Wikipedia:Tip of the day/February 21, 2008

How reliable is Wikipedia?

It's pretty good, and getting better. But...

...since anyone can edit almost any article, it is of course possible for biased, out of date, or incorrect information to be posted to Wikipedia. Therefore, it is advisable to double-check what you learn in Wikipedia against other sources.

Keep in mind that, since there are so many people reading the articles and monitoring contributions using the Recent Changes page, and using watchlists, incorrect information is usually spotted and corrected quickly. Some argue that new errors are also introduced all the time, so that the overall accuracy rate isn't really improving. Nevertheless, by encouraging people to help with correcting articles, validating content, and providing useful references, errors will eventually be eliminated.

The more accurate Wikipedia becomes, the more it attracts additional contributors. It's a self-reinforcing cycle!

Read more: Researching with Wikipedia

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