Why should a student not use Wikipedia as a source?

As a user-generated source, it can be edited by anyone at any time, and any information it contains at a particular time could be vandalism, a work in progress, or simply incorrect.

Why shouldn't you use Wikipedia as a source?

Many colleges and universities, as well as public and private secondary schools, have policies that prohibit students from using Wikipedia as their source for doing research papers, essays, or equivalent assignments. This is because Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at any moment.

Why Wikipedia is not an acceptable reference?

Wikipedia is a great tool for getting a quick introduction to unfamiliar topics, but many educators frown on the use of Wikipedia. Here's why: Wikipedia content is not necessarily written by subject experts, and may be inadequate or incorrect. Articles in Wikipedia may be changed or deleted between viewings.

Why do schools tell you not to use Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is not considered scholarly. Wikipedia acknowledges that its information is not properly vetted. The site has included hoaxes. People have created and edited pages to drive traffic to other websites.

What are two disadvantages of using Wikipedia?

Is Wikipedia a Credible Source?

What are the negatives of Wikipedia?

Wikipedia articles are often not considered a reliable source since they can be edited by anyone and, at times, information is presented without citations. This lack of citation makes it hard for students to determine where the information comes from, if there are any biases and how to cite it in their academic papers.

What are the negative effects of Wikipedia?

Is Wikipedia inappropriate for kids?

Wikipedia is not censored, which in practice means that in relevant areas throughout the site, you will find possibly distressing or offensive content and pictures showing subjects like violence, nudity, sexual activity or controversial topics.

Should schools allow Wikipedia?

The consensus is that students should be allowed to use the website to gather information as pages are, for the most part, fairly accurate. However, citing items are a totally different story as it is just too risky as the pages used on Wikipedia could have incorrect information.

Is Wikipedia good for school?

You will typically find scores of credible sources including books, journals, and newspaper articles. Find and cite these sources rather than the Wiki page itself. Most professors still frown upon using Wikipedia because it can be edited and changed by anyone and thus is not deemed “credible.”

Is Wikipedia bias?

Wikipedia strives for a neutral point of view, both in terms of the articles that are created and the content, perspectives and sources within those articles. However, the encyclopedia fails in this goal because of systemic bias created by the editing community's narrow social and cultural demographic.

What's better than Wikipedia?

What is an acceptable source for Wikipedia?

Sources, to be acceptable for use on Wikipedia, must meet all of the following criteria: Publication. The information must be published; that is, it must be fixed, transcribed, or recorded in some medium which is both persistent and which is available to be read or inspected, without restrictions on disclosure.

How does Wikipedia prevent vandalism?

User registration: Requiring users to register accounts before editing protected pages can act as a deterrent to vandalism. Registered users are often more accountable for their actions. Edit reversion: Wikipedia's "undo" feature allows editors to quickly revert changes, making it relatively easy to correct vandalism.

What is the most reliable source of information?

What is the reliable source?

A credible or reliable source is one where you can trust the information that the source provides. You can rely on the information provided within the source because the person, publisher, or institution that is providing this information is a credible source for that information.

Why should students use Wikipedia?

Students can find valuable information such as important scholars on the topic by scrolling to the “Notes” and “References” sections of the Wikipedia page. Here they can find out who authored the various sources used in the article, as well as the citation information needed to locate additional books and articles.

What percentage of students use Wikipedia?

87.5% of respondents reported making use of Wikipedia as part of their university studies (see Table 2).

How many students use Wikipedia?

87.5% of students report using Wikipedia for their academic work, with 24.0% of these considering it 'very useful'. Use and perceived usefulness of Wikipedia differs by students' gender; year of study; cultural background and subject studied.

Is it illegal to use Wikipedia?

If you are unwilling or unable to use the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License or the GNU Free Documentation License for your work, use of Wikipedia content is unauthorized. Small quotations of Wikipedia content, with its source attributed, may be permissible under the "fair use" clause of US copyright law.

Why was I banned from Wikipedia?

Why was I blocked? You may be an innocent victim of collateral damage, where you are accidentally affected by a block of some other user. Alternatively, your account or IP may have been blocked because it appears to have been responsible for (or connected to) a serious breach of Wikipedia's policies.

Can you be banned from viewing Wikipedia?

The Wikimedia Foundation has the authority to ban editors (see meta:WMF Global Ban Policy and Category:Wikipedians banned by the Wikimedia Foundation). Users may be globally banned from the English Wikipedia and all other Wikimedia projects, either by the broader Wikimedia community or by the Wikimedia Foundation.

What are the three major criticisms of Wikipedia?

What is the Wikimedia scandal?

It received media attention in 2013 after a sockpuppet investigation resulted in more than 250 Wikipedia user accounts being blocked or banned. The Wikimedia Foundation changed its terms of use in the wake of the investigation, requiring anyone paid to edit Wikipedia to openly disclose their affiliations.

What happened to Wikipedia 2023?

Wikipedia Gets a Fresh New Look: First Desktop Update in a Decade Puts Usability at the Forefront. Update: On 4 May 2023, the desktop update was deployed to Spanish Wikipedia. The updated interface is now live on 95% of the 318 active language versions of Wikipedia for all desktop users.