Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Academy/In the news nominations
 | This page is part of the Military history WikiProject's online Academy, and contains instructions, recommendations, or suggestions for editors working on military history articles. While it is not one of the project's formal guidelines, editors are encouraged to consider the advice presented here in the course of their editing work. |
In the news (ITN) is the section on the main page dedicated to Wikipedia articles recording notable recent events. While Wikipedia is not a news site, ITN displays up to date encyclopedic articles that include recent events which are usually important on an international level. Notable military related events naturally have a high priority in ITN due to the global impact such an event can have. Such events may include notable battles, outbreaks or cessations of hostilities, creation or testing of notable new weapons etc.
As the name implies, ITN will feature only recent events, so if you are thinking about improving or creating an article about a not-so-recent event, Wikipedia:Did you know would be better for you. Also note that there is no guarantee the article will be accepted even if it meets all the requirements of updating and sourcing, since much depends on the event itself.
Updating an article edit
In order to be featured on ITN, an article must be newly created or sufficiently updated to reflect the recent event. The event should be something that can be considered of interest and importance globally, and not only for a small group or community. Therefore, news that is important locally may not be good enough for ITN.
If you are going to create a new article, remember that Wikipedia is not news and make sure that the event is sufficiently notable to have an article. If not, update an existing article (for example, information about a battle can be included in the article about the larger operation or campaign that it is part of) to reflect the incident.
Add information to the article in a neutral manner with reliable sources to support this information. It is best if the article can give detailed information on it. Another important thing to remember is that the information should be given in the prose of the article; simply updating statistics will not be enough.[1] If the article is a candidate for deletion or has serious issues (tagged with orange level templates) it will not be accepted. You will need to fix any such issues before you nominate the article.
Nominating edit
Once you are satisfied with the article, head over to Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page/Candidates and add your suggestion (commonly referred to as a "blurb" or "hook") under the appropriate date. This blurb should usually give an indication why the particular event is notable and important. If you have a suitable free image to go with the blurb, you can include that as well. Whether the article is featured on ITN or not is determined through consensus. Unless it is obviously important, editors at ITN will discuss about it and come to a decision before it is added.
Note that even if an article is brought well up to date and is adequately sourced, it may still be rejected if it is of low importance. If your suggestion does get featured on ITN, you will be notified on your talk page and a template will be added to the article's talk page saying that it was featured on the main page as part of ITN. The article is likely to stay on the main page for a few days, depending on how many new additions are made after it.
Notes edit
- ^ A rule of thumb is at least five sentences of updated information with three reliable sources. A new article should have at least three complete and adequately sourced paragraphs.