Wikipedia as a Gateway to Biomedical Research: the Relative Distribution and Use of Citations in the English Wikipedia

From Wikipedia Quality
Jump to: navigation, search


Wikipedia as a Gateway to Biomedical Research: the Relative Distribution and Use of Citations in the English Wikipedia
Authors
Lauren A. Maggio
John Willinsky
Ryan M. Steinberg
Daniel Mietchen
Joseph L. Wass
Ting Dong
Cassidy R. Sugimoto
Publication date
2017
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0190046
Links
Original

Wikipedia as a Gateway to Biomedical Research: the Relative Distribution and Use of Citations in the English Wikipedia - scientific work related to Wikipedia quality published in 2017, written by Lauren A. Maggio, John Willinsky, Ryan M. Steinberg, Daniel Mietchen, Joseph L. Wass, Ting Dong and Cassidy R. Sugimoto.

Overview

Wikipedia is a gateway to knowledge. However, the extent to which this gateway ends at Wikipedia or continues via supporting citations is unknown. Wikipedia's gateway functionality has implications for information design and education, notably in medicine. This study aims to establish benchmarks for the relative distribution and referral (click) rate of citations, as indicated by presence of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), from Wikipedia, with a focus on medical citations. DOIs referred from the English Wikipedia in August 2016 were obtained from Crossref.org. Next, based on a DOI presence on a WikiProject Medicine page, all DOIs in Wikipedia were categorized as medical (WP:MED) or non-medical (non-WP:MED). Using this categorization, referred DOIs were classified as WP:MED, non-WP:MED, or BOTH, meaning the DOI may have been referred from either category. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Out of 5.2 million Wikipedia pages, 4.42% (n=229,857) included at least one DOI. 68,870 were identified as WP:MED, with 22.14% (n=15,250) featuring one or more DOIs. WP:MED pages featured on average 8.88 DOI citations per page, whereas non-WP:MED pages had on average 4.28 DOI citations. For DOIs only on WP:MED pages, a DOI was referred every 2,283 pageviews and for non-WP-MED pages every 2,467 pageviews. DOIs from both pages accounted for 12% (n=58,475) of referrals, making determining a referral rate for both impossible. While these results cannot provide evidence of greater citation referral from WP:MED than non-WP:MED, they do provide benchmarks to assess strategies for changing referral patterns. These changes might include editors adopting new methods for designing and presenting citations or the introduction of teaching strategies that address the value of consulting citations as a tool for extending learning.

Embed

Wikipedia Quality

Maggio, Lauren A.; Willinsky, John; Steinberg, Ryan M.; Mietchen, Daniel; Wass, Joseph L.; Dong, Ting; Sugimoto, Cassidy R.. (2017). "[[Wikipedia as a Gateway to Biomedical Research: the Relative Distribution and Use of Citations in the English Wikipedia]]". Cold Spring Harbor Labs Journals. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190046.

English Wikipedia

{{cite journal |last1=Maggio |first1=Lauren A. |last2=Willinsky |first2=John |last3=Steinberg |first3=Ryan M. |last4=Mietchen |first4=Daniel |last5=Wass |first5=Joseph L. |last6=Dong |first6=Ting |last7=Sugimoto |first7=Cassidy R. |title=Wikipedia as a Gateway to Biomedical Research: the Relative Distribution and Use of Citations in the English Wikipedia |date=2017 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0190046 |url=https://wikipediaquality.com/wiki/Wikipedia_as_a_Gateway_to_Biomedical_Research:_the_Relative_Distribution_and_Use_of_Citations_in_the_English_Wikipedia |journal=Cold Spring Harbor Labs Journals}}

HTML

Maggio, Lauren A.; Willinsky, John; Steinberg, Ryan M.; Mietchen, Daniel; Wass, Joseph L.; Dong, Ting; Sugimoto, Cassidy R.. (2017). &quot;<a href="https://wikipediaquality.com/wiki/Wikipedia_as_a_Gateway_to_Biomedical_Research:_the_Relative_Distribution_and_Use_of_Citations_in_the_English_Wikipedia">Wikipedia as a Gateway to Biomedical Research: the Relative Distribution and Use of Citations in the English Wikipedia</a>&quot;. Cold Spring Harbor Labs Journals. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190046.