How to edit a medical article

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  • If you're changing the meaning of the article (rather than just correcting spelling or similar) check the article's discussion page to see if the issue is being discussed (here).
  • To begin editing, click here or any of the [edit] links within the article, and type into the box near the bottom. When you're finished, briefly describe what you've done, and why, in the "Edit summary" below that, and click "Save page".
  • Content that does not conform to Wikipedia policy, or that is not accompanied by a "citation" (a number like this[14] linking to a textbook, journal, etc.) might be deleted by other editors.
  • If someone deletes your contribution,
  1. go to the article's history and read their edit summary. If you still think your version is better,
  2. begin a discussion on the article's discussion page: Click "New section" or "edit this page," explain the merit of your version, and sign your comment by typing ~~~~
  • If another editor is discourteous to you, report them here.
  • If you have any questions at all, leave a message here.
  • If you'd like to try our simple editing tutorial, click here.
  • For tips on writing in "Wiki code" read this.

Abide by these policies

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No original research

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Wikipedia does not publish original thought: all material in Wikipedia must be attributable to a reliable, published source. Articles may not contain any new analysis or synthesis of published material that serves to advance a position not clearly advanced by the sources. The full policy is here.

Reliable sources for biomedical articles

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Ideal sources for biomedical material include general or systematic reviews in reliable, third-party, published sources, such as reputable medical journals, widely recognised standard textbooks written by experts in a field, or medical guidelines and position statements from nationally or internationally reputable expert bodies. The full policy is here.

How to create a citation

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  • Enter the PubMed ID of a journal article, or the ISBN of a book into here and copy-paste the text it gives you into the article between <ref> and </ref>.
  • To get a journal article's PubMed ID, enter its title here and the ID number will appear below the article's abstract.
  • To get a book's ISBN, search for "ISBN" on the book's Amazon page.