How to Report Vandalism on Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia written by individuals who consider themselves to be experts on specific subject, so the opportunity for vandalism is ever-present. Here's how to report any abuses or deliberate misrepresentations of facts to the proper authorities.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access

Instructions

Identify Wikipedia Vandalism

1. Start on the Wikipedia Main Page (see the Resources section below). Click on 'Help'. Follow the link to 'Vandalism' under 'Keeping Track Of Changes.' Here you'll find Wikipedia's definition of vandalism.

2. Recognize the difference between a good-faith effort to provide content (even though it may contain errors) and a deliberate attack on Wikipedia's integrity.

3. Stay alert for inconsistency in content, which may constitute deliberate misinformation.

4. Know that Wikipedia considers the addition of obscenities, or any information that deliberately compromises the intent of Wikipedia, to be vandalism.

5. Report incidents of page blanking, in which part or all of the content on a page is removed or replaced without consensus.

6. Identify links within an article that have been changed to an irrelevant or shock site. Wikipedia considers the addition of irrelevant external links to an article to be a form of vandalism.

Report Vandalism on Wikipedia

1. Create a Wikipedia account so you can write and edit without revealing your IP address.

2. Post contributions on the associated 'Talk Page' to discuss changes and reasons for changes in content.

3. Revert the text determined to be vandalism by clicking on 'History' on the page in question and choosing an earlier version. Remember to complete the revert by entering any good edits that were lost due to the reversion.

4. Check for additional abuse by tracing the IP address of confirmed acts of vandalism, according to the official policy of Wikipedia. Violators must have been blocked a minimum of five times before their actions can be reported as abuse.

5. Recommend the deletion of all versions of a page that is determined to have originated as vandalism. Only Wikipedia administrators can perform this deletion.

6. Use templates designed by Wikipedia to warn vandals. Realize that some errors are the result of novices making mistakes, and are not intentional vandalism.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid personal attacks on other contributors when reporting vandalism.