Evaluating Sources: Wikipedia

students working on laptops

Evaluating Sources: Wikipedia

Many of the considerations for evaluating and being critical of Google should also be considered when using Wikipedia. Wikipedia’s content is easy and helpful to start your research because it:

  • Gives a clear overview of a topic or issue
  • Is usually written in a way that is easier to understand than an academic source
  • Is clearly laid out, and all in one place
  • Is  hyperlinked to other relevant sources
  • Provides reference lists that can be helpful to direct you to other credible sources

But there are also a number of reasons why you shouldn’t cite Wikipedia in your academic assignments:

  • It’s not always written by experts in that field of study or subject area - anyone can get a Wikipedia account and write or edit content.
  • Content can change quickly, especially for topics or pages that are contentious or controversial. Take a look at this Buzzfeed article Links to an external site. about the most controversial pages on Wikipedia.
  • Anyone can find content on Wikipedia (or Google); part of the academic process is going beyond searching these tools and using tools that are specific and appropriate for your discipline.

So, does this mean that you won’t use Wikipedia as a student? Not necessarily! Using Wikipedia to get an overview of a topic so you can identify keywords, scope, and general information about a topic is a good strategy before you dive into the library and academic sources.

It is a great place to start, just like Google, but it is never where you want to end with your academic research and work. And, you will not want to cite Wikipedia as a source in your academic papers.

Activity

  1. Let’s look at the Wikipedia page on Indigenous language.

There is a section in this article on Disappearance. Read through this section, and click on one of the footnotes to find a reference cited within it.

Find the reference, and think about all of the elements of RADAR that we have talked about previously and how you could apply those evaluation criteria to this source that you found through Wikipedia.

(Need the worksheet? Evaluating Sources Worksheet Download Evaluating Sources Worksheet)

 

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