Wikipedia:Article Cleanup Tags Guideline
 | 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. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Each Cleanup Tag has a different criterion to use and to remove. |
Cleanup Tags are used to point out articles or sections that need help by other users.
Tags
[edit]Copyright
[edit] | This article or section may have been copied and pasted from another location, possibly in violation of Wikipedia's copyright policy. |
It is used to signal that an article has content wich the exact text in website, thus violating copyright. The content should be removed immeadiately.
 | This article contains close paraphrasing of copyrighted sources. |
Sometimes, changing the text a little won't be enough thus also violating copyright. In this case, it should be paraphrased properly instead of flat out removed.
| This article may contain improper use of non-free material. |
When placing make sure it doesn't meet any criteria to qualify as valid. To solve, get an alternate source.
Cleanup
[edit] | This Wikipedia page may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: <Example>. Please help improve this Wikipedia page if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. |
This means the article just needs a general cleanup.
| This article was considered for deletion and requires cleanup. Consensus was formed on this article's deletion discussion. |
The article was saved from Afd, but needs some cleanup to avoid going to the discussion again.
 | This article may contain excessive or off-topic gaming-related detail. |
Off topic game article. For these cases, eliminate all off topic mentons and references.
 | This article lacks conversions for SI units. |
Add this if an article majorly lacks conversions to other units. To solve, do the conversions.
 | This article about roads may need to be written in a south-to-north or west-to-east direction. |
The article needs to be basically rewroten from south-to-north or in a west-to-east direction.
| This article needs editing to comply with Wikipedia's Manual of Style. |
Must make the article comply with the Manual of Style.
Very specific cleanup
[edit] | This article was imported from the CIA World Factbook. |
Add the message when it's the only source instead of One source. For this, you must add at least a source to complement the primary source.
 | This article was imported from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. |
Same issue and solution as above.
 | This article lacks context for people who have not read the book. |
There just isn't context for outsiders. Often a change in the lead should do.
 | This article lacks context for people who have not watched the film. |
Same issue and solution as above.
 | This article about higher education may require cleanup. |
Its simpler, it's just cleanup but specific to the WikiProject.
 | This school-related article may require cleanup. |
Cleanup about a school.
| This article about video games may require cleanup. |
Cleanup about a game.
|
Cleanup an embedded list.
| This article's use of red links may need cleanup. |
Excessive red links are enfuriating to everybody.
| This article may contain too many links. |
The exact opposite.
| This "further reading" section may need cleanup. |
Cleanup of Further Reading section.
Rewrite
[edit] | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. |
Rewrite article. This happens maybe because of Manual of Style issues or NPOV issues.
 | This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. |
Article basically should be divided to give a better perspective in an out of universe style.
| This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. |
The article needs to be rewroten to become an article.
| This article is written like a debate. |
The article must be rewrotten so it doesn't resemble a debate.
| This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. |
The article seems like an essay, a personal opinion. It needs a rewrite.
| This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. |
Needs a NPOV, something very difficult without a rewrite.
| This article is written like an obituary. |
For this, it normally needs a hard rewrite.
| This article contains a pro and con list. |
Divide the list into proper sections.
| This article is written like a research paper or a scientific journal. |
It needs to be rewritten to an encyclopedic style.
| This biographical article is written like a résumé. |
Another type of rewrite.
| This article is written like a review. |
Another type of rewrite, just modify the article.
| This article is written like a story. |
Modify the article to comply with quality standards.
| This article is written like a travel guide. |
Move the content to WikiVoyage or rewrite it entirely.
 | This article's lead section may need to be rewritten. |
Leads can sometimes not be well written.
 | This article appears to be a dictionary definition. |
An article isn't a dictionary entry. You can also Afd it.
Splits/Merges
[edit] | This article may need to be cleaned up. It has been merged from (link). |
Add this after the merge. Some information of the previous article may not belong to the new one.
 | This article or section may need to be cleaned up or summarized. It has been split from/to . |
Add this after the split. Some information of the previous article may belong to the new one.
Copyedit
[edit] | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. |
This should be only fulfilled by the Guild of Copy Editors.
Plot Summary
[edit] | This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary. |
This article is only a plot summary. For this, add a new section, or divide the summary.
| This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. |
Here, just strip off any "excess weight" in the plot summary.
| This article's plot summary needs to be improved. |
Instead of diminushing the summary, it needs expansion.
 | This article needs a plot summary. |
The article completely lacks a plot summary.
Title issues
[edit] | The name of this television article uses a disambiguation style that does not follow WP:NCTV or WP:NCBC and needs attention. |
The type of naming is incorrect, so just change it if you are a sysop or discuss it.
