Guidelines
edit- Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and has a distinct style that may take some time getting used to.
- It is important that articles use the best sources and content is given due weight. Different from scientific papers, Wikipedia medical and health content is preferably sourced to secondary sources over primary sources. Citing a review article is preferred over an original trial.
- To get you started and to explain why this is important here are a number of guides and guidelines:
Reliable Sources (medicine) Manual of Style (medicine-related articles) Conflicts of Interest How to edit
- Our guides complement Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines and take great care to explain why they are relevant.
Article Alerts
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Today's featured article requests
- 04 Feb 2025 – Prostate cancer (talk · edit · hist) has been proposed for Today's Featured Article by Z1720 (t · c); see discussion
Did you know
- 03 Dec 2024 – Abortion in Mauritius (talk · edit · hist) was nominated for DYK by Vigilantcosmicpenguin (t · c); see discussion
Articles for deletion
- 22 Dec 2024 – Brian Thompson (businessman) (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Coretheapple (t · c); see discussion (26 participants)
- 21 Dec 2024 – Vabbing (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Qwirkle (t · c); see discussion (2 participants)
- 17 Dec 2024 – AEYE Health (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Bilby (t · c); see discussion (2 participants; relisted)
- 17 Dec 2024 – Nathalie Beasnael (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Dclemens1971 (t · c); see discussion (2 participants; relisted)
- 15 Dec 2024 – Ram Vishwakarma (talk · edit · hist) was AfDed by Taabii (t · c); see discussion (3 participants; relisted)
- 12 Dec 2024 – Suppression of tumorigenicity 8 (ovarian) (talk · edit · hist) AfDed by Jared BioE (t · c) was closed as delete by Vanamonde93 (t · c) on 19 Dec 2024; see discussion (1 participant)
Proposed deletions
- 22 Dec 2024 – National Society of Certified Healthcare Business Consultants (talk · edit · hist) was PRODed by LibStar (t · c): Unreferenced for 19 years. Fails WP:ORG.
- 20 Dec 2024 – Naeem Sadiq (talk · edit · hist) PRODed by 2405:201:D012:9054:B4DB:ED99:5491:C79C (t · c) was deproded by SunloungerFrog (t · c) on 22 Dec 2024
Categories for discussion
- 16 Dec 2024 – Category:Fictional parasite characters (talk · edit · hist) CfDed by AHI-3000 (t · c) was closed; see discussion
Redirects for discussion
- 12 Dec 2024 – Pregnant men (talk · edit · hist) →Transgender pregnancy was RfDed by LIrala (t · c); see discussion
- undated – Gender delusion (talk · edit · hist) →Gender dysphoria was RfDed
Good article nominees
- 24 Dec 2024 – Salt water aspiration syndrome (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Strange Orange (t · c); start discussion
- 23 Dec 2024 – Doxycycline (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Maxim Masiutin (t · c); start discussion
- 23 Dec 2024 – Drug-eluting stent (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Maxim Masiutin (t · c); start discussion
- 23 Dec 2024 – Ketotifen (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Maxim Masiutin (t · c); start discussion
- 23 Dec 2024 – Modafinil (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Maxim Masiutin (t · c); start discussion
- 23 Dec 2024 – CYP4F2 (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Maxim Masiutin (t · c); start discussion
- 23 Dec 2024 – Parkinson's disease (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by HAL333 (t · c); start discussion
- 23 Dec 2024 – Transgender health care misinformation (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Your Friendly Neighborhood Sociologist (t · c); start discussion
- 17 Dec 2024 – Abortion in Senegal (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by Vigilantcosmicpenguin (t · c); start discussion
- 09 Dec 2024 – Edemariam Tsega (talk · edit · hist) was GA nominated by FuzzyMagma (t · c); start discussion
- (8 more...)
