Yakipedia Best Practices

Purpose of Yakipedia

Yakipedia is a collaborative knowledge platform used to document fish and wildlife recovery efforts in the Yakima River Basin. The goal is to capture institutional knowledge, summarize existing science, and provide a shared space for partners to understand the status of species, habitat, and recovery actions.

Yakipedia differs from traditional reports or journal publications in that it is intended to function as a living document. Content can be updated as new information becomes available, allowing the platform to remain current between major planning cycles.

Yakipedia pages are written and maintained by regional partners including state and federal agencies, tribes, nonprofits, and researchers.

What Yakipedia Is

Yakipedia serves several key purposes:

• Capture institutional knowledge that may otherwise be lost through staff turnover
• Summarize existing science and monitoring results in an accessible format
• Provide context for recovery planning decisions, including background work summarized for specific topics.
• Link users to source materials such as reports, datasets, and peer-reviewed literature
• Support discussion and collaboration among partners

Yakipedia allows contributors to add interpretation and synthesis of information, provided that statements are supported by references, clearly identified as expert communication, or agreed upon by working group members.

What Yakipedia Is Not

Yakipedia is not intended to function as a peer-reviewed scientific manuscript or regulatory document.

Key differences include:

• Content may summarize findings rather than present full methods and results
• Updates may occur incrementally rather than through formal publication cycles
• Some information may be based on professional expertise or communication among regional experts
• Sections may evolve as new monitoring data or research becomes available

Yakipedia pages are designed to direct readers to source materials, not replace them.

Citation Practices

Yakipedia encourages the use of citations whenever possible to support statements. Several types of references may be appropriate depending on the information being summarized.

Peer-Reviewed Literature

Peer-reviewed publications should be cited whenever they are available and relevant.

Example uses:

• ecological mechanisms
• species life history
• broader regional or theoretical context

Grey Literature

Grey literature is often the primary source of information for local monitoring and management.

Examples include:

• agency reports
• grant reports
• monitoring summaries or memos
• theses or dissertations
• technical memoranda

These documents frequently contain the most detailed information about Yakima Basin projects and should be cited when appropriate.

Data and Monitoring Results

Yakipedia may summarize information derived from monitoring datasets or project records.

When referencing datasets:

• identify the monitoring program or project
• describe the time period covered
• link to reports or repositories if available

Example:

Snorkel surveys conducted by the Yakima Bull Trout Task Force between 2018–2024 indicate consistent juvenile bull trout presence in Box Canyon Creek (if no report, cite dataset if it is available).

Personal Communication

Personal communication citations may be used when information is based on professional expertise or unpublished observations.

Examples include:

• historical observations not documented elsewhere
• interpretation of monitoring results
• institutional knowledge from long-term staff

Example format:

(J. Smith, USFWS, personal communication, 2023)

Personal communication should not replace available written sources, but it can be valuable for documenting knowledge that has not yet been formally published.

Level of Detail

Yakipedia pages should provide enough information for readers to understand the context of a project or dataset, but should avoid reproducing entire reports.

General guidance:

• Appropriate:
  • summaries of findings
  • key results or trends
  • brief descriptions of monitoring methods
  • links to full reports

• Not appropriate:
  • copying large sections of reports
  • reproducing full methods sections
  • including detailed results when a report already exists

The goal is to help readers quickly understand what is known and where to find additional information.

Editing and Updates

Because Yakipedia is a living platform, pages may be updated or added as:

• new monitoring results become available
• new projects are completed
• partners contribute additional knowledge
• there is a need for documentation of certain discussions

Major changes to content related to recovery planning should be coordinated through the appropriate working group.