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News: Internet encyclopaedias go head to head (pp900-901)
Science entries in the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia are not markedly less
accurate those in Encyclopaedia Britannica. That's the conclusion of a
Nature investigation, which used a team of expert reviewers to assess the
quality of entries in both resources.
Wikipedia is a free online encyclopaedia that anyone can edit, whatever
their background or expertise. Yet despite this controversial approach to
building an encyclopaedia, each of the 42 entries analysed averaged only
four inaccuracies, while Britannica's articles on the same science topics
averaged three. 'Inaccuracies' included factual errors, critical omissions
or misleading statements.
In addition to its peer-reviewed investigation, Nature surveyed more than
1,000 scientists who had recently published academic papers in the magazine
to find out what they knew about Wikipedia. More than 70% had heard of it,
and 17% of those consulted it on a weekly basis. But less than 10% of those
aware of the website actually contributed their expertise by updating
entries. Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's co-founder, says that the quality of
Wikipedia could improve even further if more scientists got involved with
this online community. In a related editorial, Nature urges its readers to
do just that.
Contact:
Mark Peplow (Journalist, Nature)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4508, E-mail: [email protected]
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Katharine Mansell, Nature London
Tel: +44 20 7843 4658; E-mail: [email protected]
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