Help:Editor FAQ

See Help:Contents for all help pages

Scholarwiki

What is a "category"? What is an "Encyclopedia of.."?

An encyclopedia in Scholarpedia is a portal article (web page) containing lists of articles/authors on a given topic and other useful information. This page is edited and manually maintained by its editor: nothing there is added automatically.

In Scholarpedia categories are keywords (also) used to label articles related to the same topic.

An article belongs to category C iff its source page contains the token [[Category:C]].

For each category, a category page is automatically created. For a category C the category page is located at http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Category:C. The category page automatically shows at its bottom links to all the pages in that category (i.e. having [[Category:C]] in the text). The top of a category page can be edited as usual. In Scholarpedia you can link to the page of say category "Physics" by adding to the text the token [[:Category:Physics|text to be displayed]] (note the leading ":")

A category D is a subcategory of a category C iff the category page of D contains the token [[Category:C]] (just as with article pages). Articles belonging to subcategory do not automatically belong to the parent category (if you want that you should add [[Category:parent category name]] to each article in the subcategory).

How can I delete a page?

You cannot. Just empty all its contents and categories, and add the tag [[Category:Delete this page]]. The editor-in-chief will delete the page for you.

How I create super-categories and sub-categories of my category?

To include your category into a bigger category, just edit your category page and list all the "bigger" categories you would like it to be included,
by writing [[Category:BiggerCategoryName_1]] [[Category:BiggerCategoryName_2]] and so on.

To have subcategories in your category, just go to the subcategory pages and add there a link to your category, i.e. add [[Category:MyCategoryName]].

In this sense, categories are treated as just articles.

Should I add [[Category:Scholarpedia]] to the articles in my category?

NO. This is a temporary category for articles that will have their own categories when an appropriate editor is found and the appropriate encyclopedia is initiated.

How should I proceed to invite two or more co-authors for writing the same article

FIXME

How can I find if a potential author or reviewer already has a username

To check whether a potential author or reviewer already has a username in Scholarpedia, go to user list and find the username of that person. Alternatively, you can find any person by typing his/her last name in the search window and pressing 'Title' button. If the person with such a username exists, you will see the link 'User:<lastname>'. The person may have a different username, so there is a line "See all users with names/affiliations containing ...". Follow this line.

There is a misprint in the username of some user: shall I create another account?

NO: just inform the user or contact support@scholarpedia.org.

How can I create a new user account without inviting the user for an article?

FIXME

Editorial activity

In my communication with the authors, which email account should I use?

Editors should use their own email accounts for all communications with authors. They do not need to forward their correspondence to the editor-in-chief, unless they think that the editor-in-chief should be aware of it (to avoid potential conflicts with future invitations, etc.).

Can editors see the suggestions that are sent to suggestions@scholarpedia.org?

All the suggestions by the general public are mailed to the editor-in-chief, who then sends invitations. Since presently, the suggestions are restricted to eponymous articles, the invitation process is quick (no need to do the homework to find "the original inventor"). If a suggested article overlaps with any of the categories for which there is an editor, the editor-in-chief tries to contact the corresponding editor.

How should I proceed if an author does not answer and I'd like to invite a co-author?

If the author agreed to write an article, you cannot invite a co-author without the author's approval. What if he/she does not want a co-author or does not want this particular person? Thus, if the author does not answer your emails, there is nothing you can do. If the author ignores your requests at all, then you should cancel the original invitation and invite another person - apparently the author is not serious to work with you on this article.

An author requests more time to finish the article: should I change his deadline? How?

It is often helpful to give authors extra time to finish an article, although the sponsor of the article should make this decision. You can update the deadline by going to the article, looking at the last box in the editorial banner that says "Deadline", and then clicking on the "(update)" link. You can also email support@scholarpedia.org.

May I invite referees for an article that is not yet submitted for refereeing?

You should wait until the article is ready before inviting referees.

A submitted article needs to be prettified (references, titles, equations), shall I do it myself?

You are certainly welcome to make such changes, although Assistant Editors would also be available for this task. Email support@scholarpedia.org to connect with assistant editors.

Do we have some reviewer instructions?

Yes, they are available at http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Help:Reviewers .

May I invite more than 2 referees?

YES. Any number of reviewers could be invited. However, the authors should be willing to incorporate suggestions from reviewers that respond in a reasonable time-frame. If an invited referee doesn't respond to the initial request, it is often helpful to follow up after a week by emailing the reviewer directly. You may want to aim to have 3 referees, so that if one referee is not able to respond in a reasonable amount of time, the publication of the article is not significantly delayed.

The article has an empty See also/Further reading section: shall I delete it?

No. Keep the empty sections. They are needed to comply with the Scholarpedia standard. Instead of deleting, it is better to provide links there for other relevant articles (in "See also" section) or contact the author and ask to provide further reading material.

I need to create a test page to use in my editorial activity: how/where to create it?

If you are user X, create it as e.g.: User:X/sandbox.

How long shall I wait for an invited reviewer?

It is up to the editor to set the time-frame for an invited reviewer. That said, one month after the reviewer accepts the role is often considered a reasonable time. If a reviewer takes longer than one month, the editor should certainly touch base with the reviewer.

A reviewer asks me for more time to do his job: what/how to do?

You may invite another reviewer if you think it may be beneficial, otherwise, the main thing that needs to be done is to make sure that the article doesn't expire in the mean time.

What should an author do to approve the final version of an article (after referee approval)?

There is a 7-day editorial period, where the authors need to wait before the publication. After this time, one of the authors needs to click on the "publish" button in the editorial banner that appears at the top of the article.

Who are the people acknowledged at the bottom of the article?

The person who sponsors the article and the reviewers are acknowledge at the bottom of the article.