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Wikipedia:Meetup/SDGs/Communication of environment SDGs

< Wikipedia:Meetup | SDGs
Logo of SDG 13 - the focus of this communications project

Project title: Improving communication of climate change knowledge through Wikipedia

This is the website for a Wikipedia communications project that runs from mid 2022 to mid 2024. The work includes collaborations between Wikipedia editors and content experts from a range of universities and institutions.

The project selects relevant Wikipedia articles dealing with climate change topics that have significant daily pageviews and at the same time require updating and improvement in content and quality. The project team scores the quality of these Wikipedia articles at the start and at the end of the project using ten quality parameters. We also interact with published experts who advise us on necessary content edits. The core project team is made up of academics who have scientific and climate change expertise and also know how to edit Wikipedia.

This project is important because there are gaps between what various stakeholder groups find on the internet and the published scientific work on climate change-related topics. That much of the specialized literature containing critical knowledge is unavailable to the informed public is a handicap in the dissemination of climate change information. Wikipedia articles usually appear at the top of internet search results but are incomplete in many areas. Wikipedia therefore has a key role in helping promote climate change knowledge and the improvement of the key articles making use of available scientific expertise is necessary.

Anyone with an interest in Wikipedia editing on climate change topics is welcome to participate. This project follows the Friendly Space policy and the Code of conduct for Wikimedia technical spaces.

The project is administered by Stockholm Environment Institute and funded by Formas, a Swedish government research council for sustainable development.

The previous Phase 1 of the project (2020 to 2022) had the title "Communication of SDG-related research knowledge in water and sanitation (SDG 6), climate action (SDG 13) and life below water (SDG 14) in Wikipedia while engaging professional networks".

Basic project facts (Phase 2)

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  • Start: 1 Aug 2022
  • End: 31 July 2024
  • Project title: "Phase 2 - Communicating current SDG 13 knowledge through Wikipedia - a collaboration between Wikipedia editors and content experts at SEI, IPCC, UNFCCC and other organisations"
  • Administrating organisation: Stockholm Environment Institute
  • Funder: Formas - a Swedish government research council for sustainable development and a state authority under the Swedish Ministry of the Environment. Formas also has funds and assignments from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
  • Wiki projects in focus: English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons

Team members:

  • Arno Rosemarin (User:ASRASR): project manager, senior scientist at Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden
  • Richard Taylor (User:Richarit): researcher at Stockholm Environment Institute
  • Brenda Ochola (User:Bradextw): communications officer at Stockholm Environment Institute
  • Selorm Kugbega (User:Selormkobla): communications officer at Stockholm Environment Institute
  • Elisabeth von Muench (User:EMsmile): freelancer, Germany
  • Jonathan Lynn (User:Jonathanlynn): freelance consultant in France, formerly IPCC secretariat
  • David Tetta (User:Dtetta): freelance consultant in the United States, formerly USEPA
  • Euphemia Uwandu (User:Ptinphusmia), environmental manager and biologist, freelancer, volunteer on this project

Content experts

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List of names (Phase 2)

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We had the following content experts who helped us with improving the Wikipedia articles in Phase 2:

  1. Darold Batzer, University of Georgia, United States (Wikipedia article: Wetland)
  2. Magnus Benzie, Stockholm Environment Institute, United Kingdom (Climate change adaptation, Climate risk)
  3. Christian Berg (User:Seemountain), Clausthal University of Technology, Germany (Carbon footprint)
  4. Kevin Blanchard, DRR Dynamics (natural disaster)
  5. Derik Broekhoff, Stockholm Environment Institute, United States Carbon accounting, Carbon offsets and credits)
  6. Kristie L. Ebi, University of Washington, United States (Effects of climate change on human health)
  7. Thian Y Gan, University of Alberta, Canada (Effects of climate change on the water cycle)
  8. Michael Gillenwater, Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, United States (Carbon accounting, Carbon offsets and credits)
  9. Elisabeth Gilmore, Carleton University, Canada (economics of climate change)
  10. Michael Grubb, University College London, United Kingdom (carbon tax)
  11. Tim Jickells, University of East Anglia, UK (Ocean, ocean deoxygenation, ocean stratification, ocean temperature, ocean heat content)
  12. Gabriella Kitch, NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, United States (Ocean acidification); together with Abed El Rahman Hassoun (GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel), Richard Feely (NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory), Libby Jewett (NOAA Ocean Acidification program)
  13. Paul O'Hare, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK (disaster risk reduction, natural disaster)
  14. Vivienne Reiner, University of Sydney, Australia (Carbon footprint)
  15. Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research and University of Auckland, New Zealand (effects of climate change, effects of climate change on the water cycle)

Methods of collaboration

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The content experts helped us greatly by revising existing texts (sometimes cutting out content or moving content to sub-articles), proposing new content, proposing a new structure, adding new references, proposing new images.

Almost all of the content experts provided their comments either in the form of marked-up Word documents or during video interviews with shared screens. Only very few content experts (two or three) made edits directly in Wikipedia. Two people took up Wikipedia logins which they used to write on talk pages. Only very few experts were able to provide new images to us (often, the requirement of being open access was a problem for them).

Quality scoring system for Phase 2

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We have changed our quality scoring system a bit compared to Phase 1. The main changes are:

  • Reduced number of parameters from 10 to 6. Should make it easier to work with all the data later (was very time consuming in Phase 1 to analyse all 10 parameters for everything).
  • Trying to stay closer to the Wikipedia quality parameters for Good Articles and Featured Articles.

Small disadvantage: scores for individual parameters can no longer be directly compared between Phase 2 and Phase 1 (except for readability and the parameter about comprehensiveness)

See here our current scoring system.

In a nutshell, for the main text we use these six quality parameters (M is machine assessment, E is expert assessment):

  • M1 - Reading ease score (determined with Web-FX)
  • E1 – Comprehensiveness and factual accuracy and due weight for topics (no copyright infrinfements)
  • E2 – References & Verifiability: quality of references and being up to date and formatted consistently
  • E3 – Images and other media (quality and quantity)
  • E4 - Formatting and adherences to style guide and logical structure (not too many quotes, not written like a literature review)
  • E5 – Appropriate level of focus compared to sub-articles, correct length, interlinking with sub-articles

We also analyse the lead separately and use these four parameters:

  • L-M1 - Reading ease score (determined with Web-FX)
  • L-M2 - Length
  • L-E1 - Quality of summary
  • L-E2 - Images

Further details is available here

Selection of Wikipedia articles for Phase 2

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Criteria for selection of articles (Phase 2)

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The criteria for inclusion of Wikipedia articles in this project phase include (in order of importance):

  • The topic is related to climate change.
  • The Wikipedia article has high pageview rates (ideally more than 300 views per day).
  • Preference will be given to those Wikipedia articles that have high view rates and low quality scores.
  • The quality score is not yet very high (say less than 85); however, in some cases quality scores are high but the climate change content in the article is still quite poor.
    • Existence of a maintenance template on an article (if they are there, it’s a good indicator that the article needs some editing to improve it, plus it’s something that readers see so I would include this as a factor that would decrease an articles score and raise its priority.)
  • The topic is mentioned in the targets and indicators of SDG 13, see List of SDG targets and indicators.

Pageviews

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  • You can check pageviews for groups of articles here.
  • For our analysis we are using the time period 1 Jan to 30 June 2022 as the baseline for the pageviews.

Lists that were used for inspiration

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List of articles for Phase 2

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We had 135 articles in our list but 3 of them have been merged ("carbon credit" merged into carbon offsets and credits; "economic impacts of climate change" merged into economic analysis of climate change; "natural hazard" merged into natural disaster). So that means 132 articles remain in our list.

Note: only those articles with a priority of 3 or higher will be tackled in this phase. The priority ratings are average values of seven team members' assessments.

