Wikipedia:Lead section
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This page is part of the Manual of Style, and is considered a guideline for Wikipedia. The consensus of many editors formed the conventions described here. Wikipedia articles should heed these guidelines. Feel free to update this page as needed, but please use the discussion page to propose major changes. |
The lead section or introduction paragraph (colloquially, "intro 'graf") of a Wikipedia article is the section before the first headline. The table of contents, if displayed, appears between the lead section and the first headline.
The lead should be capable of standing alone as a concise overview of the article, establishing context, explaining why the subject is interesting or notable, and describing its notable controversies, if there are any. It should be between one and four paragraphs long, should be carefully sourced as appropriate, and should be written in a clear and accessible style so that the reader is encouraged to read the rest of the article.
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[edit] Bold title
The subject of the article should be mentioned in bold face at the first natural place that it occurs in the prose, preferably in the first sentence. The name of the subject is usually identical to the page title, although it may appear in a slightly different form from that used as the title, and it may include variations. For example, in the article "United Kingdom":
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or UK) occupies part of the British Isles in northwestern Europe ...
[edit] Sections and table of contents
Although the lead section is considered a section, it has no section heading; an "Introduction" headline should not be added at the beginning of an article. When displayed, the optional table of contents generally appears between the lead section and the first section heading (though this can be changed, see WP:TOC).
Because editing the lead section can be cumbersome in huge articles, (because there's no edit link for this section), a trick allows editing the lead section separate from the rest of the article: Click "edit" for any section and , in the resulting URL, replace the trailing §ion=n with §ion=0.
[edit] Establish context
The first paragraph needs to establish the context in which the topic of the article is being considered. For example:
- Introduction (essay): "In an essay, an introduction is..." or,
- Introduction (music): "In music, the introduction is..."
It is preferable to keep the number of links preceding the bolded title as small as possible, in order not to overwhelm the reader.
[edit] Provide an accessible overview
The lead section should briefly summarize the most important points covered in an article in such a way that it could stand on its own as a concise version of the article. It is even more important here than for the rest of the article that the text be accessible, and consideration should be given to creating interest in reading the whole article (see news style and summary style). The first sentence in the lead section should be a concise definition of the topic unless that definition is implied by the title (such as 'History of …' and similar titles).
In general, specialized terminology should be avoided in an introduction. Where uncommon terms are essential to describing the subject, they should be placed in context, briefly defined, and linked. The subject should be placed in a context with which many readers could be expected to be familiar. For example, rather than giving the lattitude and longitude of a town, it is better to state that it is the suburb of some city, or perhaps that it provides services for the farm country of xyz county.
According to the perfect article guideline, a lead "begins with a clear description of the subject at hand. This is made as absolutely clear to the nonspecialist as the subject matter itself will allow. The purpose of an encyclopedia is to codify human knowledge in a way that is most accessible to the most people, and this demands clear descriptions of what the subject matter is about. So we aren't just dropped into the middle of the subject from the first word—we are eased into it."
[edit] Writing about concepts
When writing a lead section about ideas and concepts (such as "truth"), it can be helpful to introduce the topic as follows:
- Context - describing the category or field in which the idea belongs.
- Characterization - what the term refers to as used in the given context.
- Explanation - deeper meaning and background.
- Compare and contrast - how it relates to other topics, if appropriate.
- Criticism - include criticism if there has been significant, notable criticism.
[edit] Suggestions
The lead section should concisely reflect the content of the article as a whole. For many articles, these suggestions can be helpful in writing an appropriate lead:
- In the lead try to have a sentence, clause, or at least a word devoted to each of the main headlines in the article.
- The relative weight given to points in the lead should reflect the relative weight given to each in the remainder of the article.
- A significant argument not mentioned after the lead should not be mentioned in the lead.
[edit] Length
The appropriate length of the lead section depends on the total length of the article. As a general guideline, the lead should be no longer than three to four paragraphs. The following specific suggestions have been proposed:
| < 15,000 characters | medium size | > 30,000 characters |
|---|---|---|
| one or two paragraphs | two or three paragraphs | three or four paragraphs |
For the planned Wikipedia 1.0 (a static version of Wikipedia distributed on CD, DVD, or paper) one recommendation is that the articles will consist of just the lead section of the web version. Summary style and news style can help create a concise intro that works as a stand-alone article.
