This Good article nominations backlog elimination drive is a one-month-long effort (originally organized by the GAN WikiProject and other users) to reduce the backlog of Good Article nominations. Please make sure that you read the whole Good article review process before starting to review an article. The coordinators for this drive are MuZemike and Wizardman. If you have any questions, leave a message in the drive's talk page. This drive runs from 1 April 2010 00:00 UTC and ends on 30 April 2010 23:59 UTC.
The goal of this backlog elimination drive is to bring the number of outstanding Good Article nominations to below 200 (about half of what it is currently). Awards will be given out to those individuals who do the most work in helping reduce the size of the backlog.
Basic guidelines
Log completed GANs here. If you complete a GAN for an article, don't forget to list it here so that you can get credit for the review.
No rubber-stamping of GANs. Be thorough and complete in your GANs, and make sure all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed. Generally Good article nominations tend to result in even better improvements to articles and can go a long way especially when approaching Featured Article standing.
Provide constructive criticism. If you see a problem or problems in a certain article you're reviewing, don't be afraid to point that out and indicate to the nominator what's wrong. Instead of merely pointing to the problems, guide the nominator to possible ways of fixing those problems. Similarly, if the article is not of Good Article quality yet, don't be afraid to fail, but make sure you provide guidance as to how to get the article up to GA quality.
Stick with it. An article isn't improved if it remains on hold for months. Instead, make the smaller corrections, make sure the primary writer is actively editing, and make the pass/fail judgment if concerns are/are not addressed in a timely matter. Watch the talk page and look to see what's being done and if anyone has questions.
Have fun. We're here to help bring these articles up to their fullest potential and hence improving the overall quality of the encyclopedia. If you do not enjoy doing that, then there is no motivation to improve these articles and the encyclopedia as a whole.
For new reviewers
The April 2010 elimination drive welcomes and encourages those who have not yet tried their hand at GA reviewing, or those who haven't done so in some time, to join the drive, even if only to review one or two. If you feel like wanting someone to check over your review and making sure that it's good, the drive coordinators will gladly assist.
Progress
GAN backlog elimination drives chart up to 1 May
There are 55 editors participating the April 2010 GAN backlog elimination drive, which means the following:
If everybody reviewed at least 9 more Good Article nomination, we would reach our goal of under 200 outstanding nominations.
If everybody reviewed at least 13 more Good Article nominations, we would completely clear out the GAN queue.
Awards
Awards will be given out at the conclusion of the backlog elimination drive as follows:
In addition, the person who reviews the most Good Article nominations during the backlog elimination drive will receive the Content Review Medal of Merit. (Unfortunately, because of financial problems, we are not able to give away automobiles at this time.)
And remember, the ultimate winner here is Wikipedia.
Running total
You can still join! Feel free to start at any time.
Only pass/fail will be recognized as completing a review. If necessary, you can put the article on hold if the article needs to be edited further to be passed. Once you have passed or failed the article after putting it on hold, include your review below. Quick-fails will not be counted. Please state if the article is a pass, fail, or on hold. Make sure you follow up on holds.
We will spot-check some of the completed GANs for quality control reasons. If a GAN is found not to be of an acceptable standard, it will be reassessed against the criteria.