Fiction
[edit] | This article needs clearer distinction between fact and fiction. |
This is used for confusion between fiction and reality. To solve it, divide the article into distinct sections.
Style of Writing
[edit] | This article may contain confusing or ambiguous abbreviations. |
For this, remove all abbreviations that might be ambigous and subsitute them.
| This article appears to contain a large number of buzzwords. |
Buzzwords are not recommended in articles, so they should be all substituded.
| This article uses tenses incorrectly. |
To correct the verbs, conjugate them properly.
| This article uses first-person (I, we) or second-person (you) inappropriately. |
Correct the use of 1st and 2nd person.
| This article may contain excessive or irrelevant examples. |
Remove examples so there is 1 or 2 in each situation.
| This article contains instructions or advice. |
For this, indentify these sections, and either move them to another WikiMedia Project or remove the content.
| This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. |
Quotations should be cut when they can. You must indentify the citation and go from there.
| This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. |
Restore a NPOV in the article.
| This article contains promotional content. |
No promotional content needs to leak to Wikipedia. Remove it immeadiatly.
| This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. |
For this, replace technical terms with examples or encyclopedic metafors.
Out of scope
[edit] | This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines. |
The article as incorrect titles for sections or incorrect order of these.
 | This article duplicates the scope of other articles. |
The article covers the scope of another article. For this, modify the original or the other one.
 | This article may overuse or misuse colour, making it hard to understand for colour-blind users. |
Overcoloration can be a problem for colorblind people. In this case, either modify the colors or uncolorated some parts, but never completely.
| This article needs to be divided into sections. |
Divide it up into sections.
| This article may have too many section headers. |
Oposite case. Now merge sections.
| This article may benefit from being shortened by the use of summary style. |
Split the sections into articles, then put in the top a Main article: sign.
|
Remove unnesecary entries.
| This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. |
Curiosities sections shouldn't exist at all. They should be deleted.
| This page may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. |
For this, split the article into others.
Lead section
[edit] | This article's lead section contains information that is not included elsewhere in the article. |
Lead section should contain the most important information only. Relocate it.
| This article's lead section may be too long. |
Same as above, but different approach. Instead, strip off all "extra weight" or relocate information.
| This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. |
The exact opposite.
| This article has no lead section. |
Create a lead section, they are very important.
| This article lacks an overview of its topic. |
Write the lead section. The above is more recomendable to place.
Unwanted content
[edit] | This article may incorporate text from a large language model. |
AI generated content shouldn't exist at all in Wikipedia.
 | This article may contain unsourced predictions, speculative material, or accounts of events that might not occur. |
Unsourced material that has been chalenged must be removed as soon as possible.
 | This "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. |
Negative opinions shouldn't affect the neutrality of the article. Disect the section carefully.
| This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. |
External links are not references; they are a type of references, but not the same.
| This article may contain irrelevant references to popular culture. |
Irrelevant mentions are not good, so remove them.
| This article contains a television or radio schedule. |
A schedule must be deleted and rewritten properly.
| This article has been flagged as possibly containing fringe theories without giving appropriate weight to mainstream views. |
Normally it isn't sourced, and should be immeadiatel delete.
Context
[edit] | This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. |
Needs context for clarification.
| This article focuses only on one specialised aspect of its subject. |
Must not focus in one topic.
| This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. |
Tone should be always encyclopedic, so it should corrected via rewrite.
| This article concentrates unduly on statistical information. |
Exclusively statistical information is not ideal.
 | This article about biology may be excessively human-centric. |
Too many comparations to humans are signaled here. Compare to other species.
| This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a particular audience. |
Similar to technical, simplify a bit.
| This article focuses too much on specific examples. |
In this case, simplify the examples to make them easier to understand.
 | This article contains too many tables, charts, or datasets that lack context or explanation. |
Too many statistics.
Expand
[edit] | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in example. Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Add this if the article you created had already a paralel in another wiki.
 | This article contains formulas that need descriptions. |
The majority of people aren't mathematicians, so they need help to understand stuff.
| This article is missing information about Example. |
Its an equivalent to Expand section.
Km/Mile Posts
[edit] | This section is missing kilometre posts for junctions. |
Add the kilometer posts.
 | This section is missing mileposts for junctions. |
Add the mileposts.
Experts
[edit] | This article needs attention from an expert in X. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article. |
Always go to the talk page before adding this.
Time
[edit] | This article contains statements that are anachronistic. |
Update the article by replacing the references.
 | The factual accuracy of this Wikipedia page may be compromised due to out-of-date information. Please help update this Wikipedia page to reflect recent events or newly available information. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. |
Identic as above.
| This Wikipedia page needs to be updated. Please help update this Wikipedia page to reflect recent events or newly available information. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. |
Update the article simply.
 | This article is about an event or subject that may not be current but does not specify the time period. |
It needs context for time.
