Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Medicine-related articles
![]() | This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
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Manual of Style (MoS) |
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This is the style guide for editing medical articles. The general rules from the Wikipedia:Manual of Style also apply when writing medical articles.
Article titles
The article title should be the scientific or recognised medical name that is most commonly used in recent, high-quality, English-language medical sources, rather than a lay term (unscientific or slang name)
The article title is subject to the same
Where there are lexical differences between the varieties of English, an international standard may be helpful, though
- Diseases—The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-5).
- Drugs—The international nonproprietary name (INN). Most biologics, including vaccines, do not have INN or other generic names, so the brand name is used instead. Nonproprietary names are common nouns and hence should be lower case except in titles, the beginning of sentences, and in other situations that require capitalization.[5] In contrast, trade names are proper nouns and should always be capitalized.
- Anatomy—Most articles on human anatomy use the international standard common name, in non-human anatomy, and in other problematic areas. The complete, current list of TA terms is online (large page). The word human is usually omitted in titles, but it may occasionally be helpful if non-human references to the structure are common. For example, compare the articles at Leg (including insect legs, robotic legs, etc.) and Human leg. However, if the article is about humans and the reader will expect to find information about humans under that title, e.g., Arm and Pregnancy, then pre-disambiguation of the title is inappropriate.
Titles requiring disambiguation
When one single term is used to describe two different topics, article titles must be disambiguated to resolve naming conflicts. To accomplish this, disambiguating words are used in parentheses after the article titles. When disambiguating a medicine- or anatomy-related article from an article about a totally different topic, the appropriate disambiguating words are "medicine" or "anatomy", respectively.
For example, "nail" may refer to several items, including a fingernail or a pin-shaped metal object used in construction. In this case, the appropriate article titles are Nail (anatomy) for the fingernail, and Nail (fastener) for the piece of hardware. Because neither of these articles can be considered a primary topic for the term, Nail is a disambiguation page that lists both articles.
When the medical or anatomical context is the primary use of the term, the article should not use a disambiguation word. For instance, the primary and most common use of the word "foot" is for the body part at the end of the leg. Thus, Foot is the appropriate title of the article; while Foot (unit) is an article about the unit of measurement called foot. Use of "anatomy" is not appropriate.
In cases when a medical- or anatomy-related term is a secondary use for a more common usage, only the medical (or anatomical) article requires a disambiguation. Most commonly, "percussion" is used to describe an instrument that makes sound when struck, so
When there are two or more distinct uses for the same term within medicine or anatomy, using the disambiguation word "medicine" or "anatomy" will not be sufficient for distinction between topics. In this situation, the general medical specialty (for medicine) or specific body part (for anatomy) should be used. For example, "foramen ovale" may refer to either the structure of the skull or the heart. Therefore, the appropriate article names are Foramen ovale (skull) and Foramen ovale (heart), respectively. Since neither anatomical structure is a primary topic for the term, Foramen ovale is a disambiguation page.
Common pitfalls
Writing for the wrong audience
Wikipedia is written for the general reader. It is an encyclopedia, not a comprehensive medical or pharmaceutical resource, nor a first-aid (how-to) manual. Although healthcare professionals and patients may find much of interest, these two groups do not by themselves represent the target audience.
- Signs of writing or editing for (other) healthcare professionals
- You give technical advice, particularly for the steps in a thorough diagnostic workup.
- You use jargon when there are suitable plain English words (for example, consider using "kidney" rather than "renal").
- You use the word "patients" or "cases" when describing those who have a medical condition (see below).
- You overstate controllable risks in the hope that your patients will be more compliant with your directions.
- You make sure that readers know that your process or product is patented.
- You list every unusual manifestation ever reported, because it might help someone correctly diagnose an atypical case.
- You use a writing style appropriate only for graduate-level courses, because that's what you see in peer-reviewed journal articles and professional reference works.
- Signs of writing or editing for (other) patients or their caregivers
- You use the word "you" when describing those who have a medical condition.
- You give advice, particularly when medical help should be sought or is required.
- You are tempted to lift text from a patient information leaflet or website.
- You mention treatments or practices that you've read about in a newspaper or from personal experience.
- You add "helpful" external links, such as forums, self-help groups and local charities.
- You emphasize or de-emphasize verifiable facts so that readers will make the "right" choice in the real world.
- You play down information that might discourage patients (for example, that a disease is typically fatal), or you give undue attention to individual success stories.
