Have you ever tried writing an article on Wikipedia?
If yes, then how many attempts did you make before being approved?
I am sure many of you have made failed attempts on Wikipedia. Are you aware of the mistakes you might have committed while writing the article? Here we will come across the basics of writing an article on Wikipedia and how we can increase the chances of getting it approved. Wikipedia is a free digital encyclopedia where a user can gain knowledge using it. Many volunteers make use of it to share information on Wikipedia. You can be one of them. 

How to get started with Wikipedia?

First, you have to create a regular account on Wikipedia and then verify it. Without an account, you cannot edit or write an article, so a user account is a must.

How to choose the topic for your article?

Search the subject in the Wikipedia search box and check whether it already exists or not. If not, then you can be the first one to write about it. When you are choosing a topic, you have to keep several things in mind:

1. The article should not be about you, your family, or someone/something related to you. 
2. It should not include promotion or advertisement in any form.
3. The subject you choose should be based on facts and information and not someone’s interest.
4. It is advisable not to publish any personal/original work or essay.
5. It should not spread negativity or defame a person or an organization. 

Difference between notable and non-notable topics

Thousands of articles get removed from Wikipedia daily due to lack of notability. What exactly is this notability? If you want to publish an article on Wikipedia, the subject, the sources, and the content must be worthy. When you choose a topic, you must make sure that it is worth reading by the users. You cannot pick up any subject and start writing about it.

Next step after choosing a “Notable Topic”

After choosing a Notable Topic, you must research it. It would help if you spent a reasonable amount of time studying it and try to gather as many sources and references on the web. The sources must be from a reputable newspaper, respected publisher, or some literature reviews. 

Features of a high-quality source:

1. Sources must consist of a substantial and extensive discussion about the topic. It must be present over an extended period.
2.  Sources must be written or published independently of the subject. Hence the company’s website, social media handles, or press releases are not reliable.

If most of your sources pass these criteria, then your references can be considered as high-quality and reliable.

How to look for the sources and references?

If one wants to look for some references, they will directly go for web-search. But that’s not the correct way. It would help if you searched for the sources using google books and news archives. Wikipedia accepts and considers references from the books and news articles of high-quality. By looking for it in this manner, it will help you to save your time. 

When you study your references, write the notes and points you want to include in your article. It will help you to build the structure of your page.

Gather your references together and start with the article

As you have set your inventory, now you are good to go. Build the page using the points you have made and use the reference link to back the points. Remember one thing, never copy-paste stuff from other websites. It will lead to the violation of copyright policy. You can include relatively short quotations. Try to avoid all spelling and grammatical errors. Also, make your that your article is readable, and the readers find it easy to understand

If you write an article about a notable topic backed by high-quality sources and references, along with fluent language, your content is most likely to be approved by the Wikipedia volunteers.