Wikipedia:Good article criteria

The good article criteria are the six standards by which a good article nomination (GAN) may be compared and judged to be a good article (GA). A good article does not have to meet the more demanding featured article criteria.

Criteria
The six good article criteria are the only aspects that should be considered when assessing whether to pass or fail a GAN. Other comments designed to improve the article are encouraged during the review process but should not be mandated as part of the assessment.

Immediate failures
An article may be failed without further review (known as a quick fail) if, prior to the review:        In all other cases, the nominator deserves a full review against the six criteria. For most reviews, the nominator is given a chance to address any issues raised by the reviewer before the article is failed. Often the nomination is brought up to standard during the review.

The six good article criteria
A good article is:     and</li> <li> </li> </ol></li> <li> <ol STYLE="list-style-type: lower-alpha"> <li> </li> <li></li> <li> and</li> <li></li> </ol></li> <li> <ol STYLE="list-style-type: lower-alpha"> <li> and</li> <li></li> </ol></li> <li></li> <li> </li> <li> <ol STYLE="list-style-type: lower-alpha"> <li> and</li> <li></li> </ol></li> </ol>

What cannot be a good article?

 * Stand-alone lists, portals, sounds, and images: these items should be nominated for featured list and featured picture status, if applicable.
 * Disambiguation pages and stubs: these pages cannot meet the criteria.
 * Featured articles: a good article loses its status when promoted to a featured article. However, demoted featured articles are not automatically graded as good articles and must be reassessed for quality.