Requests for comments
- 14 Dec 2024 – Parkinson's disease (talk · edit · hist) RfC by HAL333 (t · c) was closed; see discussion
Peer reviews
- 15 Dec 2024 – Intersex healthcare (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by Urchincrawler (t · c); see discussion
- 04 Dec 2024 – Hiroshima Maidens (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by Spookyaki (t · c); see discussion
- 03 Dec 2024 – Neurocysticercosis (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by IntentionallyDense (t · c); see discussion
- 22 Oct 2024 – Crohn's disease (talk · edit · hist) has been put up for PR by AdeptLearner123 (t · c); see discussion
Requested moves
- 19 Dec 2024 – Sowa Rigpa (Traditional Tibetan medicine) (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Traditional Tibetan medicine by Seefooddiet (t · c); see discussion
- 15 Dec 2024 – Niacin (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Nicotinic acid by Arthurfragoso (t · c); see discussion
- 12 Dec 2024 – 2023–2024 Gaza Strip preterm births (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to Effects of the Israel-Hamas war on pregnancy and childbirth in the Gaza Strip by DocZach (t · c); see discussion
- 07 Dec 2024 – University of California, San Diego School of Medicine (talk · edit · hist) is requested to be moved to UC San Diego School of Medicine by Coolcaesar (t · c); see discussion
- 22 Dec 2024 – University of California, San Francisco (talk · edit · hist) move request to UCSF by Theparties (t · c) was not moved; see discussion
- 14 Dec 2024 – Zoonotic origins of COVID-19 (talk · edit · hist) move request to COVID-19 zoonotic origin theory by 85.206.30.170 (t · c) was not moved; see discussion
- 12 Dec 2024 – Suicide among LGBTQ youth (talk · edit · hist) move request to Suicide among LGBTQ people by Helper201 (t · c) was moved to Suicide among LGBTQ people (talk · edit · hist) by Adumbrativus (t · c) on 20 Dec 2024; see discussion
Articles to be merged
- 20 Dec 2024 – Psychoneuroendocrinology (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Psychoneuroimmunology by 2A01:CB16:64:AE30:0:15:9752:CD01 (t · c); see discussion
- 19 Dec 2024 – Zoonotic origins of COVID-19 (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Origin of SARS-CoV-2 by Lardlegwarmers (t · c); see discussion
- 10 Dec 2024 – Sexual anomalies (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Disorders of sex development by Urchincrawler (t · c); see discussion
- 10 Dec 2024 – Disorders of sex development (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Sexual anomalies by Urchincrawler (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Dec 2024 – Email apnea (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Email by IntentionallyDense (t · c); see discussion
- 01 Dec 2024 – Norepinephrine–dopamine releasing agent (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Amphetamine type stimulant by Klbrain (t · c); see discussion
- 07 Nov 2024 – Amphetamine type stimulant (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Norepinephrine–dopamine releasing agent by 76.174.0.57 (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Oct 2024 – Global spread of H5N1 in 2007 (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Global spread of H5N1 by Klbrain (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Oct 2024 – Global spread of H5N1 in 2005 (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Global spread of H5N1 by Klbrain (t · c); see discussion
- 25 Sep 2024 – Splint (medicine) (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for merging to Orthotics by Rui Gabriel Correia (t · c); see discussion
- (6 more...)
Articles to be split
- 04 Dec 2024 – Fluticasone furoate (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Tikmok (t · c); see discussion
- 08 Jul 2024 – List of common misconceptions (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by WhatamIdoing (t · c); see discussion
- 22 Apr 2024 – State health agency (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by GobsPint (t · c); see discussion
- 20 Apr 2024 – Health department (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by GobsPint (t · c); see discussion
- 28 Mar 2024 – United Network for Organ Sharing (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by 45.26.61.142 (t · c); see discussion
- 03 Jan 2024 – Anisakis (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Artoria2e5 (t · c); see discussion
- 17 Nov 2023 – Mycoplasma (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Artoria2e5 (t · c); see discussion
- 27 May 2023 – Health advocacy (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Felix QW (t · c); see discussion
- 31 Mar 2023 – Range of motion (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by Urbourbo (t · c); see discussion
- 02 Oct 2022 – Soft diet (talk · edit · hist) is proposed for splitting by AngusWOOF (t · c); see discussion
- (6 more...)
