Science information on Wikipedia on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Science information on Wikipedia includes the information that
In 2016 the Wiki Education Foundation and the Simons Foundation presented an outreach program called the "Year of Science". In this program, Wikipedia educators visited academic conferences and invited scientists to contribute information from their field of expertise to Wikipedia. Some universities have programs to encourage students to edit Wikipedia's science articles as part of the learning experience. The Wikipedia community invites academics to edit Wikipedia articles. Various academic societies have encouraged their membership to edit Wikipedia.
Crowdsourcing Expertise: A Working Guide for Organizing a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at a Science Conference
{{Wikipedia Science education Science websites Wikipedia content
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
presents about science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
. There have been critiques of and discussions about the impact and quality of that information, and of the interactions of Wikipedia editors, scientists, and public engagement with the information.
Impact
A 2016 study found evidence that Wikipedia increases the distribution and impact ofopen access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
science publications. A 2017 study found evidence that Wikipedia's popularity as the most popular general information source has influenced how everyone talks and writes about science. UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
reported in 2017 that Wikipedia is a popular source of science information because of its high ranking in search engines. A 2018 study examined the way that Wikipedia integrates new scientific information.
Editors
In 2016 the Wiki Education Foundation and the Simons Foundation presented an outreach program called the "Year of Science". In this program, Wikipedia educators visited academic conferences and invited scientists to contribute information from their field of expertise to Wikipedia. Some universities have programs to encourage students to edit Wikipedia's science articles as part of the learning experience. The Wikipedia community invites academics to edit Wikipedia articles. Various academic societies have encouraged their membership to edit Wikipedia.
Quantity and quality
A study in 2017 determined that: "Depending on the definition and methods used, roughly 10–20% of Wikipedia articles are on scientific topics (0.5–1.0 million out of about 5 million)." Wikipedia has a broad and diverse practice of citing scientific publications of all fields. A 2005 study published in the journal ''Nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
'' compared 40 Wikipedia articles on science topics to their ''Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
'' counterpart. Subject experts found four "serious errors" in each encyclopedia. They also found 162 less serious problems in Wikipedia, and 123 in ''Britannica''. A popular science
Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
writer for ''Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'' complained in 2017 that Wikipedia's science articles were too technical. Various scientists and media organizations have questioned and critiqued the extent to which Wikipedia articles on science influence political decisions relating to science.
See also
* Academic studies about Wikipedia * Health information on Wikipedia *Open science
Open science is the movement to make scientific research (including publications, data, physical samples, and software) and its dissemination accessible to all levels of society, amateur or professional. Open science is transparent and accessib ...
* Public awareness of science
References
External links
Crowdsourcing Expertise: A Working Guide for Organizing a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at a Science Conference
{{Wikipedia Science education Science websites Wikipedia content