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Welcome toWikiProject Article Rescue Squadron. This WikiProject works toward improvingWikipedia as a whole by cooperating together to improve deficient articles through editing to provide necessary sources, correcting inappropriate style or tone, cleaning up grammatical and layout problems, et cetera, with the overall goal of improving the encyclopedia. This WikiProject is always in need of additional help, so feel free tojoin; all are welcome to help improve Wikipedia articles and content!

Sometimes Wikipedia articles aboutnotable topics exist in poor form, badly written, unsourced – but that is not sufficient in itself to remove them from the encyclopedia atarticles for deletion. If an article is about anencyclopedic topic that has received significant coverage inreliable sources that areindependent of the subject, the article may, per ourPreserve policy, simply needimprovement.

A significant aspect of this project's focus is on articles that may be written in poor form, lack references or need improvement, yet are backed byreliable sources and are therefore likely worthy of a Wikipedia stand-alone article per Wikipedia'snotability guidelines. Some writer may have worked hard on that article. Some reader can use that article. In reaching out to work with such writers and readers, the project can help to preserve worthwhile content in the encyclopedia.

ARS Code of Conduct

• Note that thiswikiproject is only intended toimprove the encyclopedia. The project is not about castingvotes or vote-stacking. Be sure to followthe guideline on canvassing. This means, in part, that you should useTemplate:Rescue list on the deletion discussion page when you list the discussion here.
• Focus onimproving content. For example, when working on an article listed for rescue, try to qualify topicnotability by addingreliable-sourcereferences with significant coverage of the topic. Edit the content to address specific concerns raised in the AfD discussion.
• Show the light. If you comment in an AfD discussion, try to describe points in the nomination that have been corrected. Note any remaining deficiencies (e.g. lack of organization, structural problems, lack of balance, etc.). Base comments upon Wikipedia'sdeletion policy. If an article has been rewritten, you may place a comment in the AfD as a courtesy to assist the closing admin in determining which article version others were referring to.

Wikiproject Article rescue squadron's main focus is on Wikipedia articles that are perceived as actually beingnotable that are going throughArticles for deletion (AfD), which may:

• Needreferences
• Bewritten poorly
• Lackinformation readily available
• Needcleaning up.

We also help rescue content in Wikipedia'smain namespace (refer toWikipedia: Namespace for more information) and otherDaily deletion debates (XfD) processes, such asMiscellany for deletion (MfD) andTemplates for discussion (TfD). SeeArticles & content for an overview.

ARS members may also be interested in rescuing articles listed atWikipedia: Listing of possible copyright problems. These articles often cover notable topics. Evaluating the extent of such problems can be difficult, but thoroughly rewriting articles with problems identified as foundational has the additional benefit of helpingWikiProject Copyright Cleanup.

No. The project is not about making policy to ensure that nothing is deleted or castingkeep votes in AfD discussions. The project ensures that articles that can be written to followWikipedia policies do not get deleted when they can berescued through normal editing, which perWP:AFD means that it was not a good candidate for deletion. The{{Sofixit}} and{{Solookitup}} templates are sometimes all that's required for a rescue.

See:Tips to help rescue articles andARS Guide to saving articles

The Article Rescue Squadron WikiProject is about editing and improving articles. ARS is no different from any of the hundreds of Wikiprojects in that we collaborate to improve Wikipedia. If everyone who cares about preservingimportant topics and removingunsuitable content reads one deletion discussion per day (or even one per week), the impact will benefit all of our readers. Moreover, reading through anarticle nominated for deletion and adding sources and rewriting the text to remove or reword unsuitable content can help other editors decide if the article should be kept or deleted.

Every time an article is deleted the contributions that were made to it are lost, and then only Wikipedia administrators can access it, but they are not necessarily experts on the article's topic. After deletion, an article's content, value, and appropriateness can no longer be evaluated by the general public. In addition, the contributor who writes a poor article on a notable topic is likely to be inexperienced. If their first efforts are deleted, they may be discouraged and refrain from creating further articles, or even editing. Everyone starts somewhere, and we should encourage better writing and better articles.Good faith efforts to contribute should be met with encouragement to improve.

This makesArticles for Deletion (AfD) a very important place; one that deserves everyone's attention.

A common axiom is that "AFD is not cleanup". Wikipedia is awork in progress, and articles should not be deleted because no one has felt like cleaning them upyet. Remember,Wikipedia has no deadline. If there's good, sourceable content in the article, it should be preserved, developed and improved, not deleted. The Wikipedia policy of trying to correct problems in articles through editing improvements, expansion and adding reliable sources, located atTry to fix problems, is often more appropriate than the entire deletion of articles.

