WK 8.2 Reliability of Wikipedia - Hanane Ben Abdeslam

According to the reading, articles on Wikipedia should base on reliable sources. Reliable sources mean that the information in articles come from sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy. However, in the reading it says that the word “source” has three related meanings: the piece of work itself, the creator of the work and the publisher of the work. Three similar things that you mostly see coming back in an article. Moreover, the policy on sourcing is verifiability, which requires inline citations for any material challenged or likely to be challenged and for all quotations. The verifiability policy is strictly applied to all material without exception, and in particular to biographies of living persons. The reliability of a source depends on context, which must be read carefully whether it is reliable for to publish. Also, an important note is to check the date, older sources may be inaccurate because new information has been brought to light, or new theories proposed, or vocabulary changed. Furthermore, new sources often contain both factual content and opinion content, which is not always a reliable source. News reporting from less-established outlets is generally considered less reliable for statements of facts.

What I find interesting is that articles on Wikipedia has to follow a guideline to become a reliable source. This means to cite all information you add to articles, to be sure all information is verifiable, and not to include original research in your additions. If you get known for being a reliable source, it is more likely that your edits will be trusted.

The content in Wikipedia pages can be, for some pages like politics, quite dynamic meaning multiple times a day there are some significant changes where people will potentially delete an entire paragraph or add a paragraph. Would you still use this article as a source to your research about politics, and why not?


Hanane Ben Abdeslam

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