Wikipedia:WikiProject Alternative medicine/Standards of Quality

This page is currently inactive and is retained for historical reference. Either the page is no longer relevant or consensus on its purpose has become unclear. To revive discussion, seek broader input via a forum such as the village pump. It was last substantively updated 4 August 2006.

Our Standard of Quality Guidelines (SQG) voluntarily allow editors to impose more restrictive requirements on CAM than those required for Wikipedian articles in general.

Use of these SQGs by editors is both voluntary and optional. But, using these SQGs will allow editors to objectively talk about what is wrong with the latest edit without resorting to personal attacks. You can easily cite a half dozen of these SQG numbers in your edit summaries or in detail on talk pages.

The intent of these SQGs is to streamline the normal editing process.

There are a number of reasons for these more restrictive guidelines.

1. CAM tends to be a controversial topic which is in a state of never-ending edit wars.
2. CAM articles are about the topics of health and medicine. Many different organizations have developed guidelines that should be followed when discussing a topic that has the potential for adversely affecting the health of any individual reading information provided on the Internet.

In this document, CON will be used to refer to any criticism directed against CAM. CON arguments might reflect the position of the American Medical Association or the opinions of editors schooled in the basic sciences of Western culture.

All of these Standard of Quality Guidelines have come from direct quotes of long established Wikipedian guidelines. All this project page has done is draw attention to what these guidelines are and what other people on Wikipedian think can potentially benefit the public who will be reading these CAM articles.