- You use a writing style appropriate for 12-year-olds, because the sixth grade reading levelis recommended for patient information leaflets.
Sometimes you add information that is specific to one country: for example, drug-licensing and health-service provisions. In contrast, you should maintain an international perspective: for example, by seeking out English-language sources from non-English-speaking countries.
A guide for journalists, published by the RTCIL at the University of Kansas, on how to translate the writings of researchers into something understandable to the general public is available here.
Trivia
Avoid lists of trivia by working these tidbits of information into the main body text. Sections on history or on popular culture may help to structure such factoids.
Articles with sections on research should be sourced to reviews and should describe research directions, rather than discussing specific studies and their results. Sections with simply a "Research" header have a risk of developing into miscellaneous and unorganized dumps of random studies, with over-emphasis on the names of the people who conducted the studies, their research institutions etc. Wikipedia is
Careful language
Medical usage of common terms often differs from that of the general public. This pitfall is particularly common with medical terms that are used in legal contexts, with related but significantly different meanings. (See the
- Technical terms
- Approved and indicated mean different things, and should not be used interchangeably. Indications refer to common medical uses for a drug. Approval is a regulatory issue, which varies from country to country. Off-label refers to the use of a drug for a purpose for which it is not approved.
- Sometimes positive and negative medical test results can have, respectively, negative and positive implications for the person being tested. For example, a negative breast cancer-screening test is very positive for the person being screened.
- The term significant can refer to either statistical significance or clinical significance. Statistical significance means that the results would be unlikely under pure chance. Clinical significance means that the results are large enough to be noticed by the patient and will make a difference in the effect of the disease or condition on the patient. For example, a reduction of one ounce of body weight may be statistically significant in a large population, but has no clinical significance for the individual. Linking to statistical significance may be useful.
- Do not confuse patient-group prevalence figures with those for the whole population that have a certain condition. For example: "One third of XYZ patients" is not always the same as "One third of people with XYZ", since many people with XYZ may not be seeking medical care.
- Correctly identify what your source discusses, without generalizing or interpreting it to related ideas. If the source talks about the effect of a single chemical purified from a plant (e.g., aspirin from white willowbark), do not misrepresent the work as referring to the whole plant from which it was derived. Similarly, if the source talks about effects in cultured cells or non-human animals, do not misrepresent the work as demonstrating anything about humans.
- Avoid using the potentially ambiguous term midwives.
- Allopathy is potentially confusing to readers in different cultures, as it could refer to traditional enantiopathic preparations or to mainstream modern medicine, depending on context. Avoid using allopathic to describe modern Western medicine; instead use conventional medicine or mainstream medicine. Not all mainstream medicine is actually evidence-based medicine, and not all alternative medicine is traditional medicine. See Wikipedia:Alternative medicine for help with terminology.
- Neutral labels
- Choose appropriate words when describing medical conditions and their effects on people. Words like disease, disorder, or affliction are not always appropriate. Independently observed symptoms. Avoid saying that people "suffer" from or are "victims" of a chronic illness or symptom, which may imply helplessness: identifiers like survivor, affected person or individual with are alternate wordings.
- The phrase psychologically addictive has so many conflicting definitions that it is essentially meaningless. Replace the term with something specific. If you want to convey that a drug does not cause tolerance, or that its withdrawal syndrome is not life-threatening, then state that.
- The term drug abuse is vague and judgmental. In a medical context, it generally refers to recreational use that carries serious risk of physical harm or addiction. However, others use it to refer to any illegal drug use. The best accepted term for non-medical use is recreational use.
- Many patient groups, particularly those that have been stigmatised, prefer person-first terminology—arguing, for example, that seizures are epileptic, people are not. An example of person-first terminology would be people with epilepsy instead of epileptics. In contrast, not all medical conditions are viewed as being entirely disadvantageous by those who have them. Some groups view their condition as part of their identity (for example, most deaf or autistic people) and reject this terminology. For more information see:
- American Psychological Association: Style Guide: Disability. A guide for medical professionals.
- National Center on Disability and Journalism: Disability Language Style Guide. A guide for journalists writing about people with disabilities.
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Disability/Style advice - an essay on style by editors involved in WP:WikiProject Disability.
- Choose appropriate words when describing medical conditions and their effects on people. Words like disease, disorder, or affliction are not always appropriate. Independently observed
Suicide and self-harm
Suicide and self-harm should be written about in an
- Detailed descriptions of suicidal actions, comments about how people reacted to a death, and other emotional content are forms of sensationalism and are not appropriate for encyclopedia articles. If you are uncertain whether a detail would belong in a well-written encyclopedic summary of the subject, then err on the side of omitting it.
