Preliminary remark

On the Dutch wikipedia we eat nl:stroopwafels (in Dutch) or stroopwafels. It is said that this is a necessary, but not sufficient resource for alle wikipedia related activities. (no reliable sources!)

A short video about people like you who edit Wikipedia. (1:26 min)

Five pillars

The "Five pillars" of Wikipedia - WP:5P (in Dutch: Vijf zuilen: nl:WP:5Z):

Wikipedia is an Encyclopedia.
All texts are written from a Neutral Point Of View: WP:NPOV.
All content is free of copyright: WP:C.
Wikipedia is created by a community of volunteers, who try to behave well towards each other.
Wikipedia has no firm rules.

Some guidelines

All contributions to Wikipedia must be based on reliable sources: WP:V for Verifiability; more on WP:RS for Reliable Sources.
Edits must be relevant in the context of an encyclopedia - E or NE, that's the question: Notability.
WP:NOR: No Original Research - again, it's about basing your edits first of all on (secondary) sources.
Translating one to one is discussed.

General information on Wikipedia

Want to know more about Wikipedia? First read the lemma Wikipedia on Wikipedia-en (and also check it in some other languages).
if you want to read more: see the references and especially the "Further reading" sections in the above article.
María José Felgueres Planells, a biotech student at Tec de Monterrey, wrote a beautiful blog post about her experience editing Wikipedia in the WikiLearning Program for her (required) community service in Mexico.
May I ask some special attention for: Benschop, Albert (2009-2015) - 'Wikipedia : de wijsheid van de zwerm' (Dutch: Wikipedia : the wisdom of the flock)

on: "sociosite": http://www.sociosite.org/wiki.php (in Dutch)

an early example of "wikisociology"

Introductory clip on usernames

First steps in editing

Register as a contributor with a good username; take a look at the clip! ->
Plain and simple introduction.
A good tutorial.
Your first article is another nice introduction.
Edit / Markup language - try it on your Sandbox page / Visual editor
Namespaces and talk pages -> main, user; history
Take a look at the buttons in the left column! Most of them are really valuable, in certain circumstances.
First search Wikipedia to see if there is already an article on the topic you want to cover. See: WP:SEARCH for help with searching.
Search for an article that is comparable to what you want to create.
Try to find out what is the best title for your article. A good title is important. Wikipedia:Article_titles
A very important advice: try to get some practice in the meantime, by making (small) edits in existing articles, etc.
Make your first article in your sandbox. When you think you're ready, ask for a review by one or more persons.

Page structure

The lead section: WP:LEAD, with the lead sentence, WP:BEGIN
The table of contents WP:TOC, mostly auto generated
The body of the text, with sections and perhaps subsections - WP:BODY
Images etc. -> Wikimedia Commons. Embedding files from commons: Wikipedia:Wikimedia Commons. Go to commons: c:Main Page
Appendix, with references and external links - WP:APPENDIX
Footer with categories - H:CAT

Editing

See: Help:Editing for an explanation on how to edit and save.
See the WP:CHEATSHEET and Help:Wiki markup for more information on the wikicode.
Wikipedia is about links - internal links and external links. WP:LINKS; internal links: not to little, not to much; external links: always in a separate section at the bottom (or in references).
Work through the tutorial, or get some practice in your own sandbox, to get used to the elementary syntax. And often look at other pages, to see how experienced Wikipedians have done things.

Some details

Make a list of pages that you find useful; on your user page or a subpage. For instance: try to make a link to this page (then it's no longer a poor little orphan). You can also make a short list of pages that are related to your field of study. Make a list of useful literature.
Templates: for instance: infobox
Citations and referencing: Help:Introduction_to_referencing/1
For citations you can use Template:Cite book or Template:Cite journal or Template:Citation or Template:Cite web
if you're not in the Main namespace, please sign your posts!
redirects and disambiguation pages
Make a watchlist - WP:WATCH

Help!

There are lots of help-pages; a good start is the help button in the left column.
Don't hesitate to ask advice from experienced editors; use their talk pages. You can also visit the Teahouse.
The Manual of Style: WP:MoS; and a nice Beginners' guide to MoS.

Rem

See my page on books.

the text below temporarily copied from Dutch page of project / integrate this in the "final version" of the text

Resources for students

Wikipedia: getting started

Three great starting points for beginners:

By all means, do the online Wikipedia Training program, which is specifically designed for students! It takes approximately one hour to complete, and gives you your first hands-on experience writing on Wikipedia.
You can also watch this very informative video, which focuses on academic writing on Wikipedia (also one hour): http://vimeo.com/64973792
Download and print the brochure on the right and keep it next to you while you work. It is extremely concise and covers all the basics very well.

Further tips and tricks

Five Pillars

Wikipedia's Five Pillars:

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia
Wikipedia has a neutral point of view
Wikipedia is free content
Wikipedians should interact in a respectful and civil manner
Wikipedia does not have firm rules

Quick links to general guidelines

Verifiability
Topics on Wikipedia must be notable
Cite reliable sources
No original research

How to write Wikipedia articles about books and authors

Wikiproject:Books

Lots of useful tips and guidelines can be found at the Wikiproject Books.
Such as this template for writing a Wikipedia article on a non-fiction book.

Biographies

An overview of guidelines on biographies on Wikipedia: Manual of Style: Biographies