Wikipedia: Friend or Foe?

Lori Martello, Reporter|November 6, 2014

 

Wikipedia is “a free-access, free content Internet encyclopedia, supported and hosted by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation,” according to Wikipedia’s home website. Anyone who can access the site can edit any of its articles.

 

In a survey, 10 out of 10 students admitted to “taking info from Wikipedia and putting into my own words.”

 

There are few ostentatious words that would be flagged for plagiarism. The information supplied can be changed into a person’s own words.

 

One question that is frequently brought up is how accurate is the information?

According to new research done by News Online, “6-10 articles on Wikipedia contain inaccuracies.” Wikipedia articles are edited by the public and this leads to both human error in factually information as well as, those who want to sabotage articles.

 

The weekly Science Journal reports Wikipedia contains less erroneous material than the Encyclopaedia Britannica.