Editing Encyclopedia:Stub (section)

===Creating and improving a stub article===
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{{See also|Wikipedia:Writing better articles}}

A stub should contain enough information for other editors to expand upon it. The key is to provide adequate ''context''—articles with little or no context usually end up being [[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#A1|speedily deleted]]. Your initial research may be done either through books or reliable websites. You may also contribute knowledge acquired from other sources, but it is useful to conduct some research beforehand to ensure that your facts are accurate and [[Wikipedia:Neutral point of view|unbiased]]. Use your own words: directly copying other sources without giving them credit is [[plagiarism]], and may in some cases be a violation of [[Wikipedia:Copyrights|copyright]].

Begin by defining or describing your topic. Avoid [[fallacies of definition]]. Write clearly and informatively. State what a person is famous for, where a place is located and what it is known for, or the basic details of an event and when it happened.  As of 2024, most stubs contain two to seven sentences (50–150 words).

Next, try to expand upon this basic definition. Internally [[Help:Link|link]] relevant words, so that users unfamiliar with the subject can understand what you have written. Avoid linking words needlessly; instead, consider which words may require further definition for a casual reader to understand the article.  Most stubs link out to 5–20 other Wikipedia articles, often averaging about two links per sentence.

Lastly, a critical step: add [[Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources|sources]] for the information you have put into the stub; see [[Wikipedia:Citing sources|citing sources]] for information on how to do so in Wikipedia.  Most stub articles have one to three [[Wikipedia:Inline citation|inline citations]]; some also list sources at the end of the page, as [[Wikipedia:General references|general references]].

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