View source for Conservapedia:Writing a Good Article

Conservapedia is a serious encyclopedia, and its content should reflect this. '''Writing a Good Article''' requires care, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail.  The goal of Conservapedia is to present the best possible articles for use by the average reader and student.  To that end, here are some guidelines to ensure high quality in the articles you write.

The book used for this page is ''Hodges' Harbrace Handbook,'' originally written by John C. Hodges in 1941, and now in its 16th edition.  ''Harbrace'' is a manual used by colleges and universities as part of the English curriculum to ensure students have a standard guide to follow when term papers, essays, and other material are written as part of general assignments, and is available at any bookstore or through online ordering.

==First things==
To start, pick your subject, which could be anything.  Gather your source material.  You will need to refer to the books you have on the subject in question.  For this example, the subject is on the Alaskan malamute.

===Layout the page===
Write an introductory paragraph at the top of the page to start.

:''the '''alaskan malamute''' is a large dog originating from the Inuit peoples of arctic North America, and is known for its strength and stamina when pulling heavy loads as a sled dog.  The malamute is also recognized by breeders and scientists as being one of the oldest breeds in existence, with DNA tracing back to roughly five thousand years ago.''

The intro paragraph is meant to be a short paragraph which introduces the subject to the reader, generally about four to five sentences long. Note some things about the paragraph;
*It is more than a definition, but less than an entire article.
*Relevant words are linked to their own articles.
*The title term itself is '''bolded'''
Following this, put in several subheading labels, like this:

==Description==

==Breed's history==

==Dog show rules==

Within each subheading is detailed information about the subject.  You want the description of the malamute to be as informative as possible.
*What color is the dog?
*How large is the dog?
*Is the breed recognized by the AKC?
*How much freight can a malamute haul?

The history of the breed can go into detail as well.
*Where did it come from?
*How much wolf DNA is in the dog?

And dog show rules...each breed of dog has its own rules, and the malamute is no exception:
*What is allowable for a show dog?
*What eye color is allowable in a show, and what is not?

Be prepared to write, re-write, and re-write again and again...you want the sentence structure, the grammar, and the spelling to be correct, and the flow of thought to be smooth from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph.  Maybe you also want to list the best diet for a malamute from veterinary sources.  Or perhaps several famous dogs just for trivia purposes.  You want it to be so informative and well-written that an individual who just bought a malamute can trust the content of the article, or a student researching it will have no problem using it for a paper.

You will also note, by looking towards the top of this page, that a table of contents will appear with your subheadings immediately following the intro paragraph.  Anyone can click on one of the links in the contents and be taken immediately to the paragraph in question.

==Citing sources==
The books you have gathered for your material are going to be cited for your work, and to avoid plagarism (the use of someone else's work without crediting the author), do the following:
*At the end of a sentence in which you cited a source write the author's last name and page number of the book where the citation came from, like this: (Smith, pg 12).  Doing it this way will refer to the author and book in the "references" subheading.
In a separate subheading marked '''References''', write, in this order, the name of the author, the title of the book, the publisher, the city/state published, and the last copyright date within the book:
*Smith, John A. ''The Alaskan Malamute'', Discovery Books, Inc, New York, NY. (1998).

Cite all of your sources and list all of your references.

==References==
Hodges, John C., and others. ''Hodges' Harbrace Manual'', 15th Edition, Thompson Corporation, Boston MA. (2004)

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