User:ChrisGualtieri/Writing/AFC

This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

If you are reading this, then you probably have had an article declined by me. The reason for writing this is to assist in allowing a personalized and detailed guide on ensuring that it doesn't get declined again. It will also give plenty of assistance to help in assessing whether or not your article should be on Wikipedia.

I will not pass any article which has no sources. At least one source is required for even the smallest of stubs. Wikipedia doesn't need any more articles without sources, simply because WP:BACKLOG shows that the "Category:All articles lacking sources" has 234,000 unsourced articles. That's 16% of all Wikipedia articles are unsourced. There is another group which desperately needs more. "Category:Articles needing additional references" has another 232,000 weakly sourced articles. That's another 16%. So a third of Wikipedia articles wouldn't pass AFC. (All values as of May 26th)

Secondly, WP:Notability is often determined by seeing if reliable sources about the subject exist. See WP:Reliable sources for more information on reliable sources. The article will then only have to pass WP:GNG to be included. This means, the article cannot be based on trivial mentions or press releases such as single sentences in a larger work. See the footnotes on GNG. No trivial mentions and no self-publications are key. If no one reports or details the subject of an article then chances are it may not be notable enough for inclusion.