The 2016 August GAN Backlog Drive was a month-long effort to reduce the backlog of Good Article nominations. Please ensure that you familiarise yourself with the Good Article review process before starting to review an article, and that you are familiar with the GA criteria and the Manual of Style. Also, it is recommended reading the essays What the Good article criteria are not and Reviewing good articles. The co-ordinator for this drive is Jaguar. If you have any questions, leave a message on this drive's talk page. The drive began on 1 August 2016 at 0:00:01 (BST) and ended on 31 August 2016 at 23:59:59 (BST). This was the first backlog elimination drive to be held in over two years.
The ultimate goal of this backlog elimination drive is to cut the number of outstanding GANs by 50% or 60%. Awards will be given out to those individuals who do the most work in helping reduce the size of the backlog and reach milestones, such as reviewing 15 GANs, vice versa. This backlog drive is modelled on the highly successful April 2010 and December 2011 drives; as a result, points will not be rewarded nor will the reviewer be judged on how long their review is. This is to ensure a faster rate of decreasing backlog whilst maintaining quality reviews. Consequently, 'quick-fails' are allowed, only if the article is in an exceptional bad standing. If a participant is found rapidly rubber-stamping GANs that do not meet the criteria, they may be disqualified. Each review will be checked by the co-ordinator to ensure that this does not happen.
Log completed GANs here. If you complete a GAN for an article, don't forget to list it here so that you can get credit for the review.
No rubber-stamping GANs. Good Article nominations tend to result in even better improvements if a reasonable amount of issues are brought up in a review. This can be especially useful when approaching Featured Article standing. Quick-fails are allowed if the article is in exceptionally poor shape or per the GA criteria page. Each review and its article will be checked by the co-ordinator to ensure that rubber-stamping does not happen.
Provide constructive criticism. If you see a problem or problems in a certain article you're reviewing, don't be afraid to point that out and indicate to the nominator what's wrong. Instead of merely pointing to the problems, guide the nominator to possible ways of fixing those problems. Similarly, if the article is not of Good Article quality yet, don't be afraid to fail, but make sure you provide guidance as to how to get the article up to GA quality.
Stick with it. An article isn't improved if it remains on hold for months. Instead, make the smaller corrections, make sure the primary writer is actively editing, and make the pass/fail judgement if concerns are/are not addressed in a timely matter. Generally, it is standard for a GA review to be on hold for seven days, however the reviewer may close their review when they see fit.
Have fun. We're here to help bring these articles up to their fullest potential and hence improving the overall quality of the encyclopaedia. If you do not enjoy doing that, then there is no motivation to improve these articles and the encyclopaedia as a whole.
To receive an award, please include your name and the number of reviews you have completed as part of this drive. Please keep a running total next to your name. Awards will be given by the co-ordinator after this drive ends.
In addition, the person who reviews the most Good Article nominations during the backlog elimination drive will receive the Content Review Medal of Merit.
Only passes and fails will be recognised as completing a review. If necessary, you can put the article on hold if the article needs to be edited further to be passed. Once you have passed or failed the article after putting it on hold, then include your review below. Article reviews started before 31 August but completed after 31 August are eligible to be counted into the running total. Reviews started before 1 August do not count. Please state if the article is a pass, fail, or on hold. Make sure you follow up reviews that have been placed on hold.