Articles for creation
- 24 Dec 2024 – Draft:Axe Brand Universal Oil (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Provident76 (t · c)
- 18 Dec 2024 – Draft:Dana Vulin (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Washlab (t · c)
- 16 Dec 2024 – Draft:Transplant Benefit Score (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by The Anome (t · c)
- 14 Dec 2024 – Draft:Luciano Gattinoni (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Horstie (t · c)
- 12 Dec 2024 – Draft:Bart Vanhaesebroeck (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by GBH12 (t · c)
- 09 Dec 2024 – Draft:Umbilical-urachal sinus (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by WikiWlnu (t · c)
- 06 Dec 2024 – Draft:Ven-A-Care (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Coffeeandkittens25 (t · c)
- 06 Dec 2024 – Draft:Dr. John Stafford Geddes (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by C2014Dale (t · c)
- 03 Dec 2024 – Draft:Stanley Inhorn (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Nilotumben (t · c)
- 02 Dec 2024 – Draft:Patricia Gordon (talk · edit · hist) has been submitted for AfC by Travelnomaduser (t · c)
- (26 more...)
Recent changes
edit- Articles and their talk pages
Tasks
editMaintenance tasks
editAssess for quality
Not tagged by the WikiProject
-
Category:Nursing schools in Illinois (talk)
Predicted class: Category -
Category:Prostate (talk)
Predicted class: Category -
Category:Senicide (talk)
Predicted class: Category
Other tasks
edit- Clean up articles – gigantic sorted list of articles with tags
- Write new articles
- Ideas for technical projects
- Check for retracted papers. See Category:Articles citing retracted publications for articles that may wrongly cite retracted publications.
- Remove inappropriate external links. Some medicine-related articles attract inappropriate links, such as internet chat boards and advertisements. You can review the external links in any article, or you can use Special:Linksearch to find articles containing a specific link, such as *.clinicaltrials.gov or *.groups.yahoo.com. Details available in the full guidelines for all of Wikipedia and also the specific guidelines for medicine-related articles.
- Help evaluate articles nominated for deletion. Help identify deletion discussions that relate to medicine.
- Sort stubs. See the list of specific stub templates. Replacing {{stub}} or {{med-stub}} with a more specific template is helpful.
- Assess quality and importance of articles. Use the Rater-tool and assess the article according to our assessment scale. A bot-generated list of new articles that might be medicine-related is here.
- 'Help with completion of translation into French and Chinese'. Help is needed to review and help the article that is practically ready https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89couter_sans_risque. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:GWei13/%E5%AE%89%E5%85%A8%E8%81%86%E5%90%AC
- Improve categorization of articles. Several popular Wikipedia categories like Medicine and Category:Diseases and disorders need people to sort articles into more specific subcategories. Tools like HotCat may make this easier.
Requests
editTemplates
editArticle-related
editCategory:Medicine templates contains all templates used on medicine-related articles.
{{WPMED|class=|importance=}}
- Placed on talk pages of medicine-related articles and used to assess articles.{{reqphoto|medical subjects}}
- Used on talk pages to request that photographs be added to the article.{{med-stub}}
- Used on stub articles (here is the complete list){{Medref}}
- Used to indicate an article in need of adequate references.{{Medref|section|{{subst:DATE}}}}
- Used to indicate an section in need of adequate references.
