Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Assessment/A-Class

A-Class assessments may only be assigned following a successful A-Class review within the project. The review is closed by a project coordinator who determines whether or not there is a consensus to promote the article. Promotion typically requires a minimum of two uninvolved editors who are each satisfied that the article meets all of the necessary criteria.

Criteria for A-Class status

A-Class film articles are expected to meet all of the following criteria:

1. The article is fully referenced with a consistent citation style. All claims are verifiable against reliable sources, accurately represent the relevant body of published knowledge, and are supported with specific evidence and external citations as appropriate.

   All material likely to be challenged by a reasonable person should be referenced, which probably translates to a density of at least one citation per paragraph. In particular, any figures (for example, box office results) and any direct quotations must be cited to a reliable source. Special arrangements apply to the lead section (see WP:LEADCITE).

2. The article is comprehensive, factually accurate, neutral and focused on the main topic. It neglects no major facts or details, presents views fairly and without bias, and does not go into unnecessary detail.

   The article reflects all major aspects of the subject, reports all viewpoints even-handedly, and contains an appropriate amount of context. At the same time, the article should not become the equivalent of a 300-page journal; plot summaries in particular are expected to conform to the style guidelines, and should typically be between 400 and 700 words long. Be detailed, but be concise.

3. The article has an appropriate structure of hierarchical headings, including a concise lead section that summarizes the topic and prepares the reader for the detail in subsequent sections, and a substantial but not overwhelming table of contents.

   The combination of introduction and table of contents should present a logical overview of the article's contents, and make navigation easier for people would do not wish to read the entire article.

4. The article is written in concise and articulate English; its prose is clear, is in line with style guidelines, and does not require substantial copy-editing to be fully MoS-compliant.

   We're looking for professional standards of English, with the emphasis on brevity and clarity. We do not expect 100% MoS-compliance; that can be achieved with a technical copy-edit immediately prior to FAC. However, we do expect articles to handle linking, date formats, currencies, referencing and citation, and national spelling varieties in a consistent manner.

5. The article contains all necessary supporting materials, including (where appropriate) an infobox, images, tables or navigation templates.

   This is about balance. The idea here is to ensure that articles are neither solid walls of text nor picture books. All non-free images are expected to conform to the non-free content guideline.

How to request, conduct and close an A-Class review

Instructions

Requesting a review

To request an A-Class review of an article:

1. Add |A-Class=current to the {{Film}} project banner at the top of the article's talk page (see the project banner documentation for more details on the exact syntax).
2. Click where it says "follow this link" in the template. This will open a pre-formatted page for the review of the article.
3. Give your reason for nominating the article in the appropriate place, and save the page.
4. Add {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Films/Assessment/Name of nominated article}} at the top of the list of A-Class review requests below.
5. Transclude the review onto the article talk page by adding {{subst:WPFILMS A-Class review}} to the bottom of the article talk page.

If an article is being nominated a second (or third, and so forth) time, either because it failed a prior nomination, or because it may no longer meet the standards and may thus need to be demoted:

1. Move (do not copy) the existing review subpage (Wikipedia:WikiProject Films/Assessment/Name of nominated article) to an archive (Wikipedia:WikiProject Films/Assessment/Name of nominated article/Archive 1).
2. Update the link for the previous review in the {{ArticleHistory}} template on the article's talk page.
3. Update the transclusion in the relevant assessment archive page, found by using the "What Links Here" feature. Check for any other links or transclusions which may need updating.
4. Set the |A-Class= parameter in the {{Film}} project banner to "current".
5. Follow the instructions for making a request above; edit Wikipedia:WikiProject Films/Assessment/Name of nominated article, which will now be a redirect to the archive, into a new nomination page by pasting the following code and adding your reason for the nomination in the appropriate place:

=== [[{{<includeonly>subst:</includeonly>SUBPAGENAME}}]] ===

:<small>''Nominator: ~~<includeonly></includeonly>~~''</small>
<noinclude>{{WPFILMS A-Class toolbox|1=<includeonly>{{subst:SUBPAGENAME}}</includeonly>}}</noinclude>
<!-- Please don't edit anything above here; just include your reasons for nominating below. -->

I am nominating this article for A-Class review because... ~~<includeonly></includeonly>~~

There is no limit on how quickly renominations of failed articles may be made; it is perfectly acceptable to renominate as soon as the outstanding objections from the previous nomination have been satisfied.

Commenting

The project's A-Class standard is deliberately set high, very close to the criteria for featured articles. Reviewers should therefore satisfy themselves that the article meets all of the A-Class criteria before supporting a nomination. As with featured articles, any objections must be "actionable", that is, capable of rectification.

Closing and archiving

Reviews will remain open for a maximum of one calendar month or until such earlier time as a project coordinator determines that either (a) clear consensus to promote or to fail exists or (b) no consensus will be reached (in which case the status quo prevails). Consensus to promote normally requires that (a) it has garnered an absolute minimum of two endorsements from uninvolved editors, and (b) any criteria-based objections have been entirely resolved.

To close a review, coordinators should:

1. Add {{subst:archive top}} and {{subst:archive bottom}} to the top and bottom of the review subpage, respectively.
2. Change the |A-Class=current in the {{Film}} project banner at the top of the article's talk page to either |A-Class=pass (if the nomination is successful) or |A-Class=fail (if it is not), and update the assessment class if needed.
3. Move the {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Films/Assessment/Name of nominated article}} from the list of requests below to the current archive page.
4. Add a new milestone to the talk page's {{ArticleHistory}} template, with action#=WAR. See the template page for further instructions on how to add the other necessary parameters for a given milestone. (Add the entire template if it does not already exist on the page.)
5. Remove the article link from the A-Class review list at {{WPFILMS Announcements}}, and add the article to the relevant section at the project's Spotlight department.

Frequently asked questions

Can anyone review A-Class articles? How much experience do you need?

If you're familiar with B-Class assessments, you'll find the transition to A-Class reviewing very easy indeed. The A-Class criteria cover the same ground – A1 is a stricter version of B1, A2 is a more comprehensive and tighter definition of B2 – and so forth. The key thing is that A-Class should represent the project's best work and the reviews should be approached with this in mind.

What is the difference between A-Class and a Good Article?

The key difference between A-Class and GA is focus – content vs style. An A-Class article should be complete and comprehensive in terms of content, and one can forgive a few style problems; a Good Article has not necessarily had any review by a subject-expert, and so it might not be complete, but it is often held to higher standards on style issues.

What is the difference between A-Class and a Featured Article?

Although the standard for A-Class is set relatively high, an article is not expected to fully conform to the criteria for featured status. Any objections should indicate a substantive problem with the article; in particular, objections over relatively minor issues of writing style or formatting should be avoided at this stage. A comprehensive, accurate, well-sourced, and decently-written article should qualify for A-Class status even if it could use some further work.