw the nomination.
Should nominators respond to reviewers' concerns? And what should reviewers do if they don't?: The nominator has an interest in seeing the article become GA, so the nominator will likely want to respond to the reviewer to improve the article. In fact, all editors interested in the article are encouraged to respond to reviewers' concerns. However, nobody, including the nominator, is required to. If the reviewer identifies concerns directly related to the Good article criteria and no one addresses the concerns, then no one should be surprised if the reviewer declines to list the article. If the article does not meet the Good article criteria after the reviewer has waited a reasonable amount of time for the nominator to make improvements, the reviewer is sure to fail the nomination. Future article editors may benefit from review comments on how to improve the article.
The nominator disagrees with the reviewer. Can another reviewer take over?: If your GAN experience is not going well or if you are disagreeing with the reviewer's decisions, then you may allow the review to fail, take the reviewer's suggestions into account, then renominate the article immediately (to get a different reviewer). If the reviewer has not yet failed the nomination, you may try asking them to ask for a second opinion. Other than these, another reviewer does not normally take over an active review. You might want to read What the Good article criteria are not. To prevent avoidable disputes, reviewers should either not make comments unrelated to the Good article criteria, or they should carefully label those suggestions as optional (e.g., "I know that citation formatting is not required by the Good article criteria, and I will not consider this when making my decision, but if you might send this to Wikipedia:Featured articles later, then that process requires consistent citation formatting").
Does an article have to be on hold for exactly seven days?: No. Whether to place the nomination on hold at all, and the length of any such hold, is for the reviewer to decide. Depending on the quality of the article and the responsiveness of the nominator, a hold may not be necessary. If the reviewer decides that it is, they may choose longer or shorter periods of hold time. The reviewer may even modify the {{GA nominee}} template on the article talk page to include a "time" parameter, for example, "time=fourteen days", and the {{GANotice}} template used to convey messages to the GA nominator to include a "days" parameter, for example "days=fourteen". Keep in mind that protracted reviews show up as exceptions on the GA nominations report page.
What should I do if a review page becomes inactive?: This can happen for a number of reasons. Review pages should only be started by reviewers who are willing to take an active interest in the article and are committed to completing their review of the article in a timely manner. Sometimes another editor (such as the nominator) starts the review page by mistake. A reviewer can fix this by placing their signature after "Reviewer:" towards the top of the review page, but if no reviewer is forthcoming, it may be best to delete the review page: requests for such deletions may be posted at the discussion page. If a new reviewer is truly needed, follow the instructions page under "What to do during a review if it seems abandoned". Do not use this process to void a review you disagree with.
I failed the article, and the nominator just nominated it again without fixing the problems I identified!: That's okay. There is no time limit between nominations, and this is the recommended process if the nominator disagrees with your review. Let someone else review it this time. The new reviewer is sure to read your comments while independently deciding on their assessment. If your concerns were legitimate, then the new reviewer will doubtless agree with you and also decline to list the article as GA. If the article is passed and you do not believe it meets the Good article criteria, you can initiate a reassessment.
How can GA be reliable when a single reviewer decides?: The quality of a Good article is only as reliable as the most recent review and articles may deteriorate if unattended. The GA process deals with both of these issues by allowing repeat reviews by any registered user at any time. The process aims to encourage article improvement and build consensus on quality through multiple reviews—even though a single reviewer makes the decision whether to list the article according to the GA criteria. Any editor may contribute to any review discussion and reassessment is available when the "one reviewer decides" model breaks down.
What if I have concerns about the quality of a review or need to resolve a dispute over the GA process?: You can bring those concerns to the discussion page to get help from other editors. Remember, however, to notify all users about whom concerns have been raised or who are involved in any dispute that you have.

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GAC discussion at FAC

There is a discussion at FAC that involves GAC that some might wish to comment on. — Maile (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 15:58, 19 July 2016‎ (UTC)[reply]

Quick fail of Decompression theory

I would like a second opinion on the quick fail of Decompression theory. It appears to me that the GA criteria are either not being applied correctly, or they are not explained adequately on the project page.

Cheers,

• • • Peter (Southwood) ^(talk): 09:44, 19 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I have read the quick fail criteria again, several times, and I am now fairly convinced that this quick-fail was done in contravention of the GA review criteria. If I am correct, this brings the process into disrepute. If I am wrong, then either the criteria are unclear or ambiguous, or I am incapable of understanding them, which is an option I am not willing to entertain at this point. I hereby request a person who considers themself to be fully conversant with the GA procedures and criteria, to assess whether this quick fail was done within the guidelines or not, so we can identify whether there is a problem with the system, and if so, what to do about it. • • • Peter (Southwood) ^(talk): 04:49, 3 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Mentoring for FAC

We've got a new mentoring program going over at FAC; have a look. I'm not in the list, but I'll be happy to help. - Dank (push to talk) 23:50, 29 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Could someone take over a review

