Wikipedia:WikiProject Mathematics/A-class rating

This is a process for discussing and determining whether mathematics articles should be given A-class status. It can be used for improving and promoting an article to A-class standard, reviewing whether a current A-class article meets the standard (making improvements where necessary), or discussing the removal of A-class status from an article.

Goals
The goals of the A-class rating and the review process are:
 * 1) Recognize quality articles, and make the assignment of A-class status less subjective.
 * 2) Encourage articles under review to improve, rather than expecting them to be perfect before they are nominated.
 * 3) Encourage a collegial discussion process rather than an adversarial approval process.

Nominating an article
Any editor may nominate an article for A-class rating discussion. To do so:


 * 1) Add the argument   to the end of the maths rating template near the top of the article's talk page. Capitalization is important. If there is no maths rating template, you may add one. Save the page.
 * 2) The sentence "A discussion on promoting this article to A-class status or reviewing this status is underway." will appear in the math project banner.  Click the link "discussion".
 * 3) Enter   into the empty page and save.  If the article has previously been nominated for an A-class rating, please archive the previous discussion by moving (not copying) it to an archive page, which will leave a redirect.  Replace this redirect with the code above.
 * 4) Add the line   to the top of the section Current discussions below.
 * 5) You may like to further publicise the review by listing it at the top of WikiProject Mathematics/Current activity.

Leaving a comment
All editors are welcome to comment on the discussion page. The criteria should be kept in mind, but editors are free to use their own judgement about the quality of an article.

In light of the goals above, reviewers should make an effort to improve the article rather than making comments about minor flaws. Thus comments should be limited to whether a reviewer supports the A-class rating or has a serious objection to it. Objections over relatively minor issues of writing style or formatting should be avoided; a comprehensive, accurate, well sourced, and decently written article should qualify for A-class status even if it could use further copyediting. The "support"/"oppose" approach to review should be avoided as far as possible.

Closing the discussion
Any editor may close the discussion after seven days, although common sense should be used not to close a discussion that is still receiving many comments, or where the article is still improving significantly.

To close a discussion:
 * 1) Remove the   parameter from the  maths rating template in the article's talk page.
 * 2) If there are no remaining substantial objections, change the   parameter in the maths rating template to read  . If there are substantial objections and the article is not already rated A-class, leave the rating unchanged.  If it is rated A-class, assign it another rating using the criteria.
 * 3) Move the line   from the list of requests below to the current archive page.
 * 4) Add   and   to the top and bottom of the discussion subpage, respectively.

Criteria


!colspan="2" style="font-size 100%"|Possible considerations

Is the article:   correct?  reasonably complete and balanced?  clear?  compelling?  reasonably accessible, given the topic? 

  grammatical, correctly spelled, and well typeset? <li> appropriately illustrated, if applicable?</li> <li> well linked?</li> <li> helpful in providing references and additional resources?</li> </ul>

Editors may consider the following description, and the questions in the sidebar, when deciding whether to support the A-class rating.


 * An A-class mathematics article is very useful to the intended reader and gives a correct and reasonably complete treatment of its subject.  It is a model for other mathematical articles.


 * The article contains sufficient motivation for the topic. It places the topic in context by providing both an appropriate historical account as well as links to related areas of contemporary mathematics.


 * The article's breadth, completeness, and balance have no flaws apparent to a nonexpert reader. A nonmathematician will typically find nothing wanting, although the article may omit a few minor points. Minor edits and adjustments might improve the article, however, particularly if made by an expert in the area.


 * The article meets the spirit of the Wikipedia style manual, the manual of style for mathematics, and the scientific citation guidelines.

Other sets of criteria for A-class articles have been developed by WikiProject Military History and the WP 1.0 Editorial team.

List of A-class math articles
A-class mathematics articles are automatically added to the category A-class mathematics articles by the maths rating template. They are also listed in order of importance (or priority) here.

Current discussions
Please add new discussions at the top of the list.
 * No current discussions

Archived discussions

 * WikiProject Mathematics/A-class rating/2011
 * WikiProject Mathematics/A-class rating/2009
 * WikiProject Mathematics/A-class rating/2008
 * WikiProject Mathematics/A-class rating/2007