Website Research

No doubt you've been told many times by different instructors to NOT use Wikipedia as a source - some may have even threatened to fail you if they see "wikipedia.org" anywhere in your references list. But it's hard to pass up such a convenient site!  The good news - even though most Wikipedia articles themselves aren't yet considered reliable enough as sources for a research paper, the References and External Links at the END of the articles may still help you.

CONS to using Wikipedia

• Instructors might fail you for using it
• Content can be edited by anyone at any time for any reason
• Most of the information has not been verfied by experts and can't be considered credible or reliable
• Like all web information, can be quickly outdated

PROS to using Wikipedia

• Can help you get started with a general idea of what a topic is about
• Nicely-organized and easy-to-use pages
• Cross-referenced to related information
• Wide range of information, much of which is becoming more reliable
• Citability of Wikipedia entries is improving. The 7th edition of the APA manual now includes guidance for citing a specific dated version of a Wikipedia page. Instructions for how to do this are on Lavery Library's Citation Resources guide.

For more information...

The screenshots at the right were retrieved from the following Wikipedia entries.

Wikipedia. (3 July 2019a). Flint water crisis. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis

Wikipedia. (3 July 2019b). Mueller Report. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mueller_Report

Wikipedia. (3 July 2019c). Neta Lavi. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neta_Lavi

Wikipedia. (3 July 2019d). Thermodynamics. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermodynamics

As we can see from the pros and cons list, while you don't want to use Wikipedia.org websites as a source for a research paper, the articles may help you get started by providing an easy-to-read introduction of a topic.  Even more useful, the articles might have references to sources that ARE acceptable.  Just like with an article or book, you can use the sources cited in those materials to help you find more references to use.

For example, see the below sources from the Wikipedia article on Thermodynamics (Wikipedia, 2019d).  You can see that the sources cited include books (with ISBNs), information from college or university websites (ending in .edu), and articles (with DOIs).  These are sources you could likely use in a research paper, all located in one place.

The above screenshots were retrieved from these Wikipedia entries:

• Wikipedia. (3 July 2019a). Flint water crisis. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis
• Wikipedia. (3 July 2019b). Mueller Report. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mueller_Report
• Wikipedia. (3 July 2019c). Neta Lavi. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neta_Lavi
• Wikipedia. (3 July 2019d). Thermodynamics. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermodynamics

BEWARE!

Wikipedia will let you know if there are potential problems with an article's sources. Below are some examples of messages you may see on Wikipedia articles to alert you that more citations are needed or that the article may not be written in an encyclopedic style.

(Wikipedia, 2019b)

(Wikipedia, 2019c)

(Wikipedia, 2019a)