  • 82 articles have a priority of 3.0 to 5.0.
    • 42 articles have a priority of 4.0 to 5.0.
    • 40 articles have a priority of 3.0 to 3.9.
  • 84 articles have a priority lower than 3.0.
  • Total number of considered articles: 166


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Table 1a: Wikipedia articles for Phase 2 (with improvements scores). Baseline is the article version of 1 August 2022 or just before that date.
# Article Daily view rates

(avg. for Jan to June 2022)

Main text's quality

(at baseline)

Main text's quality

(at end)

Improve-ment of main text Lead's quality score

(at baseline)

Lead's quality score

(at end)

Improve-ment of lead
1 2022–2023 food crises (now: World food crises (2022–present)) 705 64 87 36% 75 90 17%
2 Abrupt climate change 72 67 73 9% 56 52 -10%
3 Aerosol 513 54 64 17% 50 53 5%
4 Afforestation 322 44 67 52% 36 68 86%
5 Albedo 873 79 74 13% 51 72 25%
6 Anthropocene 811 52 82 44% 34 71 76%
7 Anthropogenic hazard (now merged) 474 49 32
8 Arctic methane emissions 71 44 71 60% 52 78 62%
9 Arctic sea ice decline 124 81 100 24% 81 86 4%
10 Atlantic meridional overturning circulation 145 54 96 117% 53 85 43%
11 Atmospheric methane 180 44 95 114% 58 81 24%
12 Biodiversity 1917 36 63 75% 67 79 10%
13 Biodiversity loss 392 54 94 73% 38 75 51%
14 Bioenergy 200 36 74 78% 39 58 65%
15 Biomass (energy) 131 25 51 106% 51 58 14%
16 Blue carbon 94 41 91 123% 31 49 54%
17 Carbon accounting 101 29 78 171% 32 89 175%
18 Carbon budget 43 62 74 19% 52 71 34%
19 Carbon capture and storage 762 37 65 76% 58 77 27%
20 Carbon credit (now merged) 443 35 50
21 Carbon cycle 684 69 70 7% 59 72 30%
22 Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere 439 69 84 22% 56 90 56%
23 Carbon dioxide removal 189 42 83 98% 50 65 21%
24 Carbon emission trading 185 43 67 57% 70 73 1%
25 Carbon farming 60 46 58 28% 51 60 16%
26 Carbon footprint 1222 41 87 113% 45 86 85%
27 Carbon neutrality (now called: net zero emissions) 547 44 87 157% 36 76 105%
28 Carbon offsets and credits 316 34 80 139% 49 81 64%
29 Carbon sequestration 487 57 76 62% 45 69 47%
30 Carbon sink 406 46 70 71% 44 73 63%
31 Carbon tax 312 55 68 70% 58 74 14%
32 Climate change 6523 98 98 0% 100 100 11%
33 Climate change adaptation 208 64 87 37% 58 87 46%
34 Climate change feedback 270 73 99 50% 72 93 25%
35 Climate change in Africa 246 70 71 19% 78 84 7%
36 Climate change mitigation 445 44 97 122% 53 83 51%
37 Climate change scenario 47 31 72 135% 40 51 65%
38 Climate change vulnerability 77 45 66 55% 33 56 95%
39 Climate crisis 226 89 97 16% 56 70 23%
40 Climate engineering 282 26 85 227% 40 42 0%
41 Climate finance 54 41 69 94% 46 64 33%
42 Climate justice 148 74 84 31% 72 71 -2%
43 Climate model 94 36 56 54% 42 70 61%
44 Climate resilience 106 32 65 100% 35 70 120%
45 Climate risk 39 17 69 294% 23 53 117%
46 Climate sensitivity 68 97 87 10% 72 67 5%
47 Climate system 101 89 93 9% 58 64 8%
48 Climate-smart agriculture 40 31 69 125% 39 60 50%
49 Cloud feedback 17 32 89 181% 43 86 96%
50 Coastal flooding 97 80 77 16% 72 73 8%
51 Co-benefits of climate change mitigation (now merged) 8 34 23
52 Cryosphere 86 44 91 165% 52 64 21%
53 Deforestation 1469 47 69 48% 54 90 59%
54 Deforestation and climate change 111 42 71 67% 32 63 90%
55 Desertification 683 49 70 43% 30 48 55%
56 Disaster 1532 55 76 87% 49 72 80%
57 Disaster risk reduction 154 33 57 72% 37 78 105%
58 Drought 1614 80 89 24% 79 81 14%
59 Earth's energy budget 214 72 97 43% 75 83 16%
60 Economic impacts of climate change (now merged) 135 38 58
61 Economics of climate change (now: economic analysis of climate change) 43 31 70 129% 45 74 59%
62 Ecosystem services 342 54 66 51% 38 51 30%
63 Effects of climate change 871 69 95 38% 83 98 15%
64 Effects of climate change on agriculture 103 72 97 35% 81 92 26%
65 Effects of climate change on ecosystems 10 40 75 89% 14 66 337%
66 Effects of climate change on human health 139 66 81 32% 65 84 45%
67 Effects of climate change on small island countries 56 59 77 29% 27 64 84%
68 Effects of climate change on oceans 57 40 88 118% 49 90 80%
69 Effects of climate change on plant biodiversity 51 40 42 21% 43 53 19%
70 Effects of climate change on the water cycle 24 45 64 74% 37 81 116%
71 Efficient energy use 259 53 49 50% 41 44 4%
72 Electrical grid 497 61 65 13% 54 62 11%
73 El Niño (now merged) 1,035 53 57
74 El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) 291 61 95 104% 54 90 87%
75 Energy policy 53 52 55 16% 31 33 4%
76 Energy transition 123 34 77 125% 42 69 29%
77 Extreme weather 277 65 76 24% 61 74 42%
78 Flood 1846 79 87 61% 70 84 17%
79 Flood management 290 44 82 87% 51 64 23%
80 Food security 900 34 89 160% 61 72 17%
81 Global surface temperature 60 25 100 301% 46 85 81%
82 Global warming potential 413 67 85 98% 48 80 62%
83 Green Climate Fund 130 65 65 0% 59 81 37%
84 Greenhouse effect 2293 68 95 79% 69 83 18%
85 Greenhouse gas 1969 57 95 67% 57 90 54%
86 Greenhouse gas emissions 704 72 90 53% 57 84 44%
87 Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture 54 66 76 70% 49 74 45%
88 Hazard 447 49 70 126% 44 77 69%
89 Heat wave 496 64 85 57% 47 60 25%
90 Hydrogen economy 354 47 71 81% 44 81 72%
91 Ice sheet 140 49 80 63% 64 81 24%
92 Ice shelf 86 48 85 77% 72 83 11%
93 Individual action on climate change 100 59 70 43% 59 64 1%
94 Instrumental temperature record (now merged) 118 90 68
95 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 682 42 89 132% 81 100 23%
96 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report 159 70 85 26% 79 84 5%
97 Low-carbon economy 234 35 65 85% 32 50 31%
98 Marine heatwave 21 69 82 49% 54 79 73%
99 Nationally Determined Contributions 21 56 77 139% 31 78 147%
100 Natural disaster 2938 71 86 51% 61 70 31%
101 Natural hazard (now merged) 260 39 42
102 Nature-based solutions 80 32 67 109% 61 73 20%
103 Ocean 2765 88 99 13% 91 100 10%
104 Ocean acidification 411 61 93 97% 69 93 35%
105 Ocean deoxygenation 26 53 78 98% 47 85 78%
106 Ocean heat content 40 54 80 47% 57 88 51%
107 Ocean storage of carbon dioxide (now: Direct deep-sea carbon dioxide injection) 52 34 80 173% 34 66 91%
108 Ocean temperature 20 79 85 201% 65 73 29%
109 Paris Agreement 1434 87 96 10% 85 89 2%
110 Permafrost 592 73 83 33% 67 93 36%
111 Radiative forcing 230 69 91 32% 41 81 92%
112 Reforestation 223 40 56 25% 22 30 33%
113 Renewable energy 1961 55 74 81% 51 78 54%
114 Representative Concentration Pathway 354 72 81 13% 61 85 37%
115 Retreat of glaciers since 1850 136 87 96 25% 62 87 34%
116 Sea level rise 624 82 96 33% 90 100 18%
117 Sea surface temperature 161 78 87 12% 69 82 16%
118 Sustainability 1613 68 87 27% 75 89 19%
119 Sustainable development 3375 44 59 51% 47 45 14%
120 Sustainable Development Goal 13 274 68 71 23% 76 79 17%
121 Sustainable Development Goals 4398 72 83 22% 75 80 20%
122 Sustainable energy 1543 89 84 0% 90 93 4%
123 Tipping points in the climate system 201 75 100 41% 72 99 34%
124 Tropical cyclone 1919 86 95 11% 80 88 26%
125 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 769 59 84 43% 64 90 34%
126 Urban flooding 15 56 70 25% 52 80 38%
127 Urban heat island 403 57 93 63% 58 88 48%
128 Verified Carbon Standard 62 46 65 72% 24 71 111%
129 Water cycle 1512 63 89 41% 54 73 32%
130 Water resources 1115 74 69 18% 50 55 8%
131 Water scarcity 658 93 98 9% 67 83 20%
132 Water security 290 66 90 36% 72 97 34%
133 Wetland 790 65 82 27% 78 92 15%
134 Wildfire 941 72 87 42% 79 95 21%
135 World energy supply and consumption 428 76 76 30% 70 75 12%



