Neutrality0000
Welcome
editWelcome to Wikipedia! We have compiled some guidance for new healthcare editors:
- Please keep the mission of Wikipedia in mind. We provide the public with accepted knowledge, working in a community.
- We do that by finding high quality secondary sources and summarizing what they say, giving WP:WEIGHT as they do. Please do not try to build content by synthesizing content based on primary sources. (For the difference between primary and secondary sources, see WP:MEDDEF.)
- Please use high-quality, recent, secondary sources for medical content (see WP:MEDRS). High-quality sources include review articles (which are not the same as peer-reviewed), position statements from nationally and internationally recognized bodies (like CDC, WHO, FDA), and major medical textbooks. Lower-quality sources are typically removed. Please beware of predatory publishers – check the publishers of articles (especially open source articles) at Beall's list.
- The ordering of sections typically follows the instructions at WP:MEDMOS. The section above the table of contents is called the WP:LEAD. It summarizes the body. Do not add anything to the lead that is not in the body. Style is covered in MEDMOS as well; we avoid the word "patient" for example.
- We don't use terms like "currently", "recently," "now", or "today". See WP:RELTIME.
- More generally see WP:MEDHOW, which gives great tips for editing about health -- for example, how to format citations quickly and easily.
- Reference tags generally go after punctuation, not before; there is no preceding space.
- We use very few capital letters and very little bolding. Only the first word of a heading is usually capitalized.
- Common terms are not usually wikilinked; nor are years, dates, or names of countries and major cities.
- Please include page numbers when referencing a book or long journal article.
- Please format citations consistently within an article and be sure to cite the PMID for journal articles and ISBN for books; see WP:MEDHOW for how to format citations.
- Never copy and paste from sources; we run detection software on new edits.
- Talk to us! Wikipedia works by collaboration at articles and user talkpages.
Once again, welcome, and thank you for joining us! Please share these guidelines with other new editors.
– the WikiProject Medicine team--Jytdog (talk) 20:44, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
- Please do take the time to read and learn the guidance above, for editing about health in Wikipedia. There is a learning curve; please take your time. Thanks. Jytdog (talk) 20:46, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
Indenting and signing on talk pages
editQuick note on the logistics of discussing things on Talk pages, which are essential for everything that happens here. In Talk page discussions, we "thread" comments by indenting (see WP:THREAD) - when you reply to someone, you put a colon in front of your comment, which the Wikipedia software will render into an indent when you save your edit; if the other person has indented once, then you indent twice by putting two colons in front of your comment, which the WP software converts into two indents, and when that gets ridiculous you reset back to the margin (or "outdent") by putting this {{od}} in front of your comment. This also allows you to make it clear if you are also responding to something that someone else responded to if there are more than two people in the discussion; in that case you would indent the same amount as the person just above you in the thread. I hope that all makes sense. And at the end of the comment, please "sign" by typing exactly four (not 3 or 5) tildas "~~~~" which the WP software converts into a date stamp and links to your talk and user pages when you save your edit. That is how we know who said what to whom and when.
Please be aware that threading and signing are fundamental etiquette here, as basic as "please" and "thank you", and continually failing to thread and sign communicates rudeness, and eventually people may start to ignore you (see here). Jytdog (talk) 20:45, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
Personal attacks, editing comments after they have been replied to
editI removed this comment you made for two reasons.
Please do read and learn the talk page guidelines.
It is not OK to change a comment you made after someone has responded to it, without showing the change. This is explained in WP:REDACT which is part of the talk page guidelines.
Also, please focus on content. Wikipedia is not a blog, and flaming each other on talk pages is not how we get things done here. We reason together, based on what the best sources say, and applying the relevant policies and guidelines.
You might want to have a read of User:Jytdog/How, which I wrote to help people get oriented to the mission of the editing community, and how we realize it. Thanks. Jytdog (talk) 20:49, 6 May 2018 (UTC)
What is 'reason'? Its history? What are the 'best' sources? Is what you have written here 'flaming' and 'personally attacking' me? Sure it is. Your oversimplifications and ad hominem also indicate defensiveness and 101 level thinking, much more aligned with blog mentality than anything I've done. Don't feel bad. This discourse is part of the 'reasoning' and vetting process. However, conforming to specific cultural rituals eg please/thank you is of no interest to me; your addition of 'thanks' at the end of your little screed above is a good illustration of the meaninglessness of the ritual. It also has nothing to do with 'reason' or finding the 'truth.' But it does indicate uncritical ideological / cultural positioning on the part of the adherent (you). Any authority on wikipedia that you believe yourself to have irrelevant to your ideas. They must be explored and interrogated like anyone's. You have zero inherent credibility or immunity, and your attempt to intimidate and exert 'authority' here is laughable and meaningless, like your claims to be the possessor of some neutral unbiased position. This is the most ridiculous and ignorant part of your sentiment.
Your points on wikipedia formatting conventions are noted.