The question on whether a poor but improvable article ought to be deleted is a major point of contention, and has given rise to the wiki-philosophiesimmediatism andeventualism. The Article Rescue Squadron was highlighted ina July 2007Wikipedia Signpost, and has grown with many processes to tag, track, and list tagged articles.

Sometimes articles areproposed for deletion (prod, prodded) without being sent to AfD, some of which are notable per Wikipedia'sGeneral notability guideline.

• Refer toCategory: Proposed deletion andCategory: All articles proposed for deletion to browse these articles.
• You may wish to consider joiningWP:PRODPATROL.

Many new articles come to Wikipedia via theArticles for creation (AfC) process. Reviewers assess these contributions and either accept, decline or reject them. Declined drafts on notable subjects may be improved by the authors and resubmitted. In many cases, however, this does not happen and the drafts are essentially abandoned. Abandoned drafts are subject to deletion underWP:G13 after 6 months of inactivity. Since all this occurs inDraft: space and typically involves new editors, these deletions are largely invisible to the editing community.

You can help by reviewing drafts that will soon become eligible for deletion and improving them and submitting them for rereview at AfC.

• Drafts becoming eligible for G13 in a week from now
• Submissions that an editor feels may be able to be saved
• Quality submissions that an editor feels may be able to be saved
• All declined submissions - includes subcategories for various decline reasons

See also:ARS Guide to saving articles

• Familiarize yourself with Wikipedia's guidelines fortopic notability andidentifying reliable sources
• Read Wikipedia'sEditing policy, including the policyWhat Wikipedia is not.
• Discuss issues regarding an individual article on that article's talk page, not on this project's talk page.
• Suggest an article nominated for deletion that you feel meets notability guidelines, or should be retained for other reasons, on this project'sarticle rescue list page, for ARS consideration.
• BrowseArticles for Deletion periodically, and consider improving articles that you feel meetnotability guidelines.
• Check 1,000 articles atShortest biographies of living people, updated daily. All are in need of improvement.
• ReadWikipedia:Guide to deletion for more tips.

In addition to below, placing{{Talk header}} at the top of a Talk page now includes the "Find Sources".

Here's a quick checklist of 10 steps anyone can take for articles that need rescue:

1. Find and addreliable sources – It is most important that sources demonstrating the notability of a subject are added to articles when they are found. Do it properly, using the correctcitation templates.
2. AddWikiProjects – View article talk pages to see if appropriateWikiProject banners have been added (this list of banners maybe be easier to browse). WikiProject banners help draw attention to articles from editors who are interested in the subject, especially if the project subscribes toArticle Alerts. You don't need anyone's permission to add relevant WikiProject banners to article talk pages.
3. Solicit WikiProject input – Many articles needing rescue merely need attention from anexpert on the subject. A short note on a WikiProject talk page seeking expert attention can bring remarkable results fast.
4. Take the time to strengthen theLead section – The lead sets the tone for the rest of an article. Take the time to rewrite or improve the lead so that an article's title and its contents are in sync. Nothing detracts more from an otherwise notable subject than a lead that inadequately conveys what an article is about.
5. Clean-up articles – If an article about an otherwise notable subject has a bunch of unorganized content on the page, it is best to clean it up on the spot and bring it up to par with theManual of Style guidelines. Some examples of clean-up includecopy editing,wikifying (addinginternal links,interwiki links andexternal links), correcting spelling, grammar and typographical errors, converting poorly formatted references with proper citation templates and adding relevant sections.
6. AddInfoboxes,Navigation Templates and sidebars – If they are not present in articles and their addition is appropriate, do so and complete their fields as much as possible.
7. De-orphan articles – Link and cross-reference articles with other articles, lists and categories. Make sure articles have internal links that link to other appropriate, highly related articles, which helps to clarify and expound upon information. If it is difficult to incorporate links within the text of an article, theSee also section is an appropriate place to list links for related articles. Look for sources and content in related articles that might enhance orphaned articles. Utilizing the "What links here" feature in the Toolbox pull-down menu in the left column of Wikipedia pages provides a list of pages that link to an article.
8. Eliminate the junk – If there isunsourced or irrelevant content,copyright violations, or other "junk" in articles, eliminate it ruthlessly. If there is a question about the validity of content, start a discussion on the talk page and tag questionable content withtemplate messages as necessary. Don't just ignore the "junk" if its there. Conversely, it's very important to preserve appropriate content – as long as any of the facts or ideas added to an article would belong in a "finished" article. For more information, please refer toTry to fix problems.
9. Treat articles as if they were your best achievements – Make changes to articles that will turn them into articles that you would be proud of personally. We know how to do it, we just need to do it.
10. Positively engage new editors – When you find that an article has been created by a new editor (maybe their first one) or by inexperienced editors, engage them in a positive, mentoring way. Help them learn how to create and contribute better content. Engage them on their talk pages, encourage them, and most importantly make them feelwelcome. If there are policy or guideline issues on the table, don't just refer them to a policy link; engage them in adiscussion to ensure they better understand how to make quality contributions. Make sure the editor knows that merging and userfication are alternatives to deletion. Even if an article is ultimately lost, this positive engagement will help us all by encouraging new contributors to make useful, productive edits.