- Suicide and self-harm are complex behaviors with multi-factorial causes. Do not oversimplify the causes of suicide. Omit information about suicide notes and simplistic speculation on causes. Some errors include:
- assuming that all people who attempt suicide have a mental illness;
- assuming that all people who attempt suicide actually want to be dead (e.g., vs. wanting to avoid a current or feared problem);
- ascribing motivations to actions, such as saying that self-harming behaviors are "a cry for help" or to "send a message"; and
- presenting suicide or self-harm as a "solution" to any problem. This is romanticism and unencyclopedic.
- Wikipedia is not a how-to manual. Well-written encyclopedia articles do not provide step-by-step instructions for anything, including suicide and self-harm behaviors.
- Language choices sometimes carry connotations that are not obvious to every editor. A term or phrase that sounds normal to you might sound stigmatising, offensive, or biased to someone else. Here are some common tips, but if someone suggests a change, try to learn about their viewpoint and see if a better approach can be found.
- Do not describe suicide or other self-harm actions as being successful, unsuccessful, or failed. This is unclear and judgmental.
- All deaths should be reported with equal brevity and clarity. For example, if you would have written
"He died as a result of cancer"
for a cancer death under reasonably similar circumstances, then write"He died as a result of suicide"
for a suicide death. - The phrase committed suicide is not banned on the English Wikipedia,[6] although many external style guides discourage it as being potentially stigmatising and offensive to some people. There are many other appropriate, common, and encyclopedic ways to describe a suicide, including:
- died as a result of suicide
- died by suicide
- died from suicide
- killed himself
- The cause of death was suicide.
- Avoid metaphorical and euphemistic language like lost her battle with depression.
- There are real-world disputes about some terms (e.g., medical aid in dying). The choice of terms may carry bias (e.g., by de-emphasizing a connection to suicide or medicalizingan action).
Copyright violations
Medicine-related articles must adhere strictly to
Writing style
The overall writing style of an article should reflect Wikipedia's nature as an encyclopedia.
General tone
- Do not address the reader directly. Ensure that your writing does not appear to a disclaimer to this effect is never required[7] since the general disclaimercan be accessed from any page on Wikipedia. Statements using the word should frequently provide inappropriate advice (e.g., "People with this symptom should seek medical care") instead of plain statements of facts.
- Rely on wikilinks to help articles stay focused and to avoid placing undue weight on peripheral details. For example, when writing about a blood test, don't include the normal venipuncture procedures or the type of Vacutainer generally used. Instead, link to the normal procedures but provide any important and unusual information in the article you are working on.
Wikipedia is not a medical primary resource
- Wikipedia articles are not textbooks.
- Most rules of thumbare not informative of the subject matter relevant to an encyclopedia. They are a form of memorable poetry, to aid medical students in recalling voluminous facts and procedures, and to pass examinations. They also risk non-neutrality when they winsomely express a point-of-view, reduce a complex subject to a simplified rote, or suggest an unverifiable authority. Just give the plain information, without the artificial and distracting adornment of memory aids.
- Most
- Wikipedia is not a procedural manual. Don't give "how-to" instructions. For example, when writing about a specific surgery, don't list all the equipment that will be needed or give advice on how to hold, store, use or clean it. Instead describe the guidelines and procedures in a reader-neutral manner, perhaps by using passive voice.
- Wikipedia is excessive examplesshould be avoided.
- Collections of case studies may be WikiBooks or to Wikiversity.
- Collections of case studies may be
Cite sources, don't describe them
Sources should be used to make verifiable statements, but the sources themselves should not normally be discussed in an article.
- Do not provide a detailed analysis of an individual study unless the analysis itself is taken from a published reliable source. Wikipedia should concisely state facts about a subject. It should not discuss the underlying literature at any length. Generally speaking, the facts will be found in the conclusions or results section of a study, not in the detailed methodology. Articles that rely on secondary sources are less likely to fall into the trap of discussing the size of a single study, its methodology, its biases, and so forth. Thus, you should write "washing hands after defecating reduces the incidence of diarrhea in the wilderness", not "An uncontrolled survey involving 132 experienced long-distance backpackers on the Appalachian trail in 1997 concluded that washing hands after defecating reduces the incidence of diarrhea in the wilderness."
