Science information on Wikipedia includes the information that Wikipedia presents about

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

. There have been critiques of and discussion 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 of open access 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 is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

reported in 2017 that Wikipedia is a popular source of science information because of its high ranking in

search engines A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...

. A 2018 study examined the way that Wikipedia integrates new scientific information. Policy makers who are unfamiliar with a topic may consult Wikipedia to become oriented.

Editors

In 2016 the Wiki Education Foundation and the

Simons Foundation The Simons Foundation is a private foundation established in 1994 by Marilyn and Jim Simons with offices in New York City. As one of the largest charitable organizations in the US with assets of over $5 billion in 2022, the foundation's mission ...

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, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' compared 40 Wikipedia articles on science topics to their ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

'' 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 writer for ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

'' 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.

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

Impact

Editors

Quantity and quality

See also

References

External links