Help:Featured article criteria

A featured article exemplifies our very best work and is distinguished by professional standards of writing, presentation, and sourcing. These articles have the following attributes:

1. It is—
1. well-written: its prose is engaging and of a professional standard;
2. comprehensive: it neglects no major facts or details and places the subject in context;
3. well-researched: it is a thorough and representative survey of the relevant literature. Claims are verifiable against high-quality reliable sources and are supported by inline citations where appropriate;
4. neutral: it presents views fairly and without bias; and
5. stable: its content does not change significantly from day to day.
2. It follows the article template, including the provision of—
1. a lead: a concise lead section that summarizes the topic and prepares the reader for the detail in the subsequent sections;
2. appropriate structure: a system of hierarchical section headings and a substantial but not overwhelming table of contents;
3. internal and external linking: places emphasis on establishing bi-directional linking between the SEG Wiki and other SEG products and services; and
4. consistent citations: where required by criterion 1c, consistently formatted inline citations using The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition — see citing sources for suggestions on formatting references.
3. Media. It has images and other media, where appropriate, with succinct captions, and acceptable copyright status. Images included follow the image use policy. Non-free images or media must satisfy the criteria for inclusion of non-free content and be labeled accordingly.
4. Length. It stays focused on the main topic without going into unnecessary detail and uses summary style.

Not ready to write a featured article? Learn what makes a good article!

See also

• Article template
• Cheatsheet
• Choosing a topic
• Creating articles
• Editing
• Featured article criteria
• Good article criteria
• Helpful links
• Images
• Interwiki links
• Introduction
• Link
• Linking articles
• Math
• Naming new articles
• Pages needing attention
• Redirect
• References
• Searching the SEG Wiki
• Section heading
• Sentence case
• Student Chapter
• Summary style
• Using Wikipedia
• Volunteer forum