- Do not hype a study by listing the names, credentials, institutions, or other "qualifications" of their authors. The text of the article should not needlessly duplicate the names, dates, titles, and other information about the source that you list in the citation. Always omit professional titles and academic degrees: use "Smith" or "Jones" rather than "Dr Smith" or "Prof Jones". It is necessary to specifically include such information only when a specific individual is being cited as an example of a person holding a minority view: You might write, "The AIDS Denialist Society says that HIV is entirely harmless", but just use a plain statement for the widely accepted fact, "HIV causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome."
- Do not publish your own views about studies.
Technical terminology
Good encyclopedic writing will naturally teach the reader new words and help them build confidence with harder ones. While this can be done explicitly, with definitions in parenthesis for example, the most natural way to achieve this is to use the idiomatic words, the "proper" words for something, in context. Good writing will allow the reader to pick up enough of the meaning from this context.[8]
When faced with an advanced technical word or medical
For terms related to anatomical position, you can link to Anatomical terms of location, e.g. [[Anatomical terms of location|lateral]]
.
Use the
Infoboxes
Infoboxes should be used where appropriate. These include
{{Infobox drug}}
– for example, Paracetamol{{Infobox medical condition}}
– for example, Down syndrome (also includes symptoms){{Infobox medical intervention}}
– for example, Cardiopulmonary resuscitation{{Infobox protein}}
{{Infobox brain}}
– for brain regions such as Broca's area{{Infobox anatomy}}
– for general anatomic structures, with more specific infoboxes (e.g. {{Infobox bone}}) for particular types of structure.
Full instructions are available on the page for each infobox. A suitable picture for the infobox is encouraged. For drugs, the 2D
Content sections
The following lists of suggested sections are intended to help structure a new article or when an existing article requires a substantial rewrite. Changing an established article simply to fit these guidelines might not be welcomed by other editors. The given order of sections is also encouraged but may be varied, particularly if that helps your article progressively develop concepts and avoid repetition. Do not discourage potential readers by placing a highly technical section near the start of your article.
An appropriate list of appendices follows at the end of articles for citations and other resources.
Diseases or disorders or syndromes
Clinical articles can achieve a level of consistency by limiting their top-level headers to those specified below. However, the spectrum of medical conditions is huge, including infectious and genetic diseases, chronic and acute illness, the life-threatening and the inconvenient. Some sections will necessarily be absent or may be better merged, especially if the article is not (yet) fully comprehensive.
A disease that is now only of historical significance may benefit from having its History section moved towards the top. Establishing the forms of the disease (Classification) can be an important first section. However, if such classification depends heavily on understanding the cause,
The following list of suggested headings contains wikilinks; the actual headings should not.
- Classification: If relevant. May also be placed as a subheading of Diagnosis.
- symptomsor Characteristics or Presentation (subsection Complications)
- ), spread.
- Mechanism: For information about pathogenesis and pathophysiology.
- Diagnosis: Includes characteristic biopsy findings and differential diagnosis.
- secondary prevention, it should follow the treatment section.)
- Treatment (or Management, especially for chronic conditions): This might include any type of currently used treatment, such as medically reliable sources.
- Outcomes or Prognosis. May also be labeled "Possible outcomes" or "Outlook".
- Epidemiology: factors such as incidence, prevalence, age distribution, and sex ratio.
- History: Early discoveries, historical figures, and outdated treatments (not patient history)
- Society and culture: This might include social perceptions, cultural history, stigma, economics, religious aspects, awareness, legal issues, and notable cases.
- Research directions: Include only if addressed by significant sources. See More research is needed". Wikipedia is not a directory of clinical trials or researchers.
- Special populations, such as Geriatrics or Pregnancy or Children
- Other animals
Drugs, treatments, and devices
The lead should highlight the name of the treatment product as per normal guidelines.
In the case of drugs, this would include the
Try to avoid cloning drug formularies such as the BNF and online resources like RxList and Drugs.com. Extract the pertinent information rather than just dumping low-level facts in a big list, which should be avoided. For example, a long list of side effects is largely useless without some idea of which are common or serious. It can be illuminating to compare the drug with others in its class, or with older and newer drugs. Do not include dose, titration or pricing information except when they are extensively discussed by secondary sources, necessary for the discussion in the article, or when listing equivalent doses between different pharmaceuticals. Wikipedia is not an instruction manual or textbook and should not include instructions, advice (legal, medical or otherwise) or "how-to"s.
