Is it OK to use Wikipedia as a source?
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. Therefore, Wikipedia should not be considered a definitive source in and of itself.
Should you reference Wikipedia?
Wiki is not paper, so you will need to use an electronic-citation format instead. You should not cite any particular author or authors for a Wikipedia article, in general. Wikipedia is collaboratively written. However, if you do need to find the list of authors of a particular article, you can check the Page history.
Should university students use Wikipedia?
Yes. Looking up information on Wikipedia is simple, but that is no reason why it should be banned as a source for homework. Many students simply copy text from Wikipedia in their assignments. It makes no sense: their reading and writing skills – and creativity – will never improve.
Why do students use Wikipedia?
Students used Wikipedia for obtaining background information and checking facts, even though their perceptions about information quality were not high. Our research findings substantiate these studies’ earlier claims: Many students are indeed Wikipedia users; many use the site for background information.
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.
Do students use Wikipedia?
A 2010 report, How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age, found that while nearly 75 percent of students reported using Wikipedia for school research, almost all of them said they turn first to course readings and consulted more with instructors and scholarly research than with Wikipedia.
Do professors use Wikipedia?
In hundreds of classrooms across the country, though, some professors have begun taking a very different tack. Not only are their students encouraged to see Wikipedia as an important information source, but they’re required to edit it for class assignments.
Is Wikipedia the best website?
Today, Wikipedia is the eighth-most-visited site in the world. The English-language version recently surpassed 6 million articles and 3.5 billion words; edits materialize at a rate of 1.8 per second.
Which is better Wikipedia or Britannica?
In almost all cases, Wikipedia was more left-leaning than Britannica. In other words, for articles of the same length, Wikipedia is as middle-of-the-road as Britannica. “If you read 100 words of a Wikipedia article, and 100 words of a Britannica [article], you will find no significant difference in bias,” says Zhu.
Is Wikipedia reliable 2021?
The online encyclopedia does not consider itself to be a reliable source and discourages readers from using it in academic or research settings. Researchers, teachers, journalists, and public officials do not regard Wikipedia as a reliable source.
How does Wikipedia stay accurate?
Unlike paper encyclopedias which can only display a single version of an article, Wikipedia tracks every edit to every page. Because the most accurate and complete version of an article is always stored and readily accessible, bad edits (whether blatant vandalism or good faith errors) can be quickly reverted.
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.