Wikipedia is not a reliable source for citations elsewhere on Wikipedia. Because it can be edited by anyone at any time, any information it contains at a particular time could be vandalism, a work in progress, or just plain wrong. ... Wikipedia generally uses reliable secondary sources, which vet data from primary sources.
Is Wikipedia a biased source?
The authors found that “ Wikipedia articles are more slanted towards Democratic views than are Britannica articles, as well as more biased”, particularly those focusing on civil rights, corporations, and government.
Is Wikipedia always correct?
“The study did reveal inaccuracies in eight of the nine entries and exposed major flaws in at least two of the nine Wikipedia articles. Overall, Wikipedia's accuracy rate was 80 percent compared with 95-96 percent accuracy within the other sources.”
Should you trust a wiki for academic research?
No, you should not use wikipedia as a source for academic papers . Generally speaking, the scientific articles are quite accurate(of course there is always change and new discoveries), but there is reason to distrust any other type of article.
How much of Wikipedia is wrong?
The paper found that Wikipedia's entries had an overall accuracy rate of 80 percent , whereas the other encyclopedias had an accuracy rate of 95 to 96 percent.
Can we trust Wikipedia?
We do not expect you to trust us
Also, since Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any time, articles may be prone to errors, including vandalism, so Wikipedia is not a reliable source. So please do not use Wikipedia to make critical decisions.
Does Wikipedia Make money?
Wikipedia makes money via donations, investments, as well as merchandise sales . In the future, it plans to launch an API that charges enterprises a fee for access to its data. Founded in 2001, Wikipedia has grown to become one of the world's most-frequented websites.
Who controls Wikipedia content?
Who owns the Web site? Wikipedia's tech framework is supported by a non-profit parent organization, the Wikimedia Foundation Inc , which also supports Wikipedia's sister projects, including Wiktionary (a wiki dictionary), Wikibooks (textbooks), and others, and owns all of their domain names.
Why does Wikipedia exist?
Wikipedia was initially conceived as a feeder project for the Wales-founded Nupedia , an earlier project to produce a free online encyclopedia, volunteered by Bomis, a web-advertising firm owned by Jimmy Wales, Tim Shell and Michael E. ... Wales and Sanger discussed various ways to create content more rapidly.
Why is Wikipedia great?
Wikipedia is by far the world's largest encyclopedia; it is the largest, most comprehensive , and most accessible compilation of knowledge to exist in the history of the human race. ... Wikipedia is not paper, and that is a good thing because articles are not strictly limited in size as they are with paper encyclopedias.
Why is Wikipedia so bad?
Wikipedia is not a reliable source for citations elsewhere on Wikipedia. Because it can be edited by anyone at any time, any information it contains at a particular time could be vandalism, a work in progress, or just plain wrong. ... Wikipedia generally uses reliable secondary sources, which vet data from primary sources.
How accurate is Wikipedia 2019?
They found that while Wikipedia articles were rated at 83.8 percent for completeness, the information published in the articles was 99.7 percent accurate .
Is Wikipedia blocked in China?
China. Access to Wikipedia has varied over the years with the Chinese language version being controlled more tightly than other versions. As of April 2019, all versions of Wikipedia are blocked in Mainland China under the Great Firewall. ... Wikipedia was again blocked in China in October 2005.
Why do schools not allow Wikipedia?
Many colleges and universities (especially in some high schools and private schools) have a policy that prohibits students from using Wikipedia as their source for doing research papers, essays, or anything equivalent . This is because Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any moment.
What is the most reliable source of information?
Academic journal articles are probably the most reliable source of current thinking in your field. To be the most reliable they need to be peer reviewed. This means that other academics have read them before publication and checked that they are making claims that are backed up by their evidence.
Can Wikipedia be edited by anyone?
Wikipedia is a wiki, meaning anyone can edit nearly any page and improve articles immediately . You do not need to register to do this, and anyone who has edited is known as a Wikipedian or editor. Small edits add up, and every editor can be proud to have made Wikipedia better for all.