The following list of suggested headings contains wikilinks; the actual headings should not.
- Medical uses or Uses (how the intervention is used, along with evaluations of efficacy if available)
- Contraindications
- Adverse effects (may include "addiction", "dependence", or "withdrawal") or Side effects
- Overdose (including toxicity caused by overdose)
- Drug interactions or Interactions
- Pharmacology
- Mechanism of action or Pharmacodynamics
- )
- Pharmacomicrobiomics (if known, cover any clinically significant drug-microbiota interactions)
- Chemistry (for drugs)
- Synthesis: Content should be encyclopedic, not instructional or pedagogical, and should include content and a source explaining the relevance of the synthesis information provided (the first, the one used to manufacture the drug, etc.).
- Detection in body fluids
- Manufacturing
- History
- Society and culture
- Legal status
- Recreational use
- Economics
- Brand names
- Research: Include only if addressed by significant sources. See More research is needed". Wikipedia is not a directory of clinical trials or researchers. Avoid promotionaldescriptions of early-stage interventions.
- Veterinary use or other animals
Surgeries and procedures
- Uses (or Medical uses if clarification is required)
- Contra-indications
- Risks/Complications
- Technique (avoid step-by-step instructions)
- Recovery or Rehabilitation
- History (e.g., when it was invented)
- Society and culture (includes legal issues, if any)
- Special populations
- Other animals
Signs or symptoms
Most articles about
- Definition (current definitions)
- Differential diagnoses
- Pathophysiology or Mechanism
- Diagnostic approach or Evaluation
- Treatment or Management (for the symptom itself, if any: e.g., analgesics for pain)
- Epidemiology (incidence, prevalence, risk factors)
- History (of the science, not of the patient: e.g., "The oldest surviving description is in a medical text written by Avicenna.")
- Society and culture (e.g., cachexia was a literary symbol for tuberculosis in the 19th century and for AIDS in the 1980s.)
- Research (Is anything important being done?)
- Other animals
Medical tests
Articles about
While a general description of procedures may have encyclopedic value, articles about tests and other medical procedures should not provide step-by-step directions, patient instructions, disclaimers or warnings. Wikipedia is not an instruction manual and does not give medical advice.
- Types, if more than one kind or variant of the test or procedure exists
- Medical uses or Uses, including approved indications, non-approved indications (also called off-label uses), and contraindications
- Interpretation of results, including accuracy and specificity of test results
- Adverse effects
- Procedure
- Preparation
- Mechanism, how the test or procedure works
- Legal issues, such as whether special counseling is mandated, if any
- History of the test
- Society and culture
- Research
- Veterinary use
Anatomy
- Structure including a description of location and size, course, insertions and attachments. Possible subsections for blood supply, lymphatic drainage and nerve supply if these are complex enough. If covered on the same page, subsections may be devoted to individual substructures.
- Variations, describing variations, if appropriate
- Development, discussing the embryological/foetal and early-life development of the structure. May be included as a subsection in "Structure", especially for minor anatomical structures.
- Microanatomy or Histology, where appropriate
- Function or Physiology as appropriate
- Clinical significance, discussing related diseases, medical associations with the structure, and use in surgery.
- Society and culture, which may be excluded in minor anatomical structures.
- History, describing the structure and the etymology of the word. Etymology may be included as a separate subsection, if sufficient information exists.
- Other animals, which may include comparative anatomy for discussing non-human anatomy in articles that are predominantly human-based.
- Additional images may be used to display high-quality images, preferably in a gallery format. Each image must help the reader understand the subject and should provide something unique.
Additionally:
- The lead should begin by stating in the most general form the location and purpose of the structure. For example, "The metatarsals are bones found in the human foot."
- A link to the Commons image category for images may be provided in the "See also" section. If article makes use of anatomical terminology, please add {{Anatomy-terms}} or {{AT}} as the first link in the "See also" section.
- "Nerve supply" is preferred to "innervation" as a subsection title.
- If the article uses text from a public domain source, please add appropriate tags such as {{Gray's}} as the first link in the section relating to references.
- Do not add images: just because they are pretty; that are too similar to existing images; or several images of the same thing in different levels of zoom—assume instead that readers can use the gallery tool or click to see the image/more images on Commons. The {{Commons category}} link may be included in this section.
