Poll: Wiki-dependence: How much do you use Wikipedia for official papers?

[Teacakes]

My first stop for research papers is often Wikipedia, because just about every article has extensive footnotes, which can take me to sources that won't make my professors fail me on principle.

Really, as long as I read about something that's not incredibly polarizing (e.g. George W. Bush, as OP mentioned), I've found Wikipedia is not untrustworthy.

 

[Zantos]

I'd never reference wikipedia, but it's pretty good for getting a basic understanding of something or quickly checking something out. It's physics tends to remain fairly vandal free, and it's well referenced if you want to verify their source material.

Actually I think a handful of my dissertation references were ones that wikipedia had referenced.

 

[chaosbedlam]

I use Wikipedia as a starting point or quick reference guide nothing more. It seems to be fine for general information but if you want something specific then you should actually research it.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

I was able to legitimately cite Wikipedia as a source in one of the essays I did in my first year at Uni. But that was an essay about availability of information and the article was supporting a comment on the size of Wikipedia, so that's kind of an exception.

As others have said, Wikipedia is good for personal use or as a way of finding actual sources. Similarly, it is very good at critiquing itself and asking for citations or less ambiguity or outright stating if an article needs cleaning up. Using it as a citation however? That's a no-no. Founder Jimmy Wales himself has stated that encyclopedias in general [http://youtu.be/-7wDTCrMcI4?t=2m25s] aren't for research purposes and that Uni students in particular should go for primary sources instead; Wikipedia specifically is even more taboo due to its policy that anything can be edited by anyone.

 

[Alexi089]

I'll often use wikipedia to get an overview of a topic, or fill in some gaps in my understanding where possible. It's actually quite reliable for a lot of scientific definitions and explanations. Even past lectureres of mine have acknowledged that. I'll never reference wikipedia directly for a proper piece of work though. Most universities in the UK (at least the science and engineering staff) will come down on you pretty hard if you use it as a reference, since, obviously, anyone can edit it. I've checked the original source in wikipedia's reference list for a specific statement I've wanted to use; and providing that source looks legit, I'll reference that instead. Plus locating a few reliable sources through wikipedia can speed up the process of finding some other good literature, by checking out some of their references too.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

Using Wikipedia as a source for an academic paper is generally frowned upon and it is NEVER a good idea to cite Wikipedia as a source in your paper. Wikipedia is great for getting a general idea of your topic and it is usually very easy to read, it can also help point you in the right direction for your research.

 

[SpiralDots]

I find it incredibly, incredibly useful. The wikipedia articles for my course are always really helpful as not only do the summarise the stories we need to read but they also talk about themes etc.

For essays, they're really really good at giving you lots of references. Even my lecturers recommend using it as a starting point. Seriously, the References/Further Reading section is wonderful. It saves so much time hunting through the library for books that might be helpful.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

As a historian I never used Wikipedia although the internet in general is useful for classical novels and quotes.

You can also find some decent papers on certain subjects if you know where to look, I always referenced them though, in my sources.

Science is another matter however as a fact is a fact and it's useful to check up on IT terminology etc.

I don't recommend it as a source to anyone. You should be reading the relevant literature and material or examining primary sources yourself.