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Table 1b: Wikipedia articles for Phase 2 with daily view rates, quality labels and comments. Baseline is the article version of 1 August 2022 or just before that date.
# Article Daily view rates

(avg. for Jan to June 2022)

WP quality label

(at baseline)

Comments
1 2022–2023 food crises (now: World food crises (2022–present)) 705 C High page views for an article that was only created in May 2022; CC is one of the causes
2 Abrupt climate change 72 B
3 Aerosol 513 B
4 Afforestation 322 start
5 Albedo 873 B
6 Anthropocene 811 B
7 Anthropogenic hazard (now merged) 474 Start Merged into hazard
8 Arctic methane emissions 71 C
9 Arctic sea ice decline 124 C
10 Atlantic meridional overturning circulation 145 C
11 Atmospheric methane 180 C
12 Biodiversity 1917 C
13 Biodiversity loss 392 B
14 Bioenergy 200 C
15 Biomass (energy) 131 C
16 Blue carbon 94 B
17 Carbon accounting 101 C
18 Carbon budget 43 C low page view but the term is up and coming
19 Carbon capture and storage 762 C
20 Carbon credit (now merged) 443 B Merged into carbon offsets and credits
21 Carbon cycle 684 B
22 Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere 439 C
23 Carbon dioxide removal 189 B
24 Carbon emission trading 185 B
25 Carbon farming 60 C low page view but the term is up and coming
26 Carbon footprint 1222 C
27 Carbon neutrality (now called: net zero emissions) 547 C Changed to net zero emissions in Aug. 2023
28 Carbon offsets and credits 316 C Carbon credit has been merged into here
29 Carbon sequestration 487 B
30 Carbon sink 406 C
31 Carbon tax 312 C
32 Climate change 6523 FA Low priority given only because it is already an FA article
33 Climate change adaptation 208 C
34 Climate change feedback 270 C
35 Climate change in Africa 246 B
36 Climate change mitigation 445 B
37 Climate change scenario 47 C
38 Climate change vulnerability 77 C
39 Climate crisis 226 C
40 Climate engineering 282 B
41 Climate finance 54 Start Not sure if this term is up and coming
42 Climate justice 148 C
43 Climate model 94 C
44 Climate resilience 106 C
45 Climate risk 39 Start
46 Climate sensitivity 68 GA
47 Climate system 101 GA
48 Climate-smart agriculture 40 Start
49 Cloud feedback 17 Start Pageviews seem to go up (50 per day in Apr 2023)
50 Coastal flooding 97 C
51 Co-benefits of climate change mitigation (now merged) 8 start Merged to climate change mitigation
52 Cryosphere 86 B
53 Deforestation 1469 B
54 Deforestation and climate change 111 C
55 Desertification 683 C
56 Disaster 1532 Start
57 Disaster risk reduction 154 C
58 Drought 1614 C
59 Earth's energy budget 214 C
60 Economic impacts of climate change (now merged) 135 C Merged into Economic analysis of climate change in Sept 23
61 Economics of climate change (now: economic analysis of climate change) 43 C
62 Ecosystem services 342 C
63 Effects of climate change 871 B
64 Effects of climate change on agriculture 103 B
65 Effects of climate change on ecosystems 10 C Merged into effects of climate change on biomes (new article)
66 Effects of climate change on human health 139 B
67 Effects of climate change on small island countries 56 C
68 Effects of climate change on oceans 57 C
69 Effects of climate change on plant biodiversity 51 C
70 Effects of climate change on the water cycle 24 C This topic is up and coming
71 Efficient energy use 259 C
72 Electrical grid 497 C
73 El Niño (now merged) 1,035 C Merged into ENSO article
74 El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) 291 C
75 Energy policy 53 C Should be up and coming
76 Energy transition 123 C
77 Extreme weather 277 C
78 Flood 1846 C
79 Flood management 290 C Merged flood mitigation into this article
80 Food security 900 C
81 Global surface temperature 60 C Should be up and coming
82 Global warming potential 413 C
83 Green Climate Fund 130 C
84 Greenhouse effect 2293 C
85 Greenhouse gas 1969 B
86 Greenhouse gas emissions 704 C
87 Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture 54 C Should be up and coming
88 Hazard 447 C
89 Heat wave 496 C
90 Hydrogen economy 354 B
91 Ice sheet 140 B
92 Ice shelf 86 C
93 Individual action on climate change 100 C
94 Instrumental temperature record (now merged) 118 B has been merged to global surface temperature
95 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 682 B
96 IPCC Sixth Assessment Report 159 C
97 Low-carbon economy 234 C
98 Marine heatwave 21 C Should be up and coming
99 Nationally Determined Contributions 21 C Topic is up and coming, pageviews at 100 per day in May 2023
100 Natural disaster 2938 C
101 Natural hazard (now merged) 260 C has been merged to Natural disaster
102 Nature-based solutions 80 C
103 Ocean 2765 B
104 Ocean acidification 411 B
105 Ocean deoxygenation 26 C Should be up and coming
106 Ocean heat content 40 C
107 Ocean storage of carbon dioxide (now: Direct deep-sea carbon dioxide injection) 52 B Article reworked, with new scope and title. The old title redirects to carbon sequestration
108 Ocean temperature 20 start New article (was created Oct. 2022), topic is up and coming
109 Paris Agreement 1434 GA
110 Permafrost 592 C A lot of relevant content is in Permafrost carbon cycle but this has low pageviews.
111 Radiative forcing 230 C
112 Reforestation 223 C
113 Renewable energy 1961 B
114 Representative Concentration Pathway 354 C
115 Retreat of glaciers since 1850 136 C
116 Sea level rise 624 GA Is already GA but needs updating
117 Sea surface temperature 161 GA Is already GA but needs updating
118 Sustainability 1613 B
119 Sustainable development 3375 C
120 Sustainable Development Goal 13 274 C
121 Sustainable Development Goals 4398 C
122 Sustainable energy 1543 FA Low priority given only because it is already an FA article
123 Tipping points in the climate system 201 GA
124 Tropical cyclone 1919 FA Low priority given only because it is already an FA article
125 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 769 C
126 Urban flooding 15 C Topic is up and coming, pageviews at 40 per day in May 2023
127 Urban heat island 403 GA
128 Verified Carbon Standard 62 stub Pageviews seem to increase, around 100 per day in May 2023 (It is the most common GHG crediting program)
129 Water cycle 1512 C
130 Water resources 1115 B
131 Water scarcity 658 B
132 Water security 290 C
133 Wetland 790 C
134 Wildfire 941 GA Is already GA but needs updating
135 World energy supply and consumption 428 B

Articles considered but decided against

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# Article Priority

(1 to 5, with 5 being highest)

Daily view rates

(avg. for Jan to June 2022)

WP quality label

(Aug 2022)

Main text's quality

(8 July 2022)

Lead's quality score

(8 July 2022)

Was in

Phase 1?