Medical specialties
- Scope including typical diseases/medical conditions; include any important sub-specialties
- History development of field, including notable founders
- Investigations investigations, diagnostics, and related techniques used in specialty
- Treatments
- Training may be subdivided by country if necessary
- Ethical and medicolegal issues any ethical issues that are specific to this field
This list of sections deliberately does not include: lists of professional organizations, training programs, publications, and companies working in the field.
Standard appendices
After the content of the article, please organize citations and other resources in the following order:
- See also: Avoid the navigation templatesat the end.
- Notes and References: Both WP:Inline citationsbelong here.
- Further reading: The Further readingsection lists books and other publications (not usually websites) that were not used as references and that editors recommend to readers. These may be historically important publications, significant textbooks, or popular science works. (It is best if when adding a journal it is of a general review type.)
- External links: Avoid if possible; see additional advice below.
Society and culture
Notable cases
Articles on medical conditions sometimes include lists of notable cases of the disease. For the person to be included in such a list there must be significant coverage of them having the condition, not simply a mention in passing or them self disclosing on social media. One restriction that some editors favor is to include only those individuals who have lastingly affected the popular perception of a condition, such as through public awareness campaigns that have received enduring media coverage.
Unsourced additions, particularly about living persons, must be removed. Responsibility for justifying controversial claims rests firmly on the shoulders of the editor making the claim. Be very firm about high-quality references, particularly about details of personal lives.
If the list is (or could be) long enough to support a separate article, then consider
Media portrayals
Before including in a disease or medication article that the topic was covered in a television show, movie, or book there must be significant third party coverage of the event. Therefore, it is not enough to reference the
These details may be included in the article about the show or book based on criteria found in those guidelines.
Etymology
In articles that focus on anatomy, please include the Latin (or Latinized Greek) name of anatomical objects, as this is very helpful to interwiki users and for people working with older scientific publications.
Many articles about eponymous diseases and signs include the origin of the name under the history section.
External links
Disease-related organisations and government health departments sometimes produce web pages containing substantial information that would be of interest to readers wishing to further study the topic. Such links are chosen for the information content, not because the organisation is particularly worthy or helpful. All links must meet Wikipedia's external links guidelines, which in particular exclude discussion forums.
Don't use external links
- that lead to information already included in the article
- to web-based or email-based support groups for patients, professionals, or other affected people (even if run by a charitable organization)
- to local, state, or regional charities, hospitals, clinics, or programs, or to meetings or events in a single location
- to personal experiences or survivor stories
- that recruit for clinical trials, sell products, or raise money
If the disease is very rare, then a manageable set of charitable organisations may be of encyclopaedic interest. In these cases, prefer links that provide information that is likely to be interesting to readers worldwide, such as a detailed article on the specific topic. It is usually better to link to an external web page that lists such charities, rather than try to provide such a list ourselves. The {{
- * {{Curlie|Health/Conditions_and_Diseases/Neurological_Disorders/Tourette_Syndrome/Organizations}}
gives:
- Tourette syndrome at Curlie
- Tourette syndrome at
There are a number of templates that help format external links for common medical web sites. Full instructions are available on their respective pages. The most common ones are integrated in {{Medical resources}}
.
- Diseases Database:
{{DiseasesDB}}
- eMedicine:
{{eMedicine}}
and{{eMedicine2}}
— clinical overviews of disease entities by experts in the field. - OMIM (Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man):}} — database of genetic disorders.
{{OMIM
- ID.
- PubMed Central:
{{PMC}}
- MedlinePlus}} and.
{{MedlinePlus2}}
—plain English medical encyclopaedia NIH - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke:
{{NINDS}}
- SUNY Downstate Medical Center:
{{SUNYAnatomyFigs}}
—an excellent source of online anatomic preparations. - Who Named It?:}}—medical eponyms and the people associated with their identification.
{{WhoNamedIt}}
and{{WhoNamedIt2
Citing medical sources
Medical articles should be relatively dense with inline citations. It is not acceptable to write substantial amounts of prose and then add your medical textbook to the References section as a
There is no universal standard for formatting citations on Wikipedia, but the format should be consistent within any one article. Some editors format their citations by hand, for more control over the presentation. Most editors on biomedical topics prefer to use
{{Cite journal}}
, {{Cite book}}
, {{Cite web}}
, {{Cite press release}}
, or {{Cite news
Templated citations

Citations in the
Abstracts of most medical journals are
name=Hedley2004
.