User:Biblioworm signed up to review the Bougainville counterattack article on 8 August, but didn't start the review before going on wikibreak on 15 August. Could this review either be vacated, or taken over by someone else? Thanks, Nick-D (talk) 02:56, 31 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Nick-D, since it's been over three weeks without any action, I can arrange to put it back into the pool of nominations awaiting a reviewer without it losing its seniority. Let me know if you'd like me to do that. BlueMoonset (talk) 06:54, 2 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@BlueMoonset: That would be great, thanks. Nick-D (talk) 08:29, 2 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Nick-D, it's all set. Hope a new reviewer stops by soon. BlueMoonset (talk) 17:32, 2 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for that Nick-D (talk) 22:48, 2 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Marble Index review

Hello, IndianBio signed up to review the article for Nico's 1969 album, The Marble Index. The review is located at Talk:The Marble Index (album)/GA1. The user hasn't started the review since 12 August 2016, should it be put pack into the pool of nominations? Or maybe another user could take over the review. Thank you, --Bleff (talk) 19:29, 5 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Bleff, it looks like IndianBio has responded and committed to start posting the review this week. If that doesn't happen, feel free to come back and ask for further assistance. BlueMoonset (talk) 04:17, 7 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. --Bleff (talk) 04:22, 7 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Wash All Over Me

Hey. Both IndianBio and myself believe that the aforementioned article did not receive an honest conclusion during the nomination process. Personally, the reasoning behind failing the article is confusing, as all comments brought up by the reviewer (Ojorojo) were responded and fixed, yet the user states "I cannot in honesty sat that the criteria have been met". If anyone could take a look into this it would be much appreciated. Thank you. Regards, Carbrera (talk) 22:44, 8 September 2016 (UTC).[reply]

Requesting a second opinion

@Zackmann08: has declined my GA nominations for a couple small articles on Wink (platform) and Qapital; and added multiple tags to each identifying them as adverts and COI. As any regular watchers of this page may know, my noms are often attacked on account of my COI disclosure. This makes it difficult for me to know when the article genuinely needs improvements and when the feedback has more to do with anti-commercialism leanings than the GA criteria.

In this particular case, both reviews and all the tags were added over just 7 minutes and the feedback doesn't make sense to me. Everything on Qapital is in fact sourced and "Reception" sections are a standard, de-facto element of product/software pages. I would appreciate a second opinion on these pages; of course if the articles really are that problematic, I will strive to improve them. CorporateM (Talk) 17:01, 10 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what the "just over 7 minutes" has to do with it and the feedback seemed pretty clear to me... But I absolutely welcome a second opinion! The comments I left were just that, an opinion. --Zackmann08 (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 19:04, 10 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Having read through both articles (though not performing a full review), I am of the view that the tagging and one-line reviews were inappropriate. I am not going to say that the articles are perfect, but they don't have to be to warrant a more thorough review than was offered. If articles are very poor or blatant spam, then failing in this manner may be appropriate, but these are neither very poor nor blatant spam. I will shortly revert the addition of the templates, and suggest that a renomination may be in order; if Zackmann wants to offer some more specific criticism, then that could perhaps be worked on before the renomination. Two other things: First, the "just over 7 minutes" is relevant because it indicates that little time is being taken on the reviews, which is problematic. Second, while GAC, like many review processes, relies on users making a judgement call, and, of course, reasonable people will make different judgement calls, you cannot justify inappropriate actions by declaring that you were just offering an opinion. Josh Milburn (talk) 21:17, 10 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@J Milburn: thanks for your feedback. A couple of things I will say. First I am new to the WP:GA process and it certainly sounds like I made some mistakes here. I want to make no excuses! Looking to learn here. I had a couple of articles that I nominated for WP:GA status failed with one line reviews because of one or two simple errors (the presence of a dead link and a statement needing a citation). The reviewer was an experienced GA reviewer so I was lead to assume that this was the appropriate method. It now seems clear that this was not the case. I agree that these articles are NOT blatant spam or very poor. I do think they have some issues, but I now think that those issues could have AND should have been raised in a more detailed review and not by simply failing with one line and moving on. I also want to say, for the record, that I spent more than 7 minutes reviewing them. I read the articles kind of out of order without actually clicking the "Start review" button, so the 7 minutes doesn't actually reflect the amount of time I spent reading them. In the end that doesn't really matter much but just want it to be known I didn't just spend 60 seconds looking and decide I didn't like the article. I spent more time than that. Anyway, I appreciate the constructive feedback. Not sure what the best way to move forward is. I think CorporateM (talk · contribs) should go ahead and renominated the pages and I will abstain from reviewing BUT I will follow the process and see what others have to say. Hopefully I can learn from the process. Thanks again! --Zackmann08 (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 21:44, 10 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Great, it sounds like this has been resolved to everyone's satisfaction, then. Point taken on the 7 minute issue; I do that kind of thing from time-to-time myself. There is a lot of variance in GA reviewing, so it can take a little while to get used to what's expected and to get into the "flow" of things. I hope this won't put you off taking up GA reviews in the future. Josh Milburn (talk) 22:17, 10 September 2016 (UTC)[reply]