User:DStrassmann/Contributing to Wikipedia: Overall Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria

Contributing to Wikipedia: Overall Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria

Poverty, Justice, and Capabilties - HUMA/SOCI 371 Fall 2015

Wikipedia has increasingly become the first resource many internet users consult whenever they encounter an unfamiliar topic. This reliance on Wikipedia is simultaneously exciting in its potential to democratize the availability and production of knowledge and troubling given evidence of systemic bias in Wikipedia and the possibility that inaccurate, and even malicious, information will be spread and reinforced through the site. Through this assignment, you will have the opportunity to help improve the quality of information to people throughout the world.

The Five Pillars of Wikipedia

Wikipedia operates under five fundamental principles that should be kept in mind while you are planning and writing your entry. They are:

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, not an advertising platform, an indiscriminate collection of information, or a dictionary.
Wikipedia is written from a neutral point of view (NPOV). Wikipedia avoids advocacy and aims to present issues in a balanced and impartial manner instead of sparking debate and controversy. All articles must strive for verifiable accuracy using references; unreferenced material may be removed.
Wikipedia is free content that anyone can edit, use, modify, and distribute. Since all contributions are freely licensed to the public and no editor owns any article, contributions can and will be edited and redistributed.
Editors should interact with each other in a respectful and civil manner. When discussing articles with fellow Wikipedians, avoid personal attacks, avoid edit wars, and assume good faith on the part of others.
Wikipedia does not have firm rules. Because rules in Wikipedia are likely to change in wording and interpretation, be bold in updating articles and do not worry about making mistakes. What is a good article?

Sources and Verifiability

If the topic you choose has been a matter of public debate, you may encounter a variety of opinion or blog pieces about your topic. Do not use these as your sources. Instead, find articles by researchers who have conducted studies or provided scholarly analyses of your topic. Legitimate research can be found in articles and policy papers by trained specialists in economics, law, anthropology and other fields and in investigative pieces by respected journalists who conduct in-depth research on a particular topic. The course readings also contain excellent sources for your entries. By using the citations at the end of the readings, you can find additional resources for your entry. Scholarly journals relating to the course material may also provide useful sources. Online searches are no substitute for talking with a librarian and getting in depth help in looking for materials. Take advantage of your access to an extraordinary library.

Be aware that your entry will likely be deleted if it is deemed "original research". Thus, you cannot include your own observations of a phenomenon or your own new theories or opinions on the research in your entry. Instead you will need to summarize and cite the work of other researchers, showing how their theories and evidence illuminate the subject of your entry.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Students are often unaware that close paraphrasing can be a form of plagiarism even if the original source is cited. It is also plagiarism to follow the conceptual structure of a source even if the wording is modified. Wikipedia provides careful instructions on how to avoid such plagiarism. As Wikipedians monitor new articles and changes to existing ones, student plagiarism is easily detected and may be posted to the Education Notice Board.

All students are expected to comply with Wikipedia policies on cipyright, and plagiarism. Be sure to take the training module on plagiarism.

Maintaining a Neutral Point of View

Your work will be original in the sense that you are compiling information and studies relevant to your topic, choosing what to include, and suggesting how the different studies or pieces of information relate. However, your tone must be neutral and evenhanded, with claims based on research reports and scholarship of others, rather than in the form of presenting your own innovative ideas and scholarship.

Read the following Wikipedia articles for more information on maintaining a neutral point of view (NPOV). These pages extensively cover information, tactics, and resource information for how you can be sure your contribution content is neutral and conforms to Wikipedia’s guidelines.

Evaluating Article Quality

A helpful resource is:

Evaluating Wikipedia (brochure)

Additionally, a good article meets the criteria described in the resources below. Bear these in mind as you plan your contribution, whether you are revising and adding new sections to an existing article or creating a new one.