Wikipedia:Manual of Style (Psychology)

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This page proposes style guidelines for editing psychology-related articles. The general Manual of Style always applies.

1 Naming conventions
2 Audience and language
3 Sections
- 3.1 Clinical conditions/disorders
4 Categories
5 Citing sources
6 Footnotes

[edit] Naming conventions

Wikipedia naming conventions indicate that the term in most common lay usage should be adopted, with some possible exceptions. Wikiproject medicine, however, reports agreeing that medical articles should favor the technical term.

[edit] Audience and language

Wikipedia is written for the general reader. It is an encyclopedia, not a comprehensive psychological text or manual. While psychologists or clients may find much of interest, they are not the target audience.

Some terms may differ in their usage in psychology compared to general usage. Many client groups, particularly those that have been stigmatised, prefer person-first terminology

[edit] 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 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 issue that is now only of historical significance may benefit from having its History section moved towards the top.

[edit] Clinical conditions/disorders

Clinical articles can achieve a level of consistency by using the top level headers specified below. However, the spectrum of psychological conditions is huge and some sections will necessarily be absent or may be better merged.

Assessment or Classification
Features or Aspects
Causes and Influences or Causal factors
Interventions (Therapy or Support)
Prognosis or Recovery
Epidemiology
Social or Cultural context
History (not client history)
See also (avoid if possible, use wikilinks in the main article)
References
Further reading or Bibliography (paper resources such as books, not web sites)
External links (avoid if possible)

[edit] Categories

At the end of the article, place [[Category:THECATEGORY]] for the categories it belongs in, but use the lowest appropriate sub-level. Useful top-levels to start looking under include: