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Terminology edit
- The terminology (for human articles) should be that of Terminologia Anatomica (TA), the international standard. That is, the American English version of the Latin, as specified in the English TA manual from the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology. (Certain words have English equivalents that are unchanged from the Latin, e.g. Flexor digiti minimi brevis). For problematic terminology, exceptions will be made. The online version of Dorland's Medical Dictionary at Mercksource.com has terms that conform--look for 'TA' after the word.
- Try to include Latin (or Latinized Greek) version of the subject.
- Certain areas are not covered by TA, especially developmental anatomy related topics. Use best judgement in determining name of article.
- For "shared articles", i.e. those also covered by another project or science, be flexible with terminology, etc.
- Please make sure article doesn't exist under a synonym before creating it. Many articles still use terminology from early 1900s.
- Mention alternate names of each topic, but ensure that the same name is consistently used when describing it throughout the article.
Subsections edit
The following are possible subsection headers:
- Comparative anatomy (for discussing non-human anatomy in articles that are predominantly human-based).
- Clinical relevance (for discussing diseases and other medical associations with the structure).
- Etymology (see 'Etymology' below)
- Development (for discussing developmental biology, i.e. embryological/fetal, associated with structure).
In animals edit
Articles about topics such as 'leg' will obviously comprise the anatomy of many species. But for more specific structures, especially those in Latin (e.g. extensor retinaculum), the reader is likely to assume they relate to humans unless otherwise stated. Consider using a 'comparative anatomy' subsection if required.
Etymology edit
Etymologies of certain words would be helpful. These would contain the source word (transliterated into English for Greek/Arabic/etc.) and its definition. Features that are derived from other anatomical features (that still has shared term in it) should refer the reader to the structure that provided the term, not to the original derivation. For example, the etymology section of the deltoid tuberosity should refer the reader to the deltoid muscle, not to the definition 'delta-shaped, triangular'. It should be the deltoid muscle article that refers back to Greek\Latin\Latinized Greek.
Info Boxes edit
When working on anatomy articles or creating new ones, add one of the suitable WP:INFOBOXes. Don't worry if you can't fill in everything on the list. Someone will eventually come around and fill them in as appropriate.