In addition to the standard citation text, it is important to supply hyperlinks, which greatly assist
A citation using {{cite journal}}:
{{cite journal |vauthors=Bannen RM, Suresh V, Phillips GN Jr, Wright SJ, Mitchell JC |title=Optimal design of thermally stable proteins |journal=Bioinformatics |volume=24 |issue=20 |pages=2339–2343 |year=2008 |pmid=18723523 |pmc=2562006 |doi=10.1093/bioinformatics/btn450 |url=//bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/24/20/2339 }}
produces:
- Bannen RM, Suresh V, Phillips GN Jr, Wright SJ, Mitchell JC (2008). "Optimal design of thermally stable proteins". Bioinformatics. 24 (20): 2339–2343. PMID 18723523.
The alternative {{vcite journal}}:
{{vcite journal |authors=Bannen RM, Suresh V, Phillips GN Jr, Wright SJ, Mitchell JC |title=Optimal design of thermally stable proteins |journal=Bioinformatics |volume=24 |issue=20 |pages=2339–2343 |year=2008 |pmid=18723523 |pmc=2562006 |doi=10.1093/bioinformatics/btn450 |url=//bioinformatics.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/24/20/2339 }}
produces:
- Bannen RM, Suresh V, Phillips GN Jr, Wright SJ, Mitchell JC. Optimal design of thermally stable proteins. Bioinformatics. 2008;24(20):2339–2343. PMC 2562006.
The date parameter should reflect the "Publication date" as given on PubMed or elsewhere, rather than a preprint e-pub date:
{{cite journal |vauthors=Meunier B, Robert A |title=Heme as trigger and target for trioxane-containing antimalarial drugs |journal=Acc Chem Res. |date=Nov 16, 2010 |volume=43 |issue=11 |pages=1444–1451 |type=Review |pmid=20804120 |doi=10.1021/ar100070k}}
produces:
- Meunier B, Robert A (Nov 16, 2010). "Heme as trigger and target for trioxane-containing antimalarial drugs". Acc Chem Res. (Review). 43 (11): 1444–1451. PMID 20804120.
Hand-coded citations
Even when hand-coding citations, there are still template tools to assist editors with making these links. If the abstract of a journal article is available on PubMed, use the {{
For example:
Levy R, Cooper P. [//www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD001903/frame.html Ketogenic diet for epilepsy.] Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(3):CD001903. {{doi|10.1002/14651858.CD001903}}. {{PMID|12917915}}.</ref>
produces the footnote
- Levy R, Cooper P. Ketogenic diet for epilepsy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(3):CD001903. PMID 12917915.
Suitable templates for navigation boxes can be found here:
Navigational boxes should follow a standardized style. Navboxes are constructed using the hlist
class to organise material into horizontal lists. For more information, see
Medical navboxes should be placed on appropriately specific articles and satisfy the general criteria found in
For drugs, footnotes may be manually added to indicate the regulatory status of a drug; for instance, one may wish to note that a drug is still in development, is only used in veterinary medicine, or has been withdrawn from the market. The recommended order of footnote symbols is: *, †, ‡, §. A standardised list can be included in drug navboxes by adding |below={{PharmNavFootnote}}
Working examples may be seen in several navboxes, including {{Antiretroviral drug}} and {{Nucleic acid inhibitors}}.
Categories
Diseases or disorders or syndromes
Diseases/disorders/syndromes should be categorized within Category:Diseases and disorders by their ICD-10 code(s). These articles should not also be categorized by medical specialty or body part if they are properly categorized in a subcategory of Category:Diseases and disorders. If applicable, diseases/disorders/syndromes may also be categorized within subcategories of Category:Genetic disorders.
Drugs
Drugs should be categorized within Category:Drugs by target organ system based on ATC code. Drugs can also be categorized by mechanism of action in Category:Drugs by mechanism of action and by physical structure.
Symptoms or signs
Symptoms and signs should be categorized in subcategories of Category:Symptoms and Category:Medical signs, respectively. Symptom categorization should be based on ICD-10 code.
Medical tests
Articles about medical tests themselves should be categorized in subcategories of Category:Medical tests based on the type of sample tested (e.g. Category:Blood tests). Diagnostic imaging should be categorized into subcategories of Category:Medical imaging (e.g. Category:Radiography for X-ray based imaging). Articles about results of medical tests should be categorized by ICD-10 code in subcategories of Category:Abnormal clinical and laboratory findings (e.g. Hyperglycemia is located in Category:Abnormal clinical and laboratory findings for blood).