• For current articles nominated for deletion, seeToday's AfD log (fromWikipedia: Articles for deletion).
• For a list of all deletion debates opened on a daily basis, seeXfD today
• For a list of deletion discussion pages, seeDeletion process
• For a search engine to find deletion discussions by topic, seeSearch all deletion discussions.
• For a general guide to creating articles, seeWikipedia: Your first article.

• Category: Articles for deletion

• Category: Proposed deletion andCategory: All articles proposed for deletion
• See also:Articles for deletion/Old/Open AfDs – Articles for deletion discussions that have finished their discussion period and are eligible to be closed following thedeletion process.

• Article Rescue Squadron – Biographies of living persons
• Article Rescue Squadron – BLP rescue volunteers

Many articles have been deleted as Biographies that had been flagged for years as unsourced. The administrators who deleted them have stated that the restoration of these articles is acceptable, provided that any restored articles are then properly sourced and made fully compliant withWP:BLP (Biographies of living persons). For some background information, seehere. BLP articles that are properly sourced will simply be restored, along with their talk pages.

To volunteer to reference one or more of the articles that have recently been deleted as unreferenced BLPs, seeARS BLP volunteers.

Further information:Viewing and restoring deleted pages

See also:Userfication essay

• Requests for undeletion – If an article has already been deleted but you intend to improve it, you can request that it be moved into youruser namespace at Requests for undeletion. Another option is to ask any of the administrators onthis list who will userfy articles for editors.

• Category:Articles with topics of unclear notability – lists topics that are unclear regarding their notability.

• Files for discussion – Files for discussion (FfD) is for the discussion of images and other media files (such as audio and video files) that are being considered for deletion. Files that have been listed at FfD for more than 7 days are eligible for deletion if either a consensus to do so has been reached or no objections to deletion have been raised.

• Categories for discussion – Categories for discussion (Cfd) is where deletion, merging, and renaming of categories is discussed. Categories that have been listed for more than seven days are eligible for deletion, renaming or merging when a rough consensus to do so has been reached or no objections to the nomination have been raised.
  

• Templates for discussion – On this page, deletion or merging oftemplates is discussed. Stub templates arenot covered here, and are discussed atWikipedia: Stub types for deletion.

• Redirects for discussion – Redirects for discussion (RfD) is the place where problematicredirects are discussed.
  

• Miscellany for deletion andCategory: Miscellaneous pages for deletion

About deleted articles There are three processes under which mainspace articles are deleted: 1)speedy deletion; 2)proposed deletion (prod) and 3)Articles for deletion (AfD). For more information, seeWP:Why was my page deleted? To find out why theparticular article you posted was deleted, go to thedeletion log and type into the search field marked "title," theexact name of the article, mindful of the original capitalization, spelling and spacing. The deletion log entry will show when the article was deleted, by whichadministrator, and typically contain a deletion summary listing the reason for deletion. If you wish to contest this deletion, please contact the administrator first on theirtalk page and, depending on the circumstances, politely explain why you think the article should be restored, or why a copy should be provided to you so you can address the reason for deletion before reposting the article. If this is not fruitful, you have the option of listing the article atWP:Deletion review, but it will probably only be restored if the deletion wasclearly improper. List discussions WP:Articles for deletion WP:Categories for discussion WP:Copyright problems WP:Deletion review WP:Miscellany for deletion WP:Redirects for discussion WP:Stub types for deletion WP:Templates for discussion WP:WikiProject Deletion sorting WT:Articles for deletion WT:Categories for discussion WT:Copyright problems WT:Deletion review WT:Miscellany for deletion WT:Redirects for discussion WT:Stub types for deletion WT:Templates for discussion WT:WikiProject Deletion sorting

• Article alerts

• SeeCurrent articles subpage andCurrent articles (2009) for listings of resolved rescues and ARS collaborations from 2009.