Confusion
[edit] | This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. |
The article is confusing, normally because of other issues.
| This article contains content that may be misleading to readers. |
Use it not when it's wrong, but when it seems so.
| This article contains relative time references such as now, soon, upcoming. |
Relative time words are relative, so replace them by non relative time phrases.
| This article may lack focus or may be about more than one topic. |
The articles is well written, but drifts off topic.
Contradictions
[edit] | This article appears to contradict another article. |
Use this in both articles. Fix by clearing one of them.
|
List all articles. Clear all articles listed.
 | This article or section appears to contradict itself. |
Clear all the article of contradictions.
Notability
[edit] | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. |
Articles with this tagbmay not survive Afd. Either go through that process or find more references.
NPOV
[edit] | This article is an autobiography or has been extensively edited by the subject or by someone connected to the subject. |
Diversify the references, expand and rewrite or it may be deemed unaccurate (see Làszlò Kelemen).
| This article's sources may have been cherry-picked. |
Something very important is to diversify references.
| A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. |
This very problematic. You should be honest and add this tag when you do that.
| The political neutrality of this article is disputed. This article may contain biased or partisan political opinions about a political party, event, person, or government stated as facts. |
Bias is a huge problem in Wikipedia. You can help.
| The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
Views are different from all the world. Generalize the view so everybody can relate to it.
| This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. |
Similar to above.
| This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. |
Even more similar.
 | This article appears to be slanted towards recent events. |
Put recent events in an historical perspective.
| This article contains weasel words: vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. |
Weasel words should removed immeadetly.
 | This article may have been created or edited in return for undisclosed payments, a violation of Wikipedia's terms of use. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. |
All information should be deleted. If you are a sysop, revert it now.
Accuracy
[edit] | This article's factual accuracy is disputed. |
Add references where they are missing.
 | This article contains material that may constitute a hoax. |
Consider going through an Afd process and add references. Make extra sure they aren't mirror sites in any way.
BLP
[edit] | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification, as it includes attribution to IMDb. |
IMDb is not a reliable source, and BLPs need extra reliable sourcing.
 |
Add secondary sources.
| This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification, as its only attribution is to self-published sources; articles should not be based solely on such sources. |
If no independent sources are found, this may go to AfD (see László Kelemen).
|
Add more sources.
Sources
[edit] |
Replace the references.
 | This media article uses IMDb for verification. |
IMDb is not a reliable source. Replace it.
| This article needs additional citations for verification. |
Add sources.
| This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. |
Add sources.
| This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. |
Add secondary and/or tertiary sources.
| This article relies excessively on references to tertiary sources. |
Add secondary and/or primary sources.
|
Add sources.
 | Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable. |
Sources should be reliable. Replace them.
Specific sourcing
[edit] | This article may contain improper references to user-generated content. |
User generated sources are not reliable sources. Replace them.
 | This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. |
Add more medical citations.
| This scientific article needs additional citations to secondary or tertiary sources. |
Add more scientific citations.
| This article uses texts from within a religion or faith system without referring to secondary sources that critically analyse them. |
Add a bunch of secondary and terciary sources.
| This article may be excessively based on contemporary reporting. |
Don't only refer to the news; you should refer also to other webs.
Citation templates
[edit] | This article has an unclear citation style. |
Citation style must be uniform, identic, and informative.
| This article uses citations that link to broken or outdated sources. |
This phenomenon may happen by website cleaning old news or ceasing to exist. Either use the WayBack Machine or replace the reference.
 | This page exceeds Wikipedia's template size limit. Some references and templates may not render properly on this page. |
Lighten the use of templates.
|
Bare URLs should be properly referenced.
 | This article contains one or more duplicated citations. |
Duplicated citations make the article seem to have more citations than it has.
| This article includes inline citations, but they are not properly formatted. |
Format the footnotes properly.
| This article needs more complete citations for verification. |
It is very important to know everything about a citation. Add the missing information.
| Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. |
Substitute these.
Inline citations
[edit] | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. |
All citations need to be inline.
| This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. |
Locate the citations properly.
Citing books
[edit] | This article lacks ISBNs for books it lists. |
Every book has an ISBN. Add it.
| This article's citations lack bibliographical information. |
Uncomplete citations in general should exist, this just covers books.
 | This article cites its sources but its page reference ranges are too broad or are incorrect. |
Page numbers must be exact. Correct them.
| This article cites its sources but does not provide page references. |
Page numbers are absolutely necessary.
Multiple issues
[edit] | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Multiple issues is used to compact cleanup tags into this box.