Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Assessment/B-Class

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B-Class assessments may be assigned by any editor, but require the completion of a checklist in the {{WikiProject Film}} project banner. Ideally, film articles should be assessed by an editor who has not been involved with the article; this is to avoid bias and to help keep standards high.

Criteria for B-Class status

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B-Class film articles are expected to meet all of the following criteria:

  1. The article is suitably referenced, with inline citations where necessary.
    It has reliable sources, and any important or controversial material which is likely to be challenged is cited. The use of citation templates such as {{cite web}} is not required, but the use of <ref></ref> tags is encouraged. At minimum, try to include author, title, publisher and access date.
  2. The article reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious omissions or inaccuracies.
    It contains a large proportion of the material necessary for a Good article, although some sections may need expansion, and some less important topics may be missing.
  3. The article has a defined structure.
    Content should be organized into groups of related material, including a lead section and all the sections that can reasonably be included in an article of its kind.
  4. The article is reasonably well-written.
    The prose contains no major grammatical errors and flows sensibly, but it certainly need not be "brilliant". The Manual of Style need not be followed rigorously.
  5. The article contains supporting materials where appropriate.
    Illustrations are encouraged, though not required. Tables and an infobox etc. should be included where they are relevant and useful to the content.

How to complete the checklist

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Before an article can be given a B-Class assessment, it is first necessary to complete the checklist in the {{WikiProject Film}} project banner. To do this, start by adding the following code to the template call:

<!-- 1. It is suitably referenced, and all major points are appropriately cited. -->
|b1=
<!-- 2. It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain major omissions or inaccuracies. -->
|b2=
<!-- 3. It has a defined structure, including a lead section and one or more sections of content. -->
|b3=
<!-- 4. It is free from major grammatical errors. -->
|b4=
<!-- 5. It contains appropriate supporting materials, such as an infobox, images, or diagrams. -->
|b5=

Next, read through the article and assess it against the five criteria outlined above. For example, if the article is thoroughly referenced throughout you would add |B-Class-1=yes. However, if the article is full of poor grammar and prose you would add |B-Class-4=no. An article can only be passed as B-Class if it meets all five criteria.

Frequently asked questions

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How to nominate articles?
Q. I want an article to be reviewed for the B-Class. How do I do it?
A. If you don't feel comfortable reviewing an article yourself, feel free to list it here where it will be reviewed by a member of the project.
How suitable am I?
Q. I'm not certain I am capable of assessing B-Class articles. What degree of familiarity/expertise would you say this requires?
A. If you've been around for a few months, got your wits about you, and have a "feel" for what B-Class is about, you'll be fine. If you have lingering doubts, consider looking at some of our current B-class articles. They'll give you a good idea of what to expect.
Checklist not appearing in the banner
Q. What's wrong with the banner? I added and filled in the B-Class checklist, but it doesn't appear in the Film banner when I save.
A. Nothing's wrong with it. The template only shows the checklist for Start, C-Class and B-Class articles. If the article is a Stub or any other class, the checklist isn't displayed. (If you change the class to Start or B and "preview", you'll see how it works.)
B-Class-1 – is suitably referenced and cited
Q. How many references are enough? Is it necessary for all points to be cited? What is the policy in this regards?
A. Policy is to cite anything that is likely to be challenged, but as this is B-Class and not an FAC some latitude is permitted. As a rule of thumb, all sections need an absolute minimum of one citation, and all direct quotes as well as any statistics (such as box office results) should be attributed to a source.
B-Class-2 – reasonably covers the topic
Q. How comprehensive does the article need to be?
A. You are checking that there are no obvious gaps and that the article will reasonably answer any questions a general reader (not a specialist) might have. For example, a B-Class article for a film would typically include a plot summary of reasonable length together with details about the film's production, cast and crew, release, and critical reception.
B-Class-3 – has a defined structure, including a lead section
Q. Structure - What is the minimum to pass the article for structure? If we go by the template comment, as long as the article has sections then it's OK.
A. Broadly, yes, though if they're ridiculously irrelevant, or very skimpy, consider re-organizing the sections yourself on the sofixit principle. B-Class is not a very high bar.
Q. How long should the lead section be?
A. Providing it accurately summarizes the main body of the article, the length doesn't matter too much. That said, most reviewers expect to see at least one to two reasonably long paragraphs.
B-Class-4 – is free from major grammatical errors
Q. What counts against grammar?
A. Don't worry about minor grammatical or spelling errors and so forth. If it makes sense and is reasonably well written, pass it.
B-Class-5 – contains appropriate supporting graphics, infoboxes, or images
Q. If the page has good images, but lacks a much needed infobox, do we pass it?
A. Pass it. Please note that infoboxes are not compulsory. The fail really only applies if the article has no graphic (infobox, photos, graphics) at all. What we don't want is pages that are a wall of text, with nothing to break it up or add visual interest.
Q. Does a longer article require more supporting materials than a shorter one in order to pass Criterion 5? E.g. is one infobox at the top sufficient for a 12-screen-long article, or does it need something to break up the rest of the text as well?
A. Just an infobox is not sufficient for a longer article. The rest of the text should be broken up a bit as well.
Article reaches Good Article status
Q: What happens when a B-Class article passes a Good Article nomination?
A. If an article reaches GA-Class, then the B-Class parameters should be removed from the banner. In the event of a Good Article being delisted, it will be beneficial to reassess the article against the B-Class criteria.