Anatomy
Articles about anatomy should be categorized within subcategories of Category:Organs and Category:Organ systems.
Medical specialties
Major specialties practiced within the field of medicine should each have their own
People
People with a medical condition should only be categorized within subcategories of
Stubs
Stub articles may additionally be categorized according to the list at Wikipedia:WikiProject Medicine/Stub sorting.
Categorizing redirects
Please categorize redirects only if the redirect is for a significantly different alternative name, not minor variants on spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. Categorizing these redirects allows readers to find articles by browsing the categories, even if they only know one of the names for the condition.
- Example: Mallorca acne (redirect) are two names for the same condition. Both the article and the redirect include Category:Acneiform eruptions.
Redirects that are categorized should be additionally tagged with {{
Redirect
and the importance either left blank or set to NA
.
Redirects to minor variations should not be categorized and should not be tagged with {{
Images
In addition to the usual standards of image selection outlined by the Wikipedia:Image use policy and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images, which cover image quality and pertinence, several other considerations apply to articles about medical conditions:
- Identifiable people: Although the Wikimedia Foundation does not require any special protection for people whose images are being used in medicine-related contexts, editors are encouraged to be especially cautious about associating living people with diseases. In general, identifiable images of people should be provided with the person's consent, and preferably this noted on the image's description (an example of an image with this is here). Where consent is not documented, good faith should be assumed. In choosing images of identifiable people with a medical condition, prefer images of people who are strongly associated with the condition (e.g., Terry Fox for osteosarcoma) or are engaged in a public activity associated with that disease (e.g., AIDS patients at an ACT UP event) when such images are available.
- Technical images: Highly technical images, such as of stained pathology slides, are appropriate for many articles. However, they are often not the most accessible images for the introduction. Consider placing simpler images in the lead and placing more technical images in a specific, relevant section with captions in plain English.
- Shock value: Some images of medical conditions or procedures disturb some readers, e.g., because of visible deformities or the presence of blood. Potentially disturbing images should not be used for their shock value, for decoration, or merely to add an image. A detailed caption that identifies specific features may simultaneously increase the educational value of the image and reduce the likelihood of disturbing readers. Placement in a highly relevant section, rather than in the introduction, is also likely to reduce the shock value to readers. Wikipedia:Offensive material offers additional advice.
- Sexual images: Many medicine-related articles include images of genitals or other body parts normally kept covered, and a significant fraction of articles are directly related to sexuality. In general, Wikipedia aspires to be a high-quality reference source, and thus follows the general patterns of other high-quality reference sources. Doing so also helps editors comply with the directive from the Wikimedia Foundation's board of trustees to follow the high heels on an otherwise naked woman or visible genitals in an image that is supposed to illustrate Navel), and use appropriate captions to maximize the educational value of the images. Wikipedia:WikiProject Sexology and sexuality/WIP-image-guidelinesoffers some additional advice.
- POV pushing: On occasion, disputes arise over the neutrality of image choices. For example, an editor may want to include a picture of a person urinating outdoors to tell the world that urinating outdoors is natural and appropriate. An editor who denies the existence of AIDSmay oppose inclusion of an image of the HIV particle because they believe the virus does not exist. Other editors have promoted the inclusion of long-term survivors of normally deadly diseases to "give other patients hope". None of these are good reasons for choosing or deleting images. Images should be chosen and located because they illustrate specific concepts described in the text they are attached to.
See also
- Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources (medicine)
- Wikipedia:Conflicts of interest (medicine)
- WP:WikiProject Disability/Style advice. An essay by editors involved with WikiProject Disability.
Footnotes
- ^ This convention was documented at the now-defunct WikiProject Clinical medicine,[1] and was the result of several discussions in 2004.[2] [3] [4]
- List of eponymously named diseases.
- laundry listsby spammers; encyclopedic, sourced content such as "many generic brand names exist" is preferred.
- ^ Examples of original research include counting Google or PubMed results, comparing the size or relevance of the varieties of English, and quoting from personal or professional experience.
- ISBN 978-0-521-47154-1.
- ^ See this RfC from January 2021 on the subject.
- Templates for deletion: Medical
- ^ Readability Formulas: 7 Reasons to Avoid Them and What to Do Instead
- ^ DrugBank IDs follow the format
APRDxxxxx
, and may be found in the page's URL. - ^ HUGO IDs follow the format
hgnc_id=xxxx
, and may also be found in the page's URL. - C.W. Post Campus, B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
- ^ Consensus from February 2016 here