Content

(science or policy)

Reasons


1 Adaptive capacity 2.3 21 C 31 12 yes Policy Low pageviews
2 Agroforestry 1.3 261 C no Science CC content would be small in this article
3 Antarctic ice sheet 200 C Science
4 Attribution of recent climate change 153 B no Science Ongoing discussion about name change to causes of climate change
5 Biofuel 1000 C no Science
6 Biological pump 1.0 86 B no Science Low pageviews
7 Carbon leakage 26 no Policy
8 Carbon price 87 C no Policy
9 Climate action 30 list no Policy Low pageviews
10 Climate apocalypse 150 C no Policy Ongoing discussion about name change
11 Climate change and cities 2.0 22 Start no Science Low pageviews
12 Climate change and civilizational collapse 60 B no Science (this is a new article, created mid 2023)
13 Climate change and fisheries 19 Science Article only created in late 2020
14 Climate change and gender 26 C no Policy
15 Climate change and indigenous peoples 20 C
16 Climate change and infectious diseases 1.0 15 C no Science Low pageviews
17 Climate change and invasive species 1.0 23 C no Science Low pageviews
18 Climate change and poverty 43 C no Policy
19 Climate change denial 559 B no Policy Far too long, needs culling
20 Climate change in Antartica 100 C no Science
21 Climate change in the Arctic 80 B no Science
22 Climate change in the United States 116 C no Science
23 Climate communication 1.0 32 C no Policy Low pageviews
24 Climate migrant 1.3 11 C no Policy Low pageviews
25 Climate movement 3.0 37 Start no Policy
26 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 2.0 38 Start no Science Low pageviews
27 Drylands 1.0 55 Start no Science Low pageviews
28 Earth 14000 FA no Science
29 Eco-economic decoupling 45 C no Policy
30 Economics of climate change mitigation 20 no Policy
31 Ecosystem-based adaptation 1.0 17 C yes Science Low pageviews
32 Ecosystem health 1.0 25 C no Science Low pageviews
33 Effects of climate change on mental health 2.7 28 C 71 65 yes Science This topic could be up and coming
34 Effects of climate change on biomes 30 B no Science New article
35 Emissions trading 390 no Policy Pageviews are falling, whereas those of carbon emissions trading are rising
36 Energy conservation 675 B no Policy
37 Extinction risk from climate change 70 no Science
38 Forest management
39 Fossil fuel phase-out 120 C no Policy
40 General circulation model 83 C no Science
41 Global dimming 180 GA no Science
42 Global warming controversy 250 B no Policy Ongoing discussion about name change or merger
43 Gold Standard (carbon offset standard) 2.0 35 start no Policy Low pageviews
44 Greenhouse gas emissions from wetlands 2.0 16 C no Science Low pageviews
45 Greenhouse gas inventory 23 C no Policy Low pageviews, merge with another one?
46 Greenland ice sheet 258 B no Science
47 Harmful algal bloom 1.3 136 C no Science CC content would be small in this article
48 Heat illness 117 start no Science very cyclical pageviews!
49 History of climate change science 361 C no Science
50 History of climate change policy and politics 50 C no Policy new-ish article
51 Invasive species 1.5 832 GA no Science CC content would be small in this article
52 Kevin Trenberth 15 C no Policy Low pageviews, and we are not focused on people
53 Kyoto Protocol 1200 B no Policy Surprisingly high pageviews
54 Land cover 2.3 49 start no Science Low pageviews
55 Land development 1.0 97 start no Science Low pageviews
56 Land use, land-use change, and forestry 80 no Science very messy article
57 Low-carbon electricity 55 C no Policy
58 Methane emissions 120 no Science Should be in Phase 3
59 Media coverage of climate change 60 C no Policy
60 Oceanic carbon cycle 2.7 51 C no Science
61 Ocean stratification 40 no Science
62 Permafrost carbon cycle 16 no Science
63 Plant-based diet 1.3 545 C no Science CC content would be small in this article
64 Politics of climate change 120 no Policy
65 Psychological impact of climate change 20 C Science Very low pageviews
66 Psychology of climate change denial 30 C no Science
67 Public opinion on climate change 80 C no Policy
68 Scientific consensus on climate change 400 C no Science
69 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 1.0 82 Start 28 24 yes Policy Low pageviews
70 Shared Socioeconomic Pathways 169 no Science
71 Social cost of carbon 60 C no Policy Low pageviews
72 Solar power 1579 GA no Science
73 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C 1.8 69 C no Policy
74 Sustainable forest management now merged to forest management
75 Tropical cyclones and climate change 92 C no Science Pageviews shows some pronounced spikes
76 Wind power 1792 GA no Science
77 Zero-carbon city 34 C no Policy

Also considered but not included:

Small selection of articles in French Wikipedia (test case)

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Perhaps these few articles should be improved in the French Wikipedia (to be discussed):

Wikipedia articles that we worked on and their quality score improvements (Phase 1)

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The SDG-related Wikipedia articles identified for further improvement are listed below. To sort the list by view rates, click on the arrows in the table headers. The view rate figures are the average number of views each day, for several years up to July 2020. The terms that are shown in red don't have a Wikipedia article yet.

Criteria for selection of articles (Phase 1)

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The criteria for inclusion of Wikipedia articles in this project include:

  • The terms being mentioned in the targets and indicators of the goals, see List of SDG targets and indicators.
  • A preference on terms with high view rates (ideally more than 200 views per day).
  • Concepts or technology that are not mentioned in the indicators but which are important to achieve the indicators.
  • Closely related topics that are of relevance (see also "reader topic relationships" with this tool).

Preference will be given to those Wikipedia articles that have high view rates and low quality scores.

Articles relevant for all SDGs

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The selected articles with a relation to all SDGs are: Sustainable Development Goals, Developing countries, Sustainability, International development, Sustainable development. For simplicity reasons, these general articles have been included in the SDG 6 grouping.

SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation)

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Sustainable Development Goal 6

SDG 6 articles with scores before and after

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The selected articles related to SDG 6 are listed below. Note the table also includes (at the end) those terms that are relevant for all three SDGs.

Most of the articles would be of relevance to WikiProject Sanitation and WikiProject Limnology & Oceanography.


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Table 1a: Wikipedia articles that are related to SDG 6 and were improved in this project (maximum possible score: 100)
Number Article Daily view rates before (1 Jan to 30 June 2020) Daily view rates after (1 Jan to 30 June 2022) Quality rating at project start

(Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score afterwards

(8 July 2022)

The lead's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

The lead's quality score afterwards

(8 July 2022)

Comments
1 Sustainable Development Goal 6 96 228 C 66 74 44 63
2 Drinking water 810 699 B 72 80 60 67
3 Ecosystem 2188 1930 B 61 72 58 78
4 Hand washing 1230 348 B 77 86 68 64
5 Hygiene 1211 830 C 71 80 56 51
6 Open defecation 553 356 B 78 89 55 59
7 Rainwater harvesting 1166 1391 C 63 73 49 49
8 Reclaimed water 260 168 B 59 66 47 56
9 Sanitation 894 665 B 71 78 61 65
10 Wastewater treatment 677 625 C 64 71 57 71
11 WASH 202 143 B 60 75 44 73
12 Water pollution 3611 2984 B 67 71 69 64
13 Water scarcity 798 658 B 49 89 51 65
14 Water scarcity in Africa 124 94 C 36 53 47 50
15 Water security 84 290 C 48 59 36 65
16 Water supply 311 284 C 55 64 14 52
17 Water resources 831 1115 B 58 70 38 46
18 Freshwater 155 121 C 57 69 52 55
19 Freshwater ecosystem 176 202 Start 39 69 27 56
20 Wetland 984 790 C 56 70 48 73
21 Aquifer 889 697 B 61 66 37 47
22 Groundwater 793 657 C 57 70 61 70
23 Groundwater pollution 232 216 C 63 64 56 67
24 Water issues in developing countries 107 46 C 56 63 36 63
25 Capacity building 368 242 C 34 60 37 51
26 Official development assistance 226 156 Start 49 78 38 52
27 Industrial wastewater treatment 279 300 C 52 62 27 52
28 Sewage 502 428 C 60 76 61 74
29 Sewage treatment 1210 938 B 59 74 62 72
30 Fecal sludge management 116 103 B 65 67 77 80
31 Public health 1165 885 C 61 85 48 61
32 Neglected tropical diseases 363 262 C 57 67 62 65
33 Waterborne diseases 787 476 C 46 55 63 58
34 Dangerous goods 448 230 C 57 61 48 49
35 Sustainable Development Goals 4237 4398 C 57 77 59 67
36 Developing country 2444 2059 C 66 76 58 73
37 Sustainability 1346 1613 B (was demoted from GA in May 2022) 52 72 42 67
38 International development 272 196 C 44 47 30 30
39 Sustainable development 2473 3375 C 55 67 32 39