{{Medicine}}
- The bottom navbox template to be used on articles about broad disciplines of medicine.{{medical advice}}
- placed around requests for medical advice on talk pages (box ends with{{cob}}
).{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Medicine/Navigation}}
- transcludes the navigation template shown to the right.{{Reliable sources for medical articles}}
- updated template providing links to recent reviews, for use on Talk pages
Inline with article text
edit{{medical citation needed}}
or{{medcn}}
- Used after text without a reliable medical source. Generates: Some text.[medical citation needed]{{medical citation needed span}}
or{{mcns}}
- Used after text without a reliable medical source. Generates: Some text.[medical citation needed]{{unreliable medical source}}
or{{ums}}
- Used after text with a questionable medical source. Generates: Some text.[unreliable medical source?]{{primary source-inline}}
or{{npsn}}
- Used after text that cites a primary source. Generates: Some text.[non-primary source needed]
Infoboxes
editWP:Infoboxes have been created for a number of article types including:
- Template:Infobox medical condition for articles on diseases
- Template:Infobox medical intervention for articles pertaining to procedures
- Template:Infobox diagnostic for diagnostic test
- Template:Infobox drug for medications
- Template:Infobox drug class for classes of medication
User-related
editFor other editors
edit- Welcome messages (all of these should be substituted onto a user's talk page):
{{subst:WPMED welcome}} ~~~~
– Welcome message for new Wikipedians (with invitation to join us) – newish, with video{{subst:Welcome medical student}} ~~~~
– For welcoming new editors who appear to be students associated with a course{{subst:Student}}~~~~
– For welcoming new editors who appear to be students associated with a course, with more detailed advice
[[File:New medical editor.ogv|thumb|right|thumbtime=2:59|320px|Welcome to Wikipedia]]
A video that can be transcluded onto the pages of new users.{{subst:RSPlease}} ~~~~
– User Talk page request to use MEDRS sources
For WP:MED contributors
edit{{User WPMed}}
– Userbox for members of this WikiProject.{{WikiProject Medicine topicon}}
– For members of this WikiProject. Adds a topicon to your user page.{{User MedLat}}
– Userbox for those who understand Medical Latin (Babel-compatible; just add|MedLat
to your Babel template)
Wikipedia Library
edit
The Wikipedia Medical Library
The Wikipedia Library grants Wikipedians who have 500+ edits, account age 6+ months, and meet some other criteria free access to certain academic journals. As of February 2021, it provides instant access to 26 journals, and you can request individual access to journals such as the BMJ, Cochrane Library, and Science Direct (SD includes access to The Lancet).
- Found a source that you can't access? Check out the: Resource Exchange
Or try an Interlibrary loan - Need help finding sources?: Help:Find sources
- Need help finding your local library?: Wikipedia:Find your library
Finding images
editMost images from the internet are copyrighted and should not be used in Wikipedia.
The NIH has an search engine for open images HERE. Use with care as many of the images are NC licensed and therefore not compatible with Wikipedia.
Community members interested in creating images
editWe also have a few people who are interested in creating images for Wikipedia including:
Requested images
edit- ...
Non-suitable images
edit- Medlineplus [1]: even though it is a US government source, it uses images that may be copyrighted by others.
- Other sources in the ".gov" domain may use images from istock photos, and such images may not be in the public domain.
Finding sources
editSource | url | Comments |
---|---|---|
TRIP Database | http://www.tripdatabase.com/ | This resource is useful to find references suitable for Wikipedia as it breaks the literature down into secondary sources versus primary sources. It searches the Cochrane Library and many other databases containing systematic reviews, medical guidelines, and evidence-based synopses among others. TRIP Answers is a website related to the TRIP Database which aims to answer clinical questions directly. |
Pubmed | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/ | A large collection that includes more than 22 million citations and abstracts and tens of thousands of links to the full-text articles. If desired by the user, search results can be limited to show only review articles, full-text articles freely available to the public, or studies from some 120 "Core Clinical" journals (they are all English-language journals). Results are also sortable by publication date. The PubMed identifiers (PMIDs) can be used with the "cite" button found at the top of the edit window. On the left side of a Pubmed abstract you will find filters for "Article types" and you can select "Reviews" there; you can also filter by "Text availability". Pubmed abstracts also have a field called "Publication Type" at the bottom, that shows how Pubmed has classified the study; check to see if the source is a review or not, before using it. |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | http://www.cdc.gov/ | Reliable source for public-domain information, especially for infectious diseases. Also has a library of copyright-free images. |
NCBI bookshelf | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books | Free access to over 700 health-science textbooks |
Google Scholar | http://scholar.google.com/ | A Google search portal limited to scholarly work (including not only medicine, but also legal articles and patents). Allows easy access to many University and Institutional online collections (with proper affiliation). A useful feature of Google Scholar is "Cited by...", showing who else has cited a particular paper. |
Google Books | http://books.google.com/ | Makes available free, limited views of a number of medical textbooks. ISBNs are available, aiding referencing. |
DynaMed | http://dynamed.ebscohost.com | Subscription required. Provides evidence-based topic overviews and summaries, with plenty of links to the full text of key published clinical evidence, including international guidelines. It also includes live links to PubMed. Trial access may be obtained here. |
Emedicine | http://emedicine.medscape.com/ | Also known as Medscape Reference. Free, but registration is required. Not the best source of content, with concerns that advertising affects its reliability. |
Cochrane collaboration | http://www.cochrane.org/ | Perhaps the foremost evidence-based group. Complete access to their collections is available in many countries.
