A set index article (SIA) is a list article about a set of items of a specific type that also share the same (or similar) name. For example, Dodge Charger describes a set of cars, List of peaks named Signal describes a set of mountain peaks, and List of ships of the United States Navy named ''Enterprise'' describes a set of ships. Being a set ''of a specific type'' means that the members of the set have some characteristic in common, in addition to their similarity of name. A list is an SIA only if both criteria for inclusion of an item in the list are met. For example, every entry in a list of earthquakes might include the word "earthquake", but that alone does not mean that the list is an SIA. If earthquakes were assigned names similar to how tropical storms are named, then List of earthquakes named X could be a set index (assuming of course that there are multiple earthquakes with the same name). Fundamentally, a set index article is a type of list article. The criteria for creating, adding to, or deleting a set index article should be the same as for a stand-alone list. The style of a set index article should follow the style guidelines at Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists. A set index article can be tagged with .

Set indexes and disambiguation

A set index article is not a disambiguation page: * A

disambiguation page Disambiguation in Wikipedia is the process of resolving conflicts that arise when a potential article title is ambiguous, most often because it refers to more than one subject covered by Wikipedia, either as the main topic of an article, ...

is a list of things (possibly of different types), that share the same name (or similar names). *: It is formatted to best help the reader in navigating to the topic being sought. * A set index article (or SIA) lists things only of one type, and is meant to provide not only navigation, but information as well. *: Just as with a typical list article, it may have metadata and other extra information about any of its entries. An SIA need not follow the formatting rules for disambiguation pages; in contrast to many restrictions stated in the disambiguation page guidelines, an SIA may contain * red links to help editors create articles on notable entries, and * references (to document the respective bases for inclusion of entries). Sometimes there is both a disambiguation page a set-index article organized about the same term. If the disambiguation page bears the term as its title (as is the case with Signal Mountain), then the set index article can be named "List of XXXs named YYY"; the example of List of peaks named Signal is a helpful instance. If the circumstances allow a choice between having the (bare or unqualified) term link to a set-index page or to the disambiguation page, that term usually should be assigned as the disambiguation page's title because the disambiguation page-type accommodates the broadest variety of uses. (Nevertheless, in the rare cases where the set index article is considered the primary topic, ''it'' may be named with that term (without further qualification), with the disambiguation page accordingly being titled "YYY (disambiguation)".) A disambiguation page should be reclassified as a SIA (e.g., on the basis that its entries all happen to be instances of a single type). As an example, Western State Hospital is, correctly, categorized as a disambiguation page even though each of the articles it links to is literally a hospital (rather than some other type of building – or legal entity, titled work, mental state, etc., ).

Common selection criteria

A set index article (a list of items of a specific type that share the same name, or sufficiently similar ones) may be one or more of the following: *''Notable list'': *: The list topic has been discussed as a group or set by independent reliable sources. *: The individual entries needn't be notable in themselves. *::(See WP:LISTN.) *''List of notable items'': *: The list topic need not be notable ''in itself''. *: Nevertheless, each of the items should be notable. *: Various red-linked entries are acceptable if the entry is *:# verifiably a member of the listed group, and *:# likely to have an article on the topic in the future. *:(See WP:CSC.) *''Short, complete list'': *: The list includes every item that is verifiably a member of the group. *: It is reasonably short. *: It could be useful or interesting to readers. *: Its inclusion of items is supported by reliable sources. Lists in which no entry is notable are rarely appropriate; see Wikipedia:CSC. Refer to the relevant guidelines for further details.

Typical information

Tagging and categorizing an article as an SIA

Place one of the following templates at the bottom of the page, using the most specific template available. If there is no specific template, you can, as explains, use the most generic template with certain sort keys to more specifically categorize articles; the template's page also explains that you can use it to place pages into child categories of :Set index articles.

Generic

* for any set index article – :Set index articles

Geographic features

* for lakes - :Set index articles on lakes * for mountain names – :Set index articles on mountains * for rivers – :Set index articles on rivers * for roads, streets, or highways – :Lists of roads sharing the same title

Vehicles

* for locomotives – :Set index articles on locomotives * for ship names – :Set index articles on ships For more information about set index articles for ships, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships/Guidelines § Index pages.

Other types of SIAs

* for sport names – :Set index articles on sports * for named storms - :Set index articles on storms * for people's surnames – :Surnames * for people's given names – :Given names * – :Set index articles on animal common names * – :Set index articles on plant common names * – :Set index articles on molecular formulas * for chemical species – :Set index articles on chemistry

Related policies and guidelines

A summary of related policies and guidelines is given below. Editors should ensure that any set index article is compatible with these policies and guidelines. Refer to the current versions of the policies and guidelines for details.