Animal Database:Wiki Rules

Status: UPDATED Oct 15, 2023

Animal Database is a formal and moderately yet understandable scientific wiki hoping to provide accurate and up to date information about everything related to the kingdom of Animalia to the masses. The rules listed here are a guideline for how every user should behave on the wiki and should be adhered to at all times or else punishment will be enacted. For any questions, don't hesitate to contact Animal Database's wiki admins.

User Conduct Policy

1. Offensive content is prohibited on this wiki - do not publish any content that portrays a person or group in bad light for one's own personal gain on this wiki. This includes bullying, threats, and any content about a person published without their consent.
   1. • No swearing - profanity is not allowed anywhere on the wiki (for a full list of what counts as profanity, check out a list compiled by Carnegie Melon University). If you wish to express yourself, replace all letters of swear words except for the first and last letter with at least two unrelated characters (e.g. asterisks, dashes, or slashes) or replace the word with grawlixes (e.g. $@!#).
      • No hate speech - all discriminatory or harmful language toward a person or group, including slurs, derogatory terms, or harmful stereotypes, will NEVER be tolerated on this wiki.
2. Do not encourage or participate in fights - Animal Database strives to be a safe space where animal lovers can discuss and debate on animal-related topics, but the emphasis is respectfully. Do not publish something on this wiki that is highly sensitive and controversial. Also, do not try to recruit members of a certain wiki to be involved in another wiki's disputes. Everybody on this wiki should be focused on editing, not fighting. Exceptions include debating reconstructions of extinct species, taxonomic ambiguity, and anything that does not affront people.
   1. • Mini-modding - never handle conflicts in the wiki yourself. Examples of this include sending warnings to users for their behavior and entering arguments yourself. Instead, contact a wiki moderator or admin to resolve the conflict.
3. Regarding mature content - this wiki is mostly visited by children, so keep content PG-13.
   1. This means content warnings must be given before posting:
      • Gore
      • Large amounts of censored profanity
      • Mentions of drugs other than coffee and medicine
      • Trauma
      • Mild violence (animals defending territory, etc.)
      • Politics
   2. The following topics are not allowed to be mentioned on the wiki whatsoever:
      • Graphic gore
      • Graphic violence
      • Sexual content, including implications of sexual assault
      • Self-harm
      • Descriptions of drug abuse
      • Incest

Content Policy

An article is designed to be an informational profile on a certain animal species, nationally-acclaimed or world-famous animal/researcher, animal-related pop culture, citizen participation, or certain taxonomic unit of organisms. After finishing an article, the reader should have a complete understanding of the animal's taxonomic classification, appearance, geographical distribution, habitat preferences, diet, behavior, reproduction, vocalizations (if any), conservation, ecology, and where to find any additional information (references).

Topics

Allowed

Topics of articles can be animal-centered:

• Species (e.g. Hawaii Akepa)
• Famous animal
• Famous researcher/philanthropist/internet personality
• Shows
• Movies/documentaries
• Human characters (e.g. Martin Kratt)
• Fake animals (e.g. Godzilla)
• Paintings
• Internet memes
• Organizations
  • Animal rescues
  • Research institutions
  • Audubon societies
• Citizen science
• Competitions
• Events
• Resources (e.g. eBird, Merlin Bird ID, iNaturalist)
• Zoos and aquariums

Not Allowed

Articles are not allowed to have topics related to:

• News articles
• Individuals episodes
• Animal characters based off of real animals (e.g. Tiger in Wild Kratts). Those belong in subpages.
• Taxonomic ranks higher than species. Descriptions of these topics should be written in their category page.

If in disputed, please ask the wiki admins.

Content

1. Keep content original - DO NOT copy-paste writing that is not yours. Always paraphrase or properly quote copy-pasted information in MLA or APA formatting. For example:

Allowed	Not Allowed
According to researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, "The European Starling is an exotic species that was introduced to North America in the 19th century" ("How To Deal With Unwanted Yard Visitors: Squirrels, Cats, Bugs, Hawks, And More").	The European Starling is an exotic species that was introduced to North America in the 19th century.

1. Sources - use reliable sources. Any website published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, University of Michigan, or other university or research institute is reliable. Contrary to what your school teacher may have told you, Wikipedia is heavily moderated, making it a reliable source. Just be sure to cite all the sources used to create an article under the "Works Cited" section in proper MLA or APA formatting.

Refer to the Article Manual for more information.

Blog posts and discussions

Anything animal-related can be posted in blog posts and discussions posts so long as they follow the User Conduct Policy.

Media Upload Policy

Media is uploaded to the wiki in the form of images, GIFs, videos, and all non-text items. The purpose of media is to enhance the text written on the wiki.

1. All media uploaded onto Animal Database must be relevant, meaningful, and appropriate (see User Conduct section).
2. Follow the Upload Policy.

Categories

Categories group and organize articles so that similar articles become more searchable.

Rules:

1. Categories added should be relevant to the article. Acceptable categories for an article include:
   1. • Taxonomic classification (both common name and scientific name).
      • Countries where the animal can be found.
      • Year discovered
      • IUCN evaluation (Endangered, Least Concerned, Vulnerable)
      • Appearance in Pop Culture (TV shows, series, movies, etc.)
      • Related major geological events
2. Category pages for a taxonomic rank should be under the category of a rank directly higher. For example, the category Scansoriopterygidae is under the Maniraptora category.
3. Please refrain from creating categories similar to existing ones. For example, please do not create the category "Woodpeckers" when there is already a category named "Woodpecker".
4. The topic of the category should be briefly described in the category page.

Editing Policy

The purpose of editing on this wiki is to add information to the database or to make the wiki appear more uniform. With this in mind, users should:

Rules:

1. NEVER edit other people's profile pages, blogs, or messages, even if they violate Wiki Rules without admin approval. In a case where a rule is violated, please notify the wiki admins.

1. Any intentional spreading of misinformation against a user or of an animal will result in the user being blocked. Please immediately correct the mistake and notify an admin when you have unknowingly spread false information.

Accounts

Account creation is necessary to be able to edit on Animal Database so that admins can better identify problematic users.

1. Backup accounts are allowed, unless they are used to avoid punishment or gain a role. Please notify admins of all personal backup accounts and suspected sock puppets.

User Rights

See Admin's Manual.

Consequences

See Admin's Manual.