Guidelines for authors
From Science Online
We'd love to have your help!
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Who can be an author?
Anyone can sign up. All you need to do is click on the log in/create account link at the top right corner of the page.
If you sign up, your main responsibility is to respect the work of others. For example, if a someone places a work in progress notice on a page, please respect their wishes and refrain from editing the article directly until they remove it. We encourage you to leave comments on the discussion page for the article, or on authors' talk pages to help them improve the quality of the article.
If you are a student or a teacher, see the specialized help pages.
Usernames
Create an account by clicking on the log in/create account link at the top right corner of the page.
Only teachers may create usernames that resemble their real names. All other authors should create usernames that are:
- non-identifiable
That means it doesn't look like your real name! - appropriate
This is a science resource. Your username should be appropriate for a site used in schools.
Usernames that do not follow these guidelines may be blocked form editing.
Original work only, please!
This resource is for original science writing. You may link to images and resources from other sites, but what you upload to this site should be your own work. In the case of images, you might be able to find some free images for use on your articles, but remember, MOST IMAGES ON THE WEB ARE OWNED BY SOMEONE ELSE! If images are found on this site that do not belong there, they will be removed. No questions asked.
If you are found to be using someone else's words as your own, you may be suspended from editing. In the case of students, these incidents will also be reported to the school.
- Citing others
Using someone else's text or images is sometimes ok if you give them credit. If you quote another resource, or use it to find information, be sure to cite your sources!
OK, I have an account, now what?
Start with a question you'd like to answer or one that you can answer for other readers and start a page for it.
For example, if you can answer the question: "Why are the days longer in summer than in winter?" You might go to the category earth sciences and add the page "seasons" using the "new article" box at the top of the category page:
If it doesn't exist yet, the page will be created and will appear farther down the page under Articles in category "Earth Sciences"
Now, click the article and start editing.
Use Questions and Question Boxes
On the Questions Page people can post questions they'd like answered. You can post something there or find a question that you'd like to answer and start a page for it.
Once you have started an article, use question boxes to let readers know what main questions are answered in that article. For further help, see the page on question boxes.
