Checklist for Contributors
This is a help page for contributors or users.
- This page contains no legal help information.
- See other Clicklaw Wikibooks Guides.
Please refer to this checklist each time you review your assigned pages, also available in PDF format: Editorial Checklist for Contributors
- The purpose of reviewing pages is to ensure changes in law are reflected in content.
- Clicklaw Wikibooks provide reliable, up-to-date, plain language information to help British Columbians address legal problems or learn about the law.
- Some Wikibooks offer brief, punctual tips — other titles offer more comprehensive guidance.
- What is your Wikibook's editorial objective? Consider the purpose, tone and audience of the title as a whole when making edits.
1. Review for accuracy
For each page you review, please go through the following steps:
Read each page
□ Read and take notes on pages assigned to you
Review the law
□ Read laws in context — start with existing citations in the article
□ Review statutory law — check statutory excerpts and compare to current legislation; check Proclamations (BC & Canada) for recent changes
□ Check caselaw — note up cases in CanLII; note up key sections of legislation to find new cases
□ Consult secondary resources — CLE articles, treatises, journals, etc.
Verify statements and specifics
□ Procedural steps — have rules or policies changed?
□ Forms — has a form changed name or been replaced?
□ Deadlines — readers rely on these being correct
□ Monetary amounts, costs or limits — have these details changed?
Resource Links
□ Check existing links — make sure they work and ALSO make sure they still point to the intended content
□ Best external resources — have newer resources arrived and did old ones get stale?
□ Best internal links — are concepts discussed that could be cross linked to more Wikibooks and pages?
Once you've reviewed your pages for legal accuracy, you may decide:
- Edit not needed → □ Just update the “last reviewed for legal accuracy” date
- Edit is needed → See step 2 below.
2. Edit & develop content
Cure existing legal inaccuracies
□ Fix incorrect statements — top priority is to correct wrong information, or at least remove the incorrect information
□ Update citations — add new legislation or caselaw (use CanLII's short URLs)
□ Fix broken links and resources
Develop & write
Write new content when tweaking existing content won't do. Please consider:
□ Gaps — what is the gap in information and is filling it crucial?
□ Plain language — keep your words simple and your sentences short (read about writing tips, or try the online Hemingway App).
□ Brevity — edits should clarify meaning, not add length
□ Organization — lists, subheadings and short paragraphs make reading easier and orient the reader
□ Legal references — would more citations benefit or just overwhelm the reader?
Simple & consistent
□ Clarify legal terms, include parenthetical definitions where needed
□ Be consistent in word choice (e.g. choose either “renter” or “tenant”)
□ Familiarize yourself with and apply Style Guide:
- □ Correct word emphasis, acronyms, and case citation style
- □ Apply bullets/numbered lists and punctuation
□ Format neutral language — writing "See the chapter/page on…" is better than "Click here for information on…" since Wikibooks are also printed
3. Optional checklist
□ Is there extraneous information that should be removed?
□ Is the overall language clear and approachable?
□ Are there other Wikibooks pages that would be improved by linking to your content? Speak to that other editor
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