SDG 6 articles that were selected but not rescored

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Table 1b: Wikipedia articles that are related to SDG 6 but whose scores did not change (maximum possible score: 100)
Number Article Daily view rates before (1 Jan to 30 June 2020) Daily view rates after (1 Jan to 30 June 2022) Quality rating at project start

(Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

The lead's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

Reasons for not working on this article
40 Wastewater 540 219 B 50 59 This is now a list type article, so cannot be scored in the conventional way
41 Improved sanitation 53 32 Start 57 69 Pageviews very low
42 Improved water source 44 25 Start 55 64 Pageviews very low
43 Integrated water resources management 53 43 Start 25 8 Pageviews very low, and it has been merged into water resources article.
44 Sanitation worker 35 65 C 72 47 Pageviews very low
45 Human right to water and sanitation 105 71 C 53 60 Pageviews very low
46 Public participation 187 169 C 38 30 Pageviews low, relevance for SDG 6 not strong
47 Behaviour change (public health) 148 54 C 39 31 Not enough time and no expert found
48 Diarrhea 2602 2501 B 82 93 Article already had a very high quality score
49 Cholera 4581 2010 B 85 91 Article already had a very high quality score
50 Gastroenteritis 2495 1838 GA (second best) 83 85 Article already had a very high quality score
51 International waters 537 518 C 48 61 Not enough time and no expert found

SDG 13 (Climate action)

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Sustainable Development Goal 13

SDG 13 articles with scores before and after

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The selected articles related to SDG 13 are listed below.

All of the articles would be of relevance to WikiProject Climate change.


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Table 2a: Wikipedia articles that are related to SDG 13 and were improved in this project (maximum possible score: 100)
Number Article Daily view rates before (1 Jan to 30 June 2020) Daily view rates after (1 Jan to 30 June 2022) Quality rating at project start

(Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score afterwards

(8 July 2022)

The lead's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

The lead's quality score afterwards

(8 July 2022)

Comments
1 Sustainable Development Goal 13 0 274 C 64 78 53 67 new article
2 Climate change adaptation 220 208 C 51 77 54 57
3 Climate change mitigation 518 445 B 76 81 64 63
4 Effects of climate change 1963 871 B 76 86 59 80
5 Climate change 10172 6523 FA (best) 92 94 80 97
6 Greenhouse gas 3384 1969 B 77 82 57 55
7 Greenhouse gas emissions 36 704 C 65 84 26 59 new article (spin off)
8 Natural disaster 2450 2938 C 68 75 61 57
9 Sustainable energy 8346 1543 C (promoted to FA in Oct 21) 72 88 53 88 Most of the improvement was made by user:Femke and user:Clayoquot
10 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 968 769 C 71 74 41 57
11 Climate resilience 79 106 C 43 55 23 40
12 Disaster risk reduction 188 154 C 33 52 31 40
13 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 111 82 Start 16 28 29 24
14 Wildfire 1400 941 GA (second best) 75 82 71 72
15 Drought 1346 1614 C 76 85 54 71
16 Tropical cyclone 2588 1919 FA (best) 73 80 82 81
17 Flood 1728 1846 B 67 77 49 61
18 Paris Agreement 2532 1434 B 70 85 72 79
19 Developed country 3260 2446 B 88 80 46 56
20 Renewable energy 2148 1961 B 71 78 59 61
21 Nationally Determined Contributions 2 21 C 41 67 36 34 new article
22 Efficient energy use 361 259 C 53 54 33 41
23 Climate justice 145 148 C 64 74 45 78
24 Sea level rise 824 624 GA (second best) 84 88 75 83
25 Extreme weather 271 277 C 72 77 50 49
26 Energy policy 72 53 C 34 54 17 25
27 World energy supply and consumption 0 428 B 68 70 61 66 new article (spin off / rename)
28 Sustainable Development Goal 7 0 186 C 63 69 52 59 new article
29 Effects of climate change on oceans 211 57 C 58 74 33 59 article name used to be "Effects of global warming on oceans"
30 Retreat of glaciers since 1850 148 136 FA (best) 80 86 61 63
31 Arctic sea ice decline 166 124 C 76 85 49 69
32 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 842 682 B 61 74 70 77
33 Effects of climate change on human health 6 139 C 48 74 24 72
34 Climate change and indigenous peoples 18 31 C 41 60 27 49
35 Effects of climate change on agriculture 1 103 B 51 78 43 73 new article (spin off)
36 Carbon farming 47 60 C 47 63 35 46
37 Climate change in Africa 228 246 B 44 68 43 70
38 Climate change vulnerability 0 77 C 50 60 21 34 new article
39 Carbon sequestration 501 487 B 62 71 30 42
40 Carbon capture and storage 648 762 C 49 68 35 60
41 Instrumental temperature record 412 118 B 71 80 45 63
42 Effects of climate change on mental health 1 28 C 49 71 40 65 new article
"Climate change in country X" articles

Currently there are 63 country articles, see here.

Average (or median)

SDG 13 articles that were selected but not rescored

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Table 2b: Wikipedia articles that are related to SDG 13 but whose scores did not change (maximum possible score: 100)
Number Article Daily view rates before (1 Jan to 30 June 2020) Daily view rates after (1 Jan to 30 June 2022) Quality rating at project start

(Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

The lead's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

Reasons for not working on this article
43 Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere 753 439 C 72 59 Ran out of time, comments from expert received but would require a lot of work to do justice; moved to Phase 2
44 Global citizenship 447 348 C 50 29 Ran out of time, relevance to SDG 13 low
45 Global citizenship education 74 61 B 39 35 Low pageviews, relevance to SDG 13 low
46 Regional effects of climate change 0 20 C 66 64 This article was merged into effects of climate change
47 Adaptive capacity 26 21 Start 31 12 Very low pageviews
48 Low-carbon economy 92 234 C 51 31 Low pageviews
49 Green Climate Fund 190 130 B 61 53 Ran out of time, no expert found
50 Effects of climate change on humans 18 169 C 58 46 This article was merged into effects of climate change
51 Education for sustainable development 90 121 Start 28 20 Low pageviews, relevance to SDG 13 low (suggested to merge this into sustainable development)
52 Ocean acidification 509 411 B 85 74 Very important article, have been in touch with content experts from NOAA since August 2021, they have promised to send in comments but it's taking a long time (moved to Phase 2)

SDG 14 (Life below Water)

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SDG 14 articles with scores before and after

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Sustainable Development Goal 14

The selected articles related to SDG 14 are listed below.

Most of the articles are of relevance to WikiProject Limnology & Oceanography.