Also produces the Cochrane Library. |
NICE | http://www.nice.org.uk/ | The guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the UK. |
PLoS Journals | http://www.plos.org/ | A collection of open-source scientific journals, including PLoS Medicine |
SIGN | http://www.sign.ac.uk/ | The guidelines from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network in the UK. |
World Health Organization | http://www.who.int/mediacentre/ | Fact sheets from the WHO. |
EB medicine | https://www.ebmedicine.net | Excellent reviews of emergency-medicine topics. Issues more than 3 years old are freely available to the public. |
USPSTF | http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org | Thorough evidence-based evaluations of medical topics by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) |
PTSDpub | https://search.proquest.com/ptsdpubs/index | Managed by the VA's National Center for PTSD on the Proquest platform, this robust search engine provides citations and abstracts to the peer-reviewed PTSD literature. Not limited to combat trauma. Previously known as "PILOTS". |
Other useful Search Engines include:
- NHS Evidence: Search portal for health and social care produced by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for NHS England. Includes a one-stop search engine covering a wide range of sources, including the Cochrane Library, British National Formulary, and UK and international guidelines. Much of the content of NHS Evidence is free to view, but access to certain sections (e.g. many full-text journals and the databases AMED, BNI, CINAHL, EMBASE, Health Business Elite, MEDLINE and PsycINFO) requires a NHS Athens username & password – see the NHS Athens eligibility criteria here
- Prodigy Knowledge http://prodigy.clarity.co.uk (previously known as Clinical Knowledge Summaries - CKS) is aimed at clinicians in primary care. It provides reliable evidence-based information and practical "know how" about the common conditions managed in primary care.
- EMBASE: A high-quality medical index that often generates better results than PubMed. It is proprietary and requires a paid subscription.
- CINAHL: A proprietary index focusing on nursing and allied health care. It requires a paid subscription.
Historical documents
editDocuments published before 1923 are, in most cases, not copyrighted. While many of these documents are outdated, they can still be of great utility in supplementing "History" sections of certain medical articles. Also, historical images can still depict symptoms of diseases, normal anatomy, and other features quite accurately.
Possible sources of useful images and text of historical interest include:
- Images from the History of Medicine (IHM) and, more generally, the digital collections maintained in the National Library of Medicine: Care must be taken in choosing materials here since most, but not all, content is in the public domain.
- The Pierre and Marie Curie University has an important digitalized collection of documents [2] useful for writing articles about the history of science (especially French). Its "Charcot collection" specializes in medicine (particularly neurology) and has many valuable images available.
- The Library of Congress U.S. Historical, Cultural Collections and the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Both of these sources contain medical and non-medical images and other potentially useful media files. Again, great care must be taken in choosing items to use since not all content is in the public domain.
- "Images of Surgery" [3] is a resource containing a number of historical images and depictions of surgical procedures across time.