CZ:Election July-August 2013/Referenda/6

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Only the proposer of the referendum and Election Committee members may modify this page. Substantive modifications by the proposer after the referendum has been formally proposed here will invalidate the signatures of any current supporters, and require them to sign again. Comments should be placed on the Talk page.

This is a Citizen-Initiated referendum that does not modify the Charter. To support this referendum, add your name here.

Permit Approval Managers to Approve Articles Under Specified Circumstances

This referendum modifies an Editorial Council Regulation, EC:R-2011-027/ Approval process, which reads in part: "It is important to note that Approval Managers themselves do not Approve Article by passing their own subjective judgments upon the merits of the articles, rather, they are assuring that Approval is carried out according to the established rules."

Without compromising the standards for approval, this referendum would permit Approval Managers to approve articles with objective criteria under special circumstances described below in the section on the text of the referendum.

Background

Currently, Article approval requires a judgment call on the part of the Article Approval Manager. That judgment call requires assessment of comments made by authors and Editors regarding the merits of the article for approval status, and assessment whether the authors of the article respond satisfactorily, by revisions or argument.

Currently (July 2013), and for a long time (months to years), few or no comments have been offered on articles requesting consideration for approval, owing to the fact that Citizendium's active user base, including active Editors, has fallen to very low levels, to approximately two dozen.

Moreover, Citizendium recognizes that approved articles may be erroneous in part, and that the article is subject to improvement. This is evident by the statement at the top of the page under the navigation bar:

"While we have done conscientious work, we cannot guarantee that this article is wholly free of mistakes. Help improve this article further on the draft page!"

Thus, Citizendium is constrained in approving articles because of its small user base, and when it does approve articles it recognizes that they could be further improved.

This referendum will facilitate article approval. The referendum can be rescinded when Citizendium’s user base substantially increases to a level that Editorial Council Regulation, , EC:R-2011-027/ Approval process, can proceed without the conditions of this referendum.

Text of referendum

Approval managers may approve articles on their own judgment under the following circumstances:

  • If the Approval Manager is himself or herself an Editor in at least two Workgroups, is productive as an author, and is generally respected by the Citizenry for his or her judgment
  • If the Approval Manager carefully reviews the article under consideration, including fact-checking, coherence of narrative flow, and correction of copyedited errors
  • If one or more of the major contributors to the article is not an Editor and the conditions below apply:
    • During the review period for consideration of the article's approval, no Editors or authors comment on the article, or if they do comment, the comments provide no helpful suggestions or indication whether they favor approving or disapproving the article.
    • The Editorial Council, or current governing body, approves of the Approval Manager's decision.
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