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Table 3a: Wikipedia articles that are related to SDG 14 and were improved in this project (maximum possible score: 100)
Number Article Daily view rates before (1 Jan to 30 June 2020) Daily view rates after (1 Jan to 30 June 2022) Quality rating at project start

(Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score afterwards

(8 July 2022)

The lead's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

The lead's quality score afterwards

(8 July 2022)

Comments
1 Sustainable Development Goal 14 0 202 C 46 68 45 71 new article
2 Eutrophication 869 898 B 65 77 32 66
3 Least developed countries 456 719 C 60 74 47 49
4 Marine pollution 492 368 B 79 85 62 79
5 Microplastics 474 650 C 63 74 52 70
6 Overfishing 316 270 B 69 75 50 67
7 Sea surface temperature 231 161 GA (second best) 83 88 64 77
8 Ocean fertilization 43 31 C 53 55 18 37
9 Sustainable tourism 347 244 C 39 75 42 45
10 Marine debris 171 120 B 77 82 51 64
11 Nutrient pollution 81 70 C 53 74 35 57
12 Coast 470 336 B 64 78 65 91
13 Marine protected area 89 85 B 65 68 52 65
14 Aquaculture 644 581 B 77 78 39 66
15 Marine plastic pollution 1 69 B 33 84 48 73 new article
16 Aquatic ecosystem 482 568 C 62 68 34 45
17 Fishing industry 175 151 C 63 70 28 40
18 Planetary boundaries 215 286 B 60 74 36 67
19 Marine ecosystem 294 281 C 69 79 47 58
20 Ocean 2313 2765 B 68 87 77 93
21 Sea 1100 837 FA (best) 83 90 80 76
22 Convention on Biological Diversity 485 404 C 52 61 45 54

SDG 14 articles that were selected but not rescored

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Table 3b: Wikipedia articles that are related to SDG 14 but whose scores did not change (maximum possible score: 100)
Number Article Daily view rates before (1 Jan to 30 June 2020) Daily view rates after (1 Jan to 30 June 2022) Quality rating at project start

(Sept 2020)

Main text's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

The lead's quality score before

(1 Sept 2020)

Reasons for not working on this article
23 Marine habitats 179 119 C 80 74 Quality score already very high
24 Overexploitation 223 245 C 73 44 Ran out of time, no expert found, quality score already quite high
25 Coral reef 1300 1223 B 80 69 Quality score already very high
26 Commercial fishing 164 227 C 67 73 Ran out of time, no expert found, quality score already quite high
27 Artisanal fishing 50 59 Start 52 43 Very low pageviews
28 Sustainable fishery 50 45 C 57 24 Very low pageviews
29 Fisheries management 85 76 C 54 22 Very low pageviews
30 Fishery 269 222 Start 53 48 Ran out of time, no expert found
31 Marine life 445 372 B 84 68 Quality score already very high
32 Law of the sea 148 140 Start 52 45 Ran out of time, no expert found
33 Exclusive economic zone 951 956 B 75 61 Quality score already very high
34 Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing 76 63 C 53 54 Low pageviews
35 Destructive fishing practices 17 23 Start 46 19 Very low pageviews
36 Marine conservation 112 106 C 63 48 Low pageviews
37 Small Island Developing States 126 124 C 55 34 Ran out of time, moved to Phase 2 because of climate change issues
38 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 689 680 C 59 66 Ran out of time, no expert found
39 Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission 14 11 C 21 41 Very low pageviews
40 Fish stocks 4 25 Start 53 18 Very low pageviews
41 Fisheries subsidy 5 7 Start 22 21 Very low pageviews
42 Marine technology 18 16 Start 40 36 Very low pageviews
43 Effects of climate change on oceans C See under SDG 13
44 International waters C See under SDG 6
45 Sustainable development C See under SDG 13
46 Ocean acidification B See under SDG 13

New articles created

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Article title Created when Created how By whom
SDG 7 11 July 2020 From scratch Shanewatson20
SDG 13 11 July 2020 From scratch Shanewatson20
SDG 14 11 July 2020 From scratch Shanewatson20
Greenhouse gas emissions 3 April 2021 Spin off from greenhouse gas EMsmile (project team member Elisabeth von Münch)
World energy supply and consumption 8 June 2021 "Worldwide energy supply" page and "World energy consumption" page were merged into this article Chidgk1
Effects of climate change on agriculture 6 March 2022 Spin off from “climate change and agriculture” Chidgk1 in collaboration with EMsmile
Effects of climate change on mental health 5 April 2022 Spin off from “Psychological impact of climate change” EMsmile
Marine plastic pollution 13 Sept 2021 Used stub of “plastic soup” as starting point EMsmile
Climate change vulnerability 26 Dec 2020 From scratch (bringing content from climate resilience, Economics of climate change and some new content) Sadads
Marine resources 24 May 2022 It is just a stub or list type article so far; it was previously a redirect to “marine conservation”. Sadads

Results for improvements in quality scores by individual quality parameters (Phase 1)

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Why score lead and main text separately

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We scored the articles' leads separately as the leads are the most important segment of the article which readers read. The lead should be a good summary of the article and be about four paragraphs long. More information is here: WP:LEAD.

We had originally planned to improve the lead for twice as many articles as full articles but did not manage this workload.

Scoring system and results summary for main text

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The quality of articles was assessed on a scale of 0 to 100 by using the following parameters. The assessment time "before" was the 1 Sept 2020 version of the article or nearest older date. The assessment time afterwards was around May/June 2022.


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Table 4: Overview of the scoring system and results to assess article quality before and after (for the main article text) - maximum possible score: 100
Parameter

(M is machine assessment, E is expert assessment)

Maximum possible value Average before Average after the project Improvement (%) Comments on how the values are derived Tool to use or expert assessment Guidance to improve scores
1 M1 - Readability 25 14.9 15.4 3% Calculated assessment, based on Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease score and linear scaling function. Score based on how readable and well-written the article is. WebFX tool, using the second tab called "test by direct input" (select and copy main text of article except for the lead, and up to the "See also" section). Use the Hemingway App to get guidance on improving readability. In general: shorter sentences, less passive voice, less complicated words, less technical jargon
2 M2 - Sourcing 15 8.4 9.2 9% Calculated assessment, based on ratio of references per hundred words. WebFX tool and Wikipedia page statistics More references
3 M3 - Completeness 5 3.5 3.7 4% This parameter is based on Wikipedia's ORES analysis tool and is meant to indicate quality. WikiEdu tool All the improvements necessary to get an article to Good Article or Featured Article standard.
4 M4 - Illustrations (quantity) 5 2.7 3.0 8% Calculated assessment, based on number of images per thousand words. Xtool (Wikipedia page statistics) More images
5 M5 - Embedding (incoming wikilinks) 2.5 1.2 1.4 16% Calculated assessment, based on number of incoming wikilinks. Xtool (Wikipedia page statistics) More wikilinks from other articles to this one
6 M6 - Embedding (outgoing wikilinks) 2.5 1.6 1.7 6% Calculated assessment, based on number of outoing wikilinks per hundred words. Xtool (Wikipedia page statistics) More wikilinks from this article to other articles
7 E1 - Comprehensiveness 15 8.4 11.6 38% Subjective assessment (score based on how fully the article covers significant aspects of the topic.) Needs expert assessment Ensure that the article is comprehensive, goes into appropriate detail about all significant aspects of the topic, and uses summary style where appropriate.
8 E2 - Connectivity and article tree structure 10 5.8 9.2 58% Score based on how well a “parent article" interacts with sub-articles. There is often a suite or tree of articles which all need to be interwoven with each other. Needs expert assessment Ensure that article is well connected to any relevant parent or sub-particles; it's clear where in the "tree structure" this articles sits. It points people to the relevant sub-articles (or to parent articles); parent articles should not have too much detail in areas where sub-articles exist.
9 E3 - Formatting and adherences to style guide 10 6.7 9.8 45% Score based on how well the section headings conform with standard headings style; also the quality of the article's layout and adherence to the Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Needs expert assessment Ensure that article uses standard headings wherever possible, there is a logical flow to the sections, good use of level 1, 2, 3 headings. No external links in the main text. No bolding and other formatting except for first few words in lead. No bullet point lists or only used sparingly (mainly prose is used). Article has the right amount of wikilinks compared to text (not too many, not too few). Length of article is within guidelines (readable prose is less than 50 kB).
10 E4 - Neutrality 2 1.9 2.0 2% Score based on adherence to the Neutral Point of View policy. Needs expert assessment Ensure that the article follows the NPOV policy.
11 E5 - Illustrations (quality) 8 4.0 5.7 42% Score based on quality of images and their captions. Needs expert assessment Ensure that all of the images in the article illustrate the topic well, are in the right sections and have high quality captions which explain why the image is relevant.
Total 100 59 73 22%
Sum of automated parameters only 55 32 34 6%
Sum of expert assessed parameters only 45 27 38 42%

