Wikipedia:How to copy-edit Information & Wikipedia:How to copy-edit Links at HealthHaven.com

This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Use common sense in applying it; it will have occasional exceptions. Please ensure that any edits to this page reflect consensus.

Shortcut: WP:COPYEDIT

To find a list of articles that need copy editing, see Wikipedia:Community_portal#Todo.

For general help with editing articles, see Wikipedia:How to edit a page.

The discovery of pages in need of editing may surprise new visitors to Wikipedia. This is the "encyclopedia that anyone can edit", and they do! This challenge is easily addressed via the process of ongoing proofreading, copy-editing, fact checking, and rewriting by the community of Wikipedia users. Here are some quick and easy ways to improve Wikipedia pages:

Common edits

Words that are being defined, described, or referenced as words should be italicized. Example: The term style also refers to the layout of an article.

Headings should generally be noun phrases (History of...), and not prepositional phrases (About the history of ...).

Headings begin with a single capital letter. The only other capital letters in headings are in proper nouns and acronyms: Differences in defining art, Critical response, Landscape architecture and urban planning in the United Kingdom, UNESCO.

Titles of works of art, literature, etc., should be italicized rather than in quotation marks, e.g., Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Notable exceptions are titles of songs or brief poems, e.g., "Can't Buy Me Love" or "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". Italics are required, though, for a song cycle such as Winterreise or the title of a longer poem such as Four Quartets. The name of an individual episode of a TV series should also be in quotation marks, while the series name itself is italicized: "Welcome to the Hellmouth" is the premiere episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Unless forming part of a quotation, contractions (don't, can't, etc.) should be changed to non-contracted forms (do not, cannot, etc.).

Confusing its and it's is a common mistake. It's, a contraction of it is or it has, should not be used unless it occurs in a quotation, as with other contracted forms (see the previous rule). Its, the possessive of it, should be used in the same way as my, his, her, our, etc.

When not at the end of a sentence, location constructions such as Vilnius, Lithuania, call for a comma after the second element. (Example: He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, after the country gained independence.) Similarly, dates written in the American style demand a comma after the year unless the date falls at the end of the sentence. (Example: On January 15, 1947, she commenced tertiary study.)

External links generally belong at the end of an article, under the heading External links. References are an exception and should match the link in the reference section; these are then handled automatically.

With a few exceptions, terms conventionally considered unnecessarily formal should be eliminated. Words and phrases such as due to the fact that and utilize are unnecessary in an encyclopedia; instead, use because and use, respectively. Exceptions exist primarily when there are variations in usage that are geographically based. If you are unsure about an incidence of a word in question, just leave it, as someone will undoubtedly come along and fix it if it is incorrect.

Vague terms of size, such as a number of and a vast majority of, are usually redundant; consider several and most as alternatives, or request/insert specific numbers.

Some articles are excessively wordy. Vigorous, effective writing is clear and concise. See Plain English.

The name of a decade has no apostrophe before the s; an apostrophe indicates the possessive form of a single year: She was born in the 1980s, but: 1980's commencement address was exceptional (Better: The commencement address of 1980 was exceptional). If referring to a decade without its century, remember to add an apostrophe in its place: She was born some time in the '80s.

See also notices should be in a section titled "See also" if relevant to most of the article. For notices specific to a particular section, use one of these hatnotes.

Edit summaries

Spelling

Further information: American and British English spelling differences

Please correct spelling mistakes and typos; correcting them contributes greatly to the quality of Wikipedia. You are free to use spell-checking software; however, please remember that no spell-checker is completely accurate. Also, be extremely careful when editing pages written in languages in which you are not fluent.

When there is no strong national or regional relationship to a topic, Wikipedia has no preference for American, British, or any other variety of English. Generally, an article about a certain English-speaking region or place should be written in the form of English used there. It is important, however, for usage to remain consistent within an article. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style#National varieties of English for guidelines. Make sure to review the entire article before deciding that an author has mistakenly written flavour, colour, centre or defence (or flavor, color, center, or defense). Many words spelled with -ize in Canada and the USA are spelled with -ise in Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Again, check for consistency within an article. As always, when in doubt, look it up!

Also, please check the talk page. Some talk pages may have banners that indicate which spelling is used throughout the article. If not, please consider putting one of the four main spelling banners at the header of the talk page:

Technical and stylistic questions

If you have a question about English grammar, punctuation, or style, you may wish to seek advice at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language or Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Grammar.

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More advice

External links

Guide to Grammar and Style by Jack Lynch

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