Why is wikipedia not considered a credible resource

You are writing a research paper, outlining the narrative, making assertions and supporting them. You find some sources in your textbooks and in a couple of journal articles, but you need more. Inevitably the first result to pop up is Wikipedia. So you click on the site. Your topic seems to be explained exhaustively in this online encyclopedia.

The Wikipedia article includes links and references. What could be better? Then you remember that you cannot use it as a source. Why not?

There are already initiatives in computational biology or genetics aimed at developing Wikipedia articles from these topics by scholars [ 9 ]. Nevertheless, Wikipedia development is not yet routinely considered as valuable in tenure reviews, and Wikipedia article writing is not yet a mainstream coursework assignment in colleges. It is high time to make that happen.

In Wikipedia turned 18, so maybe academics should start treating it as an adult. The author is a member of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. He serves on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. In he published Common Knowledge? Working on this article was possible thanks to grant No. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Gigascience v.

Published online Dec 3. Dariusz Jemielniak. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Correspondence address. E-mail: lp. Published by Oxford University Press. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Wikipedia is by far the largest online encyclopedia, and the number of errors it contains is on par with the professional sources even in specialized topics such as biology or medicine.

Keywords: Wikipedia, academia, online encyclopedia, knowledge quality, free knowledge. Main Text Some of the reasons for these reservations may be legitimate.

Conclusions There are already initiatives in computational biology or genetics aimed at developing Wikipedia articles from these topics by scholars [ 9 ]. Author's information D. Funding Working on this article was possible thanks to grant No.

References 1. Giles J. Internet encyclopaedias go head to head. Jemielniak D, Wilamowski M. Cultural diversity of quality of information on Wikipedias.

That said, Wikipedia entries are generally in the forefront of any web research and can be great sources to get preliminary information on a topic and find reliable sources through their notes, references, external links and further reading sections.

Here's how you can use Wikipedia for your research:. Wikipedia can be great for your first research on a topic. It has such a broad subject matter available and it can connect you to further research on the subject. The hardest part in research can sometimes be finding the right keywords to use when searching libraries or databases. Reviewing the article for terms that could be relevant for your own research can bring many clues and lead your research into new directions.

Many articles have a list of external links at the bottom. These can be sites with further information and often, they are credible sources that can be used to cite from. Make sure to always check the references section at the bottom of the article. It links to the various sources used when the article was put together.