Scoring system and results summary for leads only

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The quality of articles' leads was assessed on a scale of 0 to 100 by using the following parameters:


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Table 5: Overview of the scoring system and results to assess article quality before and after (for the leads only) - maximum possible score: 100
Parameter Maximum possible value Average at baseline Average value at project end Improvement (%) Comments on how the values were derived Tool to use Parameters that need to be recorded Guidance to improve scores
1 ML1 - Readability 30 18 17 -2% Calculated assessment, based on Flesch score and linear scaling function (using just the text of the lead) Webfx tool using the second tab called "test by direct input" Flesch Kincaid Reading Ease Use the Hemingway App to get guidance on improving readability: In general: shorter sentences, less passive voice, less complicated words, less technical jargon
2 ML2 - Length 25 11 14 30% Calculated assessment, based only on the length of the lead using a linear scaling function Webfx tool using the second tab called "test by direct input" Number of words (total) Make the lead longer
3 EL1 - Quality of summary 30 11 17 53% Score based on how well the lead represents a summary of the entire article, not just a summary of some sections. Needs expert assessment Make the lead into a good summary of the entire article
4 EL2 - Illustration 15 8 13 52% Score based on how good the lead's image and its caption are. Needs expert assessment Select an excellent image: the lead image should be representative because it provides a visual association for the topic, and allow readers to quickly assess if they have arrived at the right page
Total 100 48 61 27%
Sum of automated parameters only 55 29 32 10%
Sum of expert assessed parameters only 45 19 29 52%

Targets

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We planned to measure the direct project impacts and set measurable targets for ourselves as follows:

  • Leads: Number of article leads to be improved: 300 (100 per SDG) - with a quality score at the end of the project of 100 out of 100 (average across all articles) - this was not achieved as we realised we could not really improve the leads before the articles were not substantially improved (in most cases)
  • Full articles: Number of full articles to be improved: 150 (50 per SDG) - with a quality score at the end of the project of 85 out of 100 (average across all articles) - this was nearly achieved
  • Professional networks: Number of professional networks or groups of scientists to be engaged: 30 (10 per SDG)
  • View rates: Increase in user traffic (view rates) for the edited articles - 15% after two years compared to start of project. (not achieved, some articles increased in pageviews, others dropped; overall there was an 11% drop.

Reasons for not improving the scores of some articles

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We did work on nearly all of the articles that we had pre-selected but some articles - which we later called “not improved” - have received only minor improvements which did not change the score. For example, adding a sentence about SDG 13 did improve the article but did not change its score.

The reasons that we didn’t work on (or did not improve the scores for) all of the articles that we had selected included one or several of the following:

  • Very low pageviews (less than 100)
  • Quality score at the base line was already quite high (higher than 80)
  • Could not identify suitable experts
  • Experts were contacted but either did not reply or did not send in comments on time
  • Relevance to the particular SDG was fairly low
  • Ran out of time (moved some of the articles to Phase 2)


Further article options for future project phases for SDG 6 and 14

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Further options for SDG 6 articles

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Possible additional articles or articles that we decided against:

If there was time left over, we could also improve these articles:

Further options for SDG 14 articles

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Articles considered but decided against:

Supporting resources

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How to edit for beginners

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Information on how to edit for beginners is included here, on the project page of the Wiki4Climate edit-a-thon in 2020.

Video tutorials for Wikipedia editing

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See our Youtube Playlist for several video tutorials for Wikipedia editing here.

Promotional videos about Wikipedia editing

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Video describing why it is important to contribute aquatic content to Wikipedia.
Video describing how to add aquatic information to Wikipedia

WikiProject Limnology & Oceanography (which is closely related to SDG 14) commissioned creation of two videos to describe the importance of contributing aquatic content to Wikipedia, and how to do so.

Guide for written peer reviews

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A guide for peer reviews is provided by WikiEdu here.

In general, the best Wikipedia articles have five elements:

  • A lead section that is easy to understand
  • A clear structure
  • Balanced coverage
  • Neutral content
  • Reliable sources

Guiding questions for reviewers (each should be answerable with "yes"):

Lead

  • Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
  • Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
  • Does the Lead include only information that is present in the article?
  • Is the Lead concise and not overly detailed? Does the lead not contain redundant information
  • Does the lead not give more weight to certain parts of the article over others?

The lead is the first section of an article. It usually states the most important information about the article's subject, and gives a good overview of the rest of the article. Good leads don't get too bogged down in detail, and don't simply repeat what's in the article below. You should be able to read the lead and feel like you have a pretty good grasp of what the article is about.

Content

  • Is the content relevant to the topic?
  • Is the content up-to-date?
  • Is there no content missing and all content belongs?
  • Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? If so: Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?
  • Does it not repeat content in too much detail which is better off in a sub-article?

Tone and Balance

  • Is the content neutral?
  • Are there no claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
  • Are there no viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
  • Does the content not attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Sources and References

  • Is all content backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
  • Does the content accurately reflect what the cited sources say? (You'll need to refer to the sources to check this.)
  • Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
  • Are the sources current?
  • Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
  • Are there no better sources available, such as peer-reviewed articles in place of news coverage or random websites? (You may need to do some digging to answer this.)
  • Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization

  • Is the content well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
  • Does the content have no grammatical or spelling errors?
  • Is the content well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Images and Media

  • Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
  • Are images well-captioned?
  • Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
  • Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
Examples of good feedback
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A good article evaluation can take a number of forms. The most essential things are to clearly identify the biggest shortcomings, and provide specific guidance on how the article can be improved.

Interviews with experts

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Examples of interviews with experts:

Possible new categories or navigation boxes

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Phase 1

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Logos of SDGs 6, 13 and 14 - the focus of this communications project

Basic project facts (Phase 1)

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  • Start: 1 Aug 2020
  • End: 31 July 2022
  • Project title: "Phase 1: Communication of SDG-related research knowledge in water and sanitation (SDG 6), climate action (SDG 13) and life below water (oceans) (SDG14) in Wikipedia while engaging professional networks"
  • Administrating organisation: Stockholm Environment Institute
  • Funder: Formas - a Swedish government research council for sustainable development and a state authority under the Swedish Ministry of the Environment. Formas also has funds and assignments from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
  • Wiki projects in focus: English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and a small component of Swedish Wikipedia

Core team members:

  • Arno Rosemarin (project manager), Stockholm, Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden
  • Elisabeth von Muench (project team member), Brisbane, Ostella Consulting, Australia/Germany
  • Olle Terenius (project team member), Uppsala, Uppsala University, Sweden (first six months only)

Publications about the project:

WikiProjects and Wikipedia initiatives that we engaged with: All SDGs: WikiProject International Relations, WikiProject United Nations, WikiProject Globalization, WikiProject Sustainability, WikiProject International Development, (no significant responses received through any of these)

SDG 6: WikiProject Sanitation, WikiProject Pollution (no significant responses received)

SDG 13:

SDG 14:

Project Dashboard: Participants can join by adding their Wikipedia login names to the project dashboard here (after logging into to Wikipedia; if the link it clicked while not logged in it will ask for a passcode; the way the dashboard is set up is that it will only log edits made to predetermined Wikipedia articles) - we didn't really use this tool in the end.

Background (Phase 1)

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This project has its main focus on three SDGs that are directly impacted by changes to the environment (freshwater, climate and oceans). There are also linkages to agriculture (irrigation, reuse of nutrients from excreta, eutrophication) and to spatial planning and infrastructure (water supply, sanitation infrastructure such as sewer systems, renewable energy systems). The project will emphasize the communication of cross-cutting issues between the SDGs - integrating socio-political, economic and environmental aspects.