• Article Rescue Squadron/Examples

To join, simply add your name toour membership list; feel free to add your ideas tothe project discussion page as well.

ARS user page boxes:

• {{User Article Rescue Squadron}}

This user rescues articles for theArticle Rescue Squadron.

 – There's an automatically-generated list of members using this bannerhere.

• {{User WikiProject Article Rescue Squadron}}

This user rescues articles for the Article Rescue Squadron.

 – There's an automatically-generated list of members using this bannerhere.

Once you've rescued an article or two, show your Rescue Squadron pride with

• {{User:Jclemens/Rescues|n}}

(wheren is the number of articles you've helped rescue)

This user hasrescuedn articles byimproving themin the face of pending deletion.

 – There's an automatically-generated list of members using this bannerhere.

• {{WikiProject Article Rescue Squadron/Userbox|n}}

This user has helped torescuen articles byimproving themin the face of pending deletion.

There's an automatically-generated list of members using this bannerhere.

Have you helped take an article fromArticles for deletion toFeatured Article orGood Article quality ?

show your Rescue Squadron pride with

• {{User AFD to FA|n}}

(wheren is the number of articles you've helped rescue and take toFeatured Article quality)

This user hassuccessfully takennarticles from deletion discussion atArticles for Deletion — toFeatured Article quality.

 – There's an automatically-generated list of members using this bannerhere.

• {{User AFD to GA|n}}

(wheren is the number of articles you've helped rescue and take toGood Article quality)

This user hassuccessfully takennarticles from deletion discussion atArticles for Deletion — toGood Article quality.

 – There's an automatically-generated list of members using this bannerhere.

To invite someone:

To invite someone to join the Article Rescue Squadron, you can use our handy invite by pasting{{subst:Article Rescue Squadron invite}} to their userpage.

There are five specific RescueBarnstars for anyone who has made significant contributions to rescuing articles; it is up to those awarding them to choose which one to use:

Barnstars

Image What to type Description {{subst:The Rescue Barnstar|message ~~~~}} The Rescue Barnstar – to be awarded to people who rescue articles from deletion or assist in identifying and rescuing articles. This can be independent of or in cooperation with the Article Rescue Squadron. Recommended for someone who has been involved in multiple rescues. {{subst:The Rescue Barnstar 2|message ~~~~}} The Rescue Barnstar 2 – to be awarded to people who rescue articles from deletion or assist in identifying and rescuing articles. This can be independent of or in cooperation with the Article Rescue Squadron. Recommended for someone who has found articles to be saved or otherwise assisted in saving an article from AfD (deletion). {{subst:The Rescue Barnstar 3|message ~~~~}} The Rescue Barnstar 3 – to be awarded to people who rescue articles from deletion or assist in identifying and rescuing articles. This can be independent of or in cooperation with the Article Rescue Squadron. Recommended for someone who has saved an article from AfD (deletion). {{subst:The Rescue Barnstar 3|message ~~~~|alt}} The Rescue Barnstar 3 [alternate image] – to be awarded to people who rescue articles from deletion or assist in identifying and rescuing articles. This can be independent of or in cooperation with the Article Rescue Squadron. Recommended for someone who has saved an article from AfD (deletion). {{subst:The Barnstar of Recovery|message ~~~~}} The Barnstar of Recovery The Barnstar of Recovery is awarded to editors who makeBOLD contributions to articles during their deletion reviews, thus saving the article from deletion. It has the international sign for "first aid" as its background. Designed and introduced byRyan4314 onJanuary 7,2008.

Hall of fame:

• Wikipedia: Article Rescue Squadron – Hall of Fame/Award

SeeWikipedia: Article Rescue Squadron – Templates for ARS templates.

