College: Wikipedia Not Source for Papers
 |
James Joyner | Tuesday, February 13, 2007 |
The Middlebury College history department has issued an edict: “Wikipedia is not an acceptable citation, even though it may lead one to a citable source.”
Well, yeah. Even in high school, we weren’t allowed to cite the encyclopedia. Not even Britannica, which is prepared by geniune experts and peer reviewed.
I like Wikipedia and cite it frequently for the blog. Academic research, though, should rely on primary and secondary sources, not tertiary ones.
Via Bill Jempty
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- None Found
- National Debt Hysteria?
- Educating Illegal Immigrants
- Caption Contest
- Nathalie Blanchard Facebook Smile Leaves Her Depressed
- Glenn Beck, Community Organizer
- OTB Latenight – Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
- Hacked Climate Scientists Emails Reveal Truth
- Obama, the Recession, and Polls
- Giuliani Running for Senate, Not Governor
- OTB Latenight – The Jesus & Mary Chain
- Chip Griffin: Pardon the Disruption linked with Wikipedia Being Cited in Court Cases...
I agree, although I had a professor in graduate school who cited Wikipedia in lectures. But I guess tenure gave him a little leeway :-)
According to Volokh Conspiracy, some courts are starting to cite Wikipedia. That's a might troubling, far more than some student's use in a term paper.
According to Volokh Conspiracy, some courts are starting to cite Wikipedia.
It depends on the context. If they're citing it for Stuff We Knew Anyway, not so bad. It's a peculiarity of legal writing that nothing is *really* true unless some other authority has said so. Rather a medieval mindset in some ways -- "never mind what *you* say about 2 + 2, what did *Aristotle* say about it?"
Wikipedia is a lot less citable than Britannica, for the obvious reason that anyone can edit it. Still, good policy that should be self-evident.
Comments are Closed
