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Editing Guide: Editing Wikipedia Articles on Medicine

The following Editing Wikipedia guide offers recommendations to follow when writing and editing any Wikipedia Article about topics in Medicine. This guide offers suggestions for choosing an article to write or edit, selecting and evaluating sources of a particular topic, as well as maintaining an objective and encyclopedic tone throughout the article. When choosing an article, the document mentions that Wikipedia articles classified as start-class or stub articles are a great choice since they have not been developed thoroughly and there may be plenty of literature available on the topic that has still has not been cited. Furthermore, the guide offers a list of topics that are considered under the classification of articles in Medicine. Some examples include Disease, Disorders, and Syndromes, Writing About Treatment and Management, History, Society and Culture, Research Direction and Specialized Areas of Practice. When writing an article on any of these topics, it is strongly recommended to only present information rather than provide medical suggestions. Given that Wikipedia is meant to act as a tertiary source to be used by the general public, it is strongly advised to avoid presenting information that is not substantiated or confirmed by multiple researchers or several credible sources. As the guide writes “Wikipedia is not a directory of clinical trials or research." Thus, Wikipedia strongly promotes the use of secondary sources, largely because they have been peer-reviewed. All primary sources, originally published research, blogs, and popular press articles should be avoided as they may over-represent or under-represent a particular view. As a final note for choosing and citing sources, the editing guide stated that all sources should be published using the cite tool in the visual editor. A DOI or PubMed reference number can be used to identify journal sources while an ISBN can be used to directly cite books. These reference numbers are not only important for properly citing a source, but they can help other contributors refer back to the original journal entry or novel to ensure the credibility of your source. When beginning to add content to an article, Wikipedia raises concerns about the objectivity of tone and information included in the article. Firstly, it is strongly recommended that as a writer, one must remain cognizant of their audience. Particularly when writing about topics in medicine, there may be technical terms that require brief descriptions such that they can be understood by the general public. Furthermore, writers are encouraged to use sources that analyze the topic at hand on a more global scale such that the article is relevant to people all over the world. Additionally, Wikipedia suggests avoiding under or over-representation of any perspectives. To do, it is advised to provide as much information for each subtopic just as the source of this information presents it. However, this should be done with caution to avoid plagiarism of the organization of a source. Finally, the editing guide offers another reminded to write as objectively as possible without presenting any personal biases or recommendations especially since most Wikipedia contributors are not medical professionals who are licensed to give such advice. To do so, one must maintain an encyclopedic tone and avoid making conclusions using the information presented in a text that might seem related as this is considered original research, which Wikipedia does not permit.