Learn How to Create Wikipedia Articles

Understanding Wikipedia's Purpose and Community Standards

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that anyone can read and edit. It was founded in 2001 and has grown to include millions of articles in hundreds of languages. The English Wikipedia alone contains over 6.7 million articles written and maintained by volunteer editors around the world. Unlike traditional encyclopedias, Wikipedia's content is created and updated by its community of editors rather than a single publishing company.

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Before you begin creating an article, it's important to understand Wikipedia's core mission: to create a free, neutral, and reliable source of information for everyone. This means Wikipedia articles should present information from a balanced perspective, cite sources, and avoid promoting particular viewpoints or products. Wikipedia operates under a set of fundamental principles that all editors agree to follow, whether they are casual contributors or longtime community members.

The Wikipedia community has developed detailed guidelines about what types of articles belong on the site. Articles should cover topics that are notable—meaning they have received significant coverage in reliable sources like books, newspapers, and academic journals. This doesn't mean your topic has to be famous; it means there should be documented evidence that your topic has been written about seriously by credible sources. A local business, for example, would need coverage in local news publications to meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines.

Wikipedia also emphasizes the importance of neutrality. Articles should not advocate for or against a particular person, organization, or viewpoint. This means avoiding language that promotes, criticizes, or shows bias toward the subject. When sensitive topics are covered, multiple perspectives should be presented fairly based on what reliable sources say.

Practical Takeaway: Before starting your article, research whether your topic meets Wikipedia's notability standards by looking for mentions in newspapers, magazines, books, or academic sources. Visit Wikipedia's notability guidelines page to review specific criteria for your topic area, such as people, organizations, events, or creative works.

Researching and Gathering Reliable Sources

Creating a Wikipedia article requires solid research and reliable sources. Wikipedia's editors expect every factual claim to be backed up by references to trustworthy publications. What counts as a reliable source? Wikipedia recognizes books published by established publishers, articles from newspapers and magazines, academic journals, government documents, and other publications produced by organizations with editorial standards. Blog posts, social media, self-published works, and websites without editorial oversight generally do not qualify as reliable sources.

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Before you write, compile a list of sources about your topic. Aim for at least three to five reliable sources, though more is better. These sources should ideally be from different publishers or authors to show that your topic has received independent coverage. If your sources all come from a single publication or author, that may not be sufficient to demonstrate notability. As you gather sources, take notes on what information appears in multiple sources—this helps confirm accuracy and shows what information is truly important about your topic.

The quality and type of sources matter significantly. Primary sources—like original documents, interviews, or firsthand accounts—should be used sparingly and usually only for factual information like dates or quotes. Secondary sources—like news articles about events or academic articles analyzing a topic—are preferred because they provide context and interpretation. Wikipedia generally avoids relying too heavily on sources created by the subject itself or their organization, as these lack the independence that Wikipedia values.

When gathering sources, pay attention to their publication date. For historical topics, older sources are expected and appropriate. For current events or living people, more recent sources show that information is still relevant and accurate. Keep track of publication details for each source: the author, title, publication name, publication date, and page numbers or URL. You will need this information to create proper citations in your article.

Practical Takeaway: Create a research document listing each source about your topic with complete publication details. For each source, write two to three sentences summarizing the main points it covers. This organized approach will make writing your article much faster and ensure you have proper citations ready before you begin.

Creating Your Wikipedia Account and Learning the Platform

While anyone can read Wikipedia, creating an account is necessary to create new articles or make most edits. Creating an account is straightforward and free. Visit Wikipedia's main page and look for the "Create account" link in the top right corner. You will need to choose a username, provide an email address, and create a password. Wikipedia usernames are permanent, so choose something professional and appropriate. Avoid using your full name if you prefer privacy, as your username will be visible on the article's history page.

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After creating your account, spend time exploring Wikipedia's editing tools and structure. Visit the Wikipedia Handbook, which is a comprehensive guide created by the community. Read through sections on editing basics, article structure, and citation formatting. Look at several well-written articles in your topic area to see how experienced editors structure information, organize sections, and cite sources. Wikipedia's article structure typically follows a predictable pattern: a lead section introducing the topic, followed by body sections with descriptive headings, and sometimes sections for history, impact, or criticism depending on the subject.

Understanding Wikipedia's markup language and editing tools will make your work much easier. Wikipedia uses a simple code system for formatting text. For example, putting two single quotation marks on each side of text makes it italic, and three makes it bold. Links to other Wikipedia articles are created using double brackets around the article title. Citations are added using reference tags. Most of this can be done using the visual editor, which is more intuitive for new editors. The visual editor lets you format text and add citations by clicking buttons rather than typing code.

Before creating a new article, make some edits to existing articles to become comfortable with the process. This gives you experience with the editing interface and helps you understand how Wikipedia's community works. Try adding a citation to an unsourced claim, fixing a spelling error, or expanding a stub article. Small edits build your credibility and help you learn the platform's expectations and culture.

Practical Takeaway: Create your Wikipedia account today and make at least five small edits to existing articles before creating a new article. Choose edits related to your topic area so you learn about the existing articles and see what standards the community expects. This practice period also helps you become familiar with the editing interface and citation tools.

Drafting Your Article Before Publication

Creating your article in a draft space before publishing it to the main encyclopedia is strongly recommended. This approach gives you time to write carefully, get feedback from other editors, and make sure your article meets Wikipedia's standards. To create a draft, start a new article in your user space by visiting "Create article" and choosing "User page" as the location. Name it something like "User:YourUsername/TopicName" to keep it organized. Draft articles in your user space are more private and allow you to work without the article being indexed by search engines or immediately visible to all Wikipedia readers.

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When writing your article, follow Wikipedia's standard structure. Begin with a lead section that provides a concise overview of your topic in one to four paragraphs. The lead should answer the basic questions about your topic: What is it? Why is it important? When and where did it originate? After the lead, organize body sections with clear headings that break up your content logically. For a person, you might use sections like "Early Life," "Career," and "Personal Life." For an organization, you might use "History," "Operations," and "Impact." For an event, consider "Background," "Events," and "Aftermath."

As you write, remember that Wikipedia articles should be encyclopedic in tone—informative and neutral rather than promotional or personal. Avoid using "I" or "you." Don't include opinions, promotional language, or arguments for or against your topic. Present facts that are documented in your sources and attribute information to those sources through citations. When information is disputed or controversial, note what different reliable sources say about the issue rather than taking a side.

Wikipedia has guidelines about article length and depth. Longer articles covering notable topics can run thousands of words, while less prominent topics might be appropriately covered in much shorter articles. Look at similar articles about topics related to yours to gauge appropriate length. Include every section that is relevant to your topic but avoid unnecessary detail. If a section would be very long, consider whether it should be a separate, linked article instead.

Practical Takeaway: Write your article in a user space draft, following Wikipedia's standard structure with a lead section and organized body sections. After completing your draft, read it aloud to yourself and check that every factual claim has a source. Ask yourself whether the article would be interesting and informative to someone who knows nothing about the topic.

Understanding Wikipedia's Citation and Reference