Forum:CT Archive/Naming policy: Novels

I propose that we codify our longstanding precedent for how to name novels and similar literary works. This is specifically in regard to a) not including "Star Wars" in the title of these articles, and b) when to include a novel series name in the title of an article. Any approved change will be added to Naming policy. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 19:21, April 15, 2014 (UTC)

Vote 1: "Star Wars" in the title
As you can see from Category:Standalone novels, Category:Novel series, and Category:Young Readers, we typically do not include "Star Wars" in the article name of these literary works. For example, Heir to the Empire instead of "Star Wars: Heir to the Empire." Although "Star Wars" is technically included in the title of everything, we exclude it as our naming convention.

For this vote, I propose the following statements be added to a new subsection of Naming policy, entitled "Novels and books":
 * Do not include "Star Wars" in the article title of novels, junior novels, novellas, eBooks, young reader stories, storybooks, roleplaying adventure books, or any other print or digital book that would normally be considered an in-universe "Appearance." The following exceptions apply: film novels and film junior novelizations (examples: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (novel), Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (junior novelization), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (novel)), and subjects with "Star Wars"-specific titles (examples: Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine, Star Wars Missions 1: Assault on Yavin Four, Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice, Star Wars Adventures: Boba Fett and the Ship of Fear, LEGO Star Wars: The Yoda Chronicles (book)).


 * Applicable books from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: The Old Republic series will be shortened to "The Clone Wars" and "The Old Republic," respectively (examples: The Clone Wars: Wild Space instead of Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Wild Space, The Old Republic: Revan instead of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan). Applicable books from Star Wars Rebels will not include the series title.

For the most part, this is only reinforcing what we already do. This also reflects how novels and similar works are presented in official sources, such as The Essential Reader's Companion and the chronology timeline at the beginning of novels. Please note the specific points behind this proposal:
 * This does not apply to comic books at this time, which deserve their own discussion.
 * The biggest change would be moving anything in Category:The Clone Wars young readers that includes "Star Wars" in the title. For example, Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Ambush will become simply The Clone Wars: Ambush.
 * "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and "Star Wars: The Old Republic" are not being treated as aforementioned "Star Wars"-specific titles because the terms "The Clone Wars" and "The Old Republic" are frequently used by official outlets and can be considered independent from "Star Wars." This is also reflects how Essential Reader's Companion and the novels timeline present these works.
 * I am also proposing that we exclude "Star Wars Rebels" from the title of in-universe "Appearance" books from that series. From all official indications, "Star Wars Rebels" is an indivisible title. Meaning, for example, "Star Wars Rebels: Ezra's Gamble" is either that or just "Ezra's Gamble." It shouldn't be abbreviated to "Rebels: Ezra's Gamble." Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 19:21, April 15, 2014 (UTC)

Support

 * 1) Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 19:21, April 15, 2014 (UTC)

Vote 2: Series names
Naming policy includes a clause that is patently contradictory to how we've named many novel articles, and it reveals an inconsistency in our naming conventions for novel series. The clause reads: "If the book is the part of the series, use only the novel's actual title, without the title of the series (for example: Path of Destruction, No Prisoners, Star by Star, Fury). Note that two of the four linked examples in that clause are currently redirects on the policy page, demonstrating how much we don't abide by this specific rule. By far, the majority of our serial novel articles include the series name in their titles. I present the following list:

Although the majority of our serial novel articles do include the series name in the title, none of our novel articles from the New Jedi Order, Legacy of the Force, or Fate of the Jedi series do, which is where our inconsistency lies. But they should:
 * All the Legacy of the Force books present their titles as, for example, Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Revelation on the book's credits page (scroll down), and this is also seen on the novel covers.
 * The same holds true for the Fate of the Jedi books: Credits page (scroll down) and Cover
 * New Jedi Order is more ambiguous, as many of the books from that series provided no indication either way as to whether the series should be considered part of the title. However, the last four and most recently published books from that series (Force Heretic II: Refugee, Force Heretic III: Reunion, The Final Prophecy, and The Unifying Force) do include the series name in the title on their cover pages: Cover page (scroll down).

Although we're used to these novels not including the series name in their titles, there is no real reason why all of our other serial novel articles include the series name but these don't. Either they should all have the series name or none of them should for consistency. And as demonstrated, it's more correct to include the series name than not, so our policy, which restricts the inclusion of the series in the title, should be changed.

I propose that we strike the current clause from the policy and replace it with a new one within a "Novels and books" subsection of Naming policy:
 * If the book is part of a series, include the series name as part of the title (examples: Galaxy of Fear: Eaten Alive, Lost Tribe of the Sith: Precipice, Fate of the Jedi: Outcast). Do not include the series name as part of the title if the series is not typically included in the book's title (examples: Heir to the Empire instead of The Thrawn Trilogy: Heir to the Empire, Ambush at Corellia instead of The Corellian Trilogy: Ambush at Corellia).

This proposal identifies the following list as series that should not be included in the title: The Han Solo Trilogy, The Bounty Hunter Wars, The Thrawn Trilogy, The Jedi Academy Trilogy, The Black Fleet Crisis, The Corellian Trilogy, The Hand of Thrawn Duology, and the Jedi Prince series. Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 19:21, April 15, 2014 (UTC)

Support

 * 1) Toprawa and Ralltiir (talk) 19:21, April 15, 2014 (UTC)