Contribute

Contributions should make the reference clearer, more correct, more navigable, or easier to maintain. A good contribution can be a new mature page, a corrected sign, a better citation, a clearer exercise, an improved figure, or a cross-link that prevents duplicated explanation.

Before Writing

Before adding or editing a page:

• identify the volume, chapter, and page type;
• check the relevant plan;
• find the canonical home for the topic;
• check related pages to avoid duplicate derivations;
• identify required conventions;
• collect authoritative references;
• decide whether the page is a concept page, derivation, reference entry, experiment entry, theorem entry, guide, or roadmap.

Page Quality Checklist

A strong page should have:

• valid frontmatter,
• a clear purpose,
• no explicit top-level Markdown title,
• correct KaTeX formatting,
• definitions and assumptions,
• physical interpretation when relevant,
• references,
• cross-links,
• exercises when useful,
• common mistakes or checks when useful,
• no duplicate canonical derivation.

Contribution Types

Corrections should be narrow and well explained. If a correction changes a formula, state whether the old formula was wrong or merely used a different convention.

New pages should be written one at a time and reviewed against the relevant plan. Avoid thin placeholder pages unless the plan explicitly asks for a stub.

Figures should use the established figure structure, include alt text, and avoid visual clutter. Mathematical figures should be reproducible from source when practical.

Exercises should test understanding, not only computation. Include solutions when they help prevent common mistakes.

Review Expectations

A contribution is not complete merely because the page renders. It should pass local build checks and should be reviewed for references, internal links, convention consistency, and canonical-home placement.

For status changes, follow the Versioning and Review Policy. For citation expectations, follow Citation Standards.

Common Mistakes

• Adding a second derivation instead of linking to the canonical derivation.
• Expanding scope beyond the planned page.
• Mixing conventions without declaring the translation.
• Citing weak sources for strong claims.
• Writing a page as a list of facts rather than a coherent explanation.
• Adding a frontier claim without an evidence label and recent references.

References

• Committee on Publication Ethics, Core Practices, for publication-integrity principles.
• The Turing Way Community, The Turing Way: A Handbook for Reproducible, Ethical and Collaborative Data Science, for collaborative maintenance practices.
• D. A. Schön, The Reflective Practitioner, Basic Books, 1983, for disciplined improvement of expert practice.

Exercises

1. You want to add a new derivation of the harmonic-oscillator spectrum on a spectroscopy page. What should you check first?

Solution

Find the canonical harmonic-oscillator derivation and link to it. The spectroscopy page should summarize only what it needs unless the plan assigns it a distinct derivation.

2. A new page uses natural units. What must it do?

Solution

It must declare the unit convention, explain any translation needed for the audience, and stay consistent with Units and Constants.