Never cite Wikipedia

When students are in a hurry to complete an assignment or write a research paper, they look for the fastest and most convenient sources of information. One of these is Wikipedia.com, the free online encyclopedia created and edited by volunteers around the world and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. So a student may ask us:

Is it all right if I cite Wikipedia in my research paper or thesis?

We may answer:

Even Wikipedia states that it is a bad idea to cite Wikipedia in academic research.

If students are surprised to hear this, or want to know why, we may direct them to the Wikipedia article on the subject. As Wikipedia informs us:

Wikipedia is not a reliable source for academic writing or research. Wikipedia is increasingly used by people in the academic community, from freshman students to professors, as an easily accessible tertiary source for information about anything and everything, and as a quick “ready reference”, to get a sense of a concept or idea. However, citation of Wikipedia in research papers may be considered unacceptable, because Wikipedia is not a reliable source.

The main reason why Wikipedia is not a good source for serious academic research is that anyone can change articles in Wikipedia and enter any information they wish. Only if other readers find a problem with what has been entered, are mistakes fixed. Sometimes it takes a long time for errors in Wikipedia articles to be corrected, and some are never corrected. So students who rely on material from Wikipedia without double-checking with other sources may have problems with accuracy. Students who quote statistics that are wrong will not impress readers who have knowledge of their field of study. Wikipedia has made some attempt at separating better articles from worse ones. The website has a Good articles feature. These good articles are valued for being accurate and verifiable, neutral in point of view, and having other qualities. They are still not a good source for quotes in a serious academic research project or thesis. To give an idea of the problem, there are between five and six million articles on Wikipedia, but only around 27,500 have been classified as good articles, or less than half of one percent of the articles currently available. Clearly only a small percentage of the articles in Wikipedia are considered high quality by their own standards. Wikipedia has introduced another category, of Featured articles. These too are evaluated for accuracy, neutrality, completeness, and style. There are just over five thousand featured articles out of between five and six million English language Wikipedia articles. Wikipedia’s own advice concludes:

Remember that any encyclopedia is a starting point for research, not an ending point.

This is a useful reminder to the student that part of academic research is determining who said what. If we offer information, we should always mention where we found the data and cite its source. While an encyclopedia may give general information about any topic, academic research and theses demand more detailed and specific facts. Books and articles which have been reviewed and checked by editors for accuracy are more certain sources of data. Wikipedia may still be useful students for background information, for example the geographical location of a city or state. If students forget who is the current ruler of a country, or if a world famous personality is alive or dead, this is the kind of information that is quickly available on Wikipedia. The student may wonder:

If I can’t cite Wikipedia, what should I cite?

We may reply:

At the end of longer Wikipedia articles is a reading list of books and articles to be looked up. These may usually be cited.

Usually ajarns will distribute to students a list of suggested readings. While it may seem tempting to try to save time by just looking at Wikipedia instead of reading serious articles and books, there is a reason why class readings are recommended. They are of much higher quality and usefulness than Wikipedia. That is because to be published at all, they had to be evaluated by different readers who were informed about the subject. By comparison, anyone at all can add material to Wikipedia, and until such facts are checked, if they are, readers may be deceived by wrong material. Students may wish to know:

What if I find something interesting on Wikipedia that I want to mention in my research paper or thesis?

We may inform them:

In that case, look up the same information in a reliable source such as an article or book, to make sure it is accurate, and cite that source.

Sometimes just by Googling a phrase or the key elements of any statement in Wikipedia, we may find another published source by a recognized author which would be acceptable to cite in an academic research paper or thesis.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)