Content Style Guide - Substance

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Note: Please feel free to modify this open-access document if you believe it will facilitate the process of PsychonautWiki content creation. Contact @Clarity or another PW Administrator/Scholar if you have any questions or feedback.

General principles

• Minimization: Do your best not to waste any space. Avoid including unnecessarily long sentences and paragraphs. Assume the worst case and that the readers are on their phone right before they are about to go to a rave or something. Focus on the vital information, and then re-read it to see if you can word it in a way that saves space.
• Neutrality: Do your best to remove all your subjective feelings and personal opinions on a subject when writing a page. Extensively consult dictionaries, thesauri, Google, Wikipedia, and similar PW substance pages to get an idea of how information should generally be presented and templated. Resist all urges to glorify substance use and stick with the facts as derived from the scientific and anecdotal literature.

Word choices

Select the bolded words when faced with a choice between the two options.

1. semisynthetic vs. semi-synthetic
2. naturally occurring vs. naturally-occuring

Style and Formatting

Introduction template

Option one should be the default formatting for substances (one sentence). However, for substances with multiple effects of note that result in long sentences, please resort to the two sentence structure shown below.

1. X (also known as Y, and Z) is a (popular vs. obscure) (novel vs. blank) (synthetic vs. naturally-occuring vs. semisynthetic) (insert psychoactive class) substance of the (insert chemical class) chemical class that produces a, b, c effect when administered.
2. X (also known as Y, and Z) is a (popular vs. obscure) (novel vs. blank) (synthetic vs. naturally-occuring vs. semisynthetic) (insert psychoactive class) substance of the (insert chemical class(es)) chemical classes. It is known to produce a, b, c, d effects" when administered.
3. X (also known as Y, and Z) is a (popular vs. obscure) (novel vs. blank) (synthetic vs. naturally-occuring vs. semisynthetic) (insert psychoactive class) substance of the (insert chemical class(es)) chemical classes. It is (said/believed/thought/known/shown/demonstrated) to produce a, b, c, d effects" when administered.

Examples:

1. Lysergic acid diethylamide (also known as LSD, LSD-25, Lysergide, L, and Acid) is a widely used semisynthetic psychedelic substance of the lysergamide chemical class that produces what are considered "classical psychedelic" effects when administered.
2. 3-MeO-PCP (also known as 3-MeO-PCP, and 3-MeO) is a novel synthetic dissociative substance of the arylcyclohexylamine chemical class. It produces prominent dissociating, stimulating and other hallucinogenic effects when administered.

Brief history

The compound was first synthesized in 1979 to investigate the structure-activity relationship of DZT derivatives. The activity of XXX in humans was not described until 1999 when a chemist using the pseudonym John Q. Beagle wrote that XXX was qualitatively similar to XX with comparable potency.[5] (History tidbit here, should these be standard if available?)

Unique/relevant features

Like other substances of its class, particularly DAF and XCA, it primarily [induces vs. produces] a state referred to as "dissociative anesthesia", albeit the extent to which this occurs is highly dose-dependent and variable in effect.[citation needed] (Description of distinguishing properties compared to other substances?) Its most common routes of administration include oral, sublingual or nasal administration. (Remark on common RoAs necessary?)

Modern relevance

(In modern times vs. Today) XXX is rarely sold on the streets and almost exclusively distributed as a gray area research chemical through the use of online vendors, where it is commonly used for recreational and, more [rarely and controversially] entheogenic purposes.

Warning and HR disclaimer (esp. if RC)

Due to its potent X and Y effects, reported habit-forming properties as well as unknown toxicity profile, it is strongly recommended that one use proper harm reduction practices if choosing to use this substance.