This project is important because there are gaps between what various stakeholder groups find on the internet and the published scientific work on SDG-related topics. That much of the specialized literature containing critical knowledge is unavailable to the informed public is a handicap in the dissemination and implementation of the SDGs. Wikipedia articles usually appear at the top of internet search results but are incomplete in many areas. Wikipedia therefore has a key role in helping promote the SDGs but the improvement of the key articles making use of available scientific expertise is necessary.

It is also part of the meetups on SDGs and connected to a larger initiative called "Wiki loves SDGs" which is supported by members of Wikimedians for Sustainable Development.

Diversity aspects

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The project will emphasize gender and diversity aspects as well as content provided by research from the Global South.

Goals and objectives (Phase 1)

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The overall goal of this project is to inform the public about the SDGs, initially focusing on SDGs 6, 13 and 14. This will be done by using Wikipedia as communication channel for the products of the work and for how we communicate with other Wikipedia editors. The project target group is the informed public searching the internet for information. This includes researchers, educators, local government decision makers, journalists, students, entrepreneurs and consultants.

Another target group for participation is high school students. We believe that the strength among the coming generation is to be taken seriously and that integrating writing about SDGs will not only teach them about the goals, but also how to write technically (in English) and how to value and cite different sources of information.

The specific objectives of the project are to:

  • assist scientists/scholars to bring their work to Wikipedia as a medium to convey their knowledge about SDG-related topics;
  • focus on readability for laypersons and those with first language not English;
  • involve experts from low-income countries; not just the volunteers/researchers from the Global North that dominate Wikipedia editing efforts today;
  • encourage more subject matter experts to write in Wikipedia, rather than only relying on volunteers with limited topics of interest;
  • bridge the gap between experts and those who are looking for information on Wikipedia about SDGs;
  • make use of professional networks on both sides of the ledger in order to reach out and market the project work
  • teach Swedish high school students at some selected pilot schools to add content to SDG-related articles (for the English Wikipedia) and to translate part of the SDG articles developed into Swedish Wikipedia. (we had to drop this activity due to Corona-related school closures)

List of content experts (Phase 1)

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We had 39 content experts who helped us with improving the Wikipedia articles in Phase 1:

SDG 6 topics:

  1. Darold Batzer, University of Georgia, United States (Wikipedia article: Wetland)
  2. Edward A. Laws, Louisiana State University, United States (Water pollution)
  3. Guy Geltner, University of Amsterdam and Monash University, The Netherlands and Australia (public health, early history)
  4. Linda Strande, EAWAG, Switzerland (Fecal sludge management)
  5. Marcos von Sperling, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Brazil (Sewage treatment, Wastewater treatment, Sewage)
  6. Mesfin Mekonnen, The University of Alabama, United States (Water scarcity)
  7. Oliver Jones, RMIT University, Australia (Water pollution)
  8. Sally Bloomfield, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK (Hygiene)
  9. Tom Crook, Oxford Brookes University (Public health)
  10. Virginia Berridge, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK (Public health)
  11. Anonymous reviewer 1 (Capacity building)

SDG 13 topics:

  1. Baylor Fox-Kemper (User:Baylorfk), Brown University, United States (an IPCC AR 6 report author worked with his students on e.g. sea surface temperature, climate change in Antarctica)
  2. Blair Trewin, Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (Instrumental temperature record) - an IPCC AR 6 report author
  3. Fiona Charlson, University of Queensland, Australia (Effects of climate change on mental health)
  4. Henry Shue, Merton College, Oxford, UK (Climate Justice)
  5. Ian Hamilton, University College London, UK (Effects of climate change on human health)
  6. Gonéri Le Cozannet (User:Goneri Le Cozannet), BRGM French Geologic Survey / Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, France (Sea level rise) - an IPCC AR 6 report author
  7. Jonathan Lynn (User:Jonathanlynn), France (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
  8. Nick Watts, National Health Service (NHS England & NHS Improvement), UK (Effects of climate change on human health)
  9. Peter Alexander, University of Edinburgh (User:PAlandus), UK (Effects of climate change on agriculture) - an IPCC AR 6 report author
  10. Pierre Friedlingstein, University of Exeter, UK (carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere)
  11. Richard Taylor, Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden (Climate change adaptation)
  12. Thian Yew Gan, University of Alberta, Canada (Effects of climate change) - an IPCC AR 6 report author

SDG 14 topics:

  1. David A. Fennell, Brock University, Canada (Sustainable tourism)
  2. Gianluca Ferraro, University of Portsmouth, UK (Marine plastic pollution)
  3. Michael Petterson, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand (Sustainable Development Goal 14)
  4. Ivan Nagelkerken, University of Adelaide, Australia (Coast)
  5. Tim Jickells, University of East Anglia, UK (Ocean, eutrophication, harmful algal bloom, coastal waters, effects of climate change on oceans)
  6. F. Stuart Chapin III (Terry Chapin), University of Alaska Fairbanks, United States (Ecosystem)

Topics related to several SDGs:

  1. Ben Purvis, University of Sheffield, UK (Sustainability)
  2. Christian Berg (User:Seemountain), Clausthal University of Technology, Germany (Sustainability)
  3. Lisa M. Butler Harrington, Professor Emeritus, Kansas State University, United States (Sustainability)
  4. Michael Medley, Center for Social Development Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (Official development assistance)
  5. Murray W. Scown, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (Sustainable development goals)
  6. Sarah Cornell, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden Planetary Boundaries
  7. Thomas Hickmann, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (Sustainable development goals)
  8. Tom Kuhlman (User:TK26), retired from Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands (Sustainability)
  9. William C. Clark (Bill Clark), Harvard University, USA (Sustainable development)

Contributor with a focus on readability improvements and standard structure for "climate change by country" articles:

  1. Diane Kellogg (User:PlanetCare), Bentley University (Emerita), United States (Sustainability, sustainable tourism, Sustainable Development Goals, Climate change in Finland, Ocean, Water pollution, Climate change in Kenya, Climate change in Ghana, Climate change in Brazil, Climate change in Mexico, Ecosystem, Climate change in Norway, Climate change in Sweden)

Books and publications provided by content experts (Phase 1)

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Some content experts sent us pdf files of their own books or their own publications that are behind paywalls so that we could utilise them without having to purchase a copy. The following is an incomplete list (focused on textbooks):

  • For sewage, wastewater, sewage treatment, wastewater treatment: Von Sperling, M. (2015). "Wastewater Characteristics, Treatment and Disposal". Water Intelligence Online. 6: 9781780402086. doi:10.2166/9781780402086. ISSN 1476-1777 (this book is in fact open access already)
  • For ecosystem and eutrophication by Terry Chapin: Chapin, F. Stuart, III (2011). "Chapter 1: The Ecosystem Concept". Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology. P. A. Matson, Peter Morrison Vitousek, Melissa C. Chapin (2nd ed.). New York: Springer. ISBN 978-1-4419-9504-9. OCLC 755081405.
  • For water pollution by Oliver jones: Jones OA, Gomes RL (2013). "Chapter 1: Chemical Pollution of the Aquatic Environment by Priority Pollutants and its Control". Pollution: Causes, Effects and Control (5th ed.). Royal Society of Chemistry. ISBN 978-1-84973-648-0.
  • For sustainable tourism by David Fennell: Fennell, David A.; Cooper, Chris (2020). Sustainable Tourism: Principles, Contexts and Practices. Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit: Multilingual Matters. pp. 198, 234. doi:10.21832/9781845417673. ISBN 978-1-84541-767-3. S2CID 228913882.
  • For sustainability by Christian Berg: Berg, Christian (2020). Sustainable action : overcoming the barriers. Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN 978-0-429-57873-1. OCLC 1124780147.
  • For water security by David Grey: Sadoff, Claudia; Grey, David; Borgomeo, Edoardo (2020), "Water Security", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.609, ISBN 978-0-19-938941-4, retrieved 2022-04-12
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