faq page Frequently asked questions To view the response to a question, click the [show] link to the right of the question. Article help Q: Can the Article rescue squadron (ARS) savemy article from deletion? A: Not exactly. First off, Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia and articles can be changed by anyone and no individual exclusively controls any specific article. Secondly, if an article meets Wikipedia's policies onnotability andreliable sourcing it likely will not be deleted. There are alsoalternatives to deletion which may be appropriate. The project members will do what they can as time allows. We suggest that you referenceTips to help rescue articles and theArticle Rescue Squadron Guide to saving articles Q: Will ARS help fix the rest of article problems after the deletion discussion? A: In theory, No. Often, however, individual members will assist after the discussion has closed. You may want to contact a relatedWikiProject to see if someone there can assist. Sometimes project members completely overhaul an article but in practice most changes are incremental, and you should take initiative to add sourcing and improve the article yourself. Many times other editors will post sources to the deletion discussion; if they meet our sourcing standards then feel free to apply them to the article. Scope Q: Does ARS work to rescue other content on Wikipedia (other than articles)? A: While articles remain our main focus, poorly-formed encyclopedia content can be found in other namespaces. If content up for deletion, such as a template or image, is poorly-formed and you feel it can be fixed, go ahead and add it to theRescue list, to request the ARS' consideration. Please be aware that unlike articles, templates and categories often change and are renamed to serve our readers. Q: Does ARS contribute to guideline and policy discussions? A: Similar to articles, policies and content are not exclusively controlled by any individual(s). If you think ARS should know about a policy discussion you can post a neutral notification, such as, "There is a discussion abouttopic at _____." on the ARSTalk page. Avoid even the appearance of telling anyone how to think or vote in the discussion— it's very important to keep the message neutral when inviting people to participate. SeeWP:Canvassing for clarification regarding appropriate discussion notifications. Q: What if I object to what the ARS is doing? A: ARS is no different from any of the hundreds of Wikiprojects in that we collaborate to improve Wikipedia. We are a maintenance Wikiproject, and as such our scope is not subject-focused (like a WikiProject focused on a specific sport, country or profession), as much aspolicy-focused to determine if content adheres to Wikipedia's policies on sourcing and notability. We try to determine if an article meets Wikipedia'snotability guidleines as well as is itverifiable toreliable sources. We're also apt to suggestmerging,listifying,redirecting anddeleting as appropriate. Notifying theArticle Rescue Squadron is essentially a means to request assistance with an article or content that one feels meets notability guidelines, or should be retained for other reasons. The goal is to improve articles and other content, to benefit our readers. All are welcome to help ARS improve the encyclopedia, just as at any of the otherWikiProjects, which encompass a variety of views and interests. No canvassing Q: Does this project canvass editors to keep articles? A: No. The goal of the Article Rescue Squadron (ARS) is to clean up content that would otherwise be deleted. By necessity, this involves examining the deletion discussion to see what the problems with the article are, and then remedying them. If done correctly, this article cleanup improves the encyclopedia. If an article nominated for deletion is improved and retained on Wikipedia by this process, vis-à-vis addressing a nominator's concerns, the nominator hasn't "lost". Rather, the encyclopedia has won. Using this talk page Q:What about identifying and pointing out specific users who are nominating a lot of articles for deletion without apparent due cause? This talk page is for co-ordinating matters related to this project's purpose, which is rescuing content on notable topics from deletion. This is not a forum fordispute resolution. If there are issues with an individual user, talk to them personally or make a report or request at an appropriatenoticeboard.

• It can be discouraging for an editor to have their article deleted, especially for new and first-time contributors. An alternative isUserfication, in which articles for deletion can be placed into a user's namespace, providing an option to improve an article to meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines.
• Instead of deleting articles altogether, sometimes they can be merged with other articles (seeMergism).
• It can be frustrating for a reader to come to Wikipedia for information and inside find that the relevant article existed at one point but has been deleted. This may discourage both Wikipedia readership and authorship.
• Deleting a well-written, well-sourced article on the basis ofwhat Wikipedia is not can reduce the total information of Wikipedia.

• Deletionpedia  – Access to deleted Wikipedia articles
• "Wikibin: The Recycle Bin of Wikipedia!" – Access to deleted Wikipedia articles
• (in German)WikiPedia Deleted – Enzyklopädie PlusPedia – Category page of deleted articles fromGerman Wikipedia
• wmcharts – Deletions and restorations^{[dead link]}

• "In Defense Of Inclusionism" (essay)
• The Charms of Wikipedia inThe New York Review of Books(subscription required) – includes information about article rescue, byArticle Rescue Squadron veteranNicholson Baker
• "The hidden Wikipedia: how to find deleted material about Nutritional Medicine: Orthomolecular Medicine News Service." Free Online Library.
• Unwanted: New articles in Wikipedia (essay) – by Andrew Lih, USC professor and author ofThe Wikipedia Revolution

Meta-Wiki is the global community site for theWikimedia Foundation's projects and related projects.

• Association of Deletionist Wikipedians
• Association of Inclusionist Wikipedians
• Association of Mergist Wikipedians
• Association of Structurist Wikipedians

• Active WikiProjects
• WikiProject Article Rescue Squadron
• Wikipedia WikiProjects

• Pages containing links to subscription-only content