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

[TheOneBearded]

The title says it all. When typing a paper or researching for it, how reliant are you on the website?

To be honest, I use it as a safety net. If I'm researching on a topic, I do look up other websites, but ultimately use Wikipedia at the end with the other websites as a way to see if something on it isn't right. Sometimes, Wikipedia actually gives a better/ in depth explanation than the other random websites you can find on google.

Of course, I do research on topics most likely not to be "vandalized" by some random asshole. If I remember correctly, someone on Wikipedia not too long ago had written a large amount of lies on the George W. Bush page.

On the other hand:
Do you heavily use Wikipedia for answering any question? Can't remember a part of a book? Go to Wikipedia. Looking for info on a game? Go to its Wiki. A bit like that.

What about you, guys?

 

[gritch]

Wikipedia is a quick reference for me. When writing papers for Chemistry I might do a quick wiki search to get a rough idea of the topic or to quickly look up the properties of a particular compound. I find it's good at linking me to alternate naming conventions/nomenclature and related topics that can search for more thoroughly in other sources.

It's a starting point but NEVER as an actual source for a research paper.

But for personal stuff it's just fine in my opinion.

 

[Ljs1121]

I try to only use pages ending with .edu or .gov since they're about the most trustworthy sources according to every teacher I've ever had ever. Typically I'll only use Wikipedia as an official source if I can't find what I'm looking for anywhere else. Other than that I mostly use it to fact check what I do find and for personal stuff such as video game help, television series/book summaries, etc.

 

[Stasisesque]

I only use wiki reliably for movie plots, and the odd biography. Though I do find myself late-night wiki trawling, but I like to make sure facts are corroborated elsewhere before claiming them as undeniably true.

People often overlook the citations, though. Don't be afraid to click those links!

 

[DugMachine]

Mostly personal use. First source i'll go to for any random trivial thing i'm curious about. Academic papers though? Well i'll try and use them for a rough idea of what i'm looking for but never an actual source

 

[Goofguy]

I use Wikipedia as a quick reference tool a lot. I don't write papers any more so can't say that I would use it for that. However when I was in college, we weren't allowed to use it as a proper reference. Don't know if it's more widely accepted nowadays.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I enjoyed doing research for many subjects and papers in school, and I rarely relied on Wikipedia, as a I had a large encyclopedia of documents and references from the school. I only looked at Wikipedia for resources that provided some information necessary to complete my research.

 

[klown]

I use Wiki as a starting point for pretty much every paper I have to write in college. It's very simple to use, and find information on, and comes with it's own sources, so if I find something that works, I go and find where it came from, and use that as my official source. Works quite well so far.

 

[Dags90]

I pretty much never used it. It wasn't hugely popular until I started college, and I had access to the wonderful resources of a college library by that point. Looking up academic articles on the library's online catalog isn't much harder than going to Wikipedia. I did have to go to the books for some papers, particularly art history.

 

[Eleuthera]

I haven't had to write any papers for quite a while now, but Wiki would never be a primary or main sourse of informnation for those.
For day-to-day stuff, lokking up interesting facts or online discussions it's pretty much the first place I go. Depending on the topic I might continue on to some of the citations or just stick to the Wiki. Also non-opinion topics are generally safe on wiki (history, physics, chemistry)

 

[Lieju]

I use it a lot for personal stuff. For university, I don't think the professors would be okay with me using it as a reference...

But it can lead to the stuff I can use, and I can get a quick overview of the topic from it. I check the references and go read those. Which is what I often do even if it's for something casual.

 

[Kae]

For papers and stuff like that, not much, I have 5 encyclopaedias on my bookshelf, I do look stuff on the Internet but I normally also read a couple of the encyclopaedias just to see what's consistent among all of them and get a little more reliable information, not to mention doing this helps me get it stuck on my brain more easily than just reading a single article and copying it, but then again spending all day working on a single paper is something fairly normal for me, I have no social life whatsoever and love learning new things, it's a shame I'm an idiot though.

For personal stuff like looking up directors, actors, and music bands, I use it all the time, it's easy to use and normally a rabid fan has made sure that they don't miss a single detail.

 

[razer17]

I never used it as an official source. MY tutors at uni would have killed me if I had referenced Wikipedia in any of my papaers. On the other hand, I did use it quiet regularly, especially when I started essays because most wiki pages give a very good overview, and occasionally the references that are given can be helpful.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I will only use it as background info... I would never use it in a report or breif, but will only look at it for minor facts... Like who someone is, or where they are from!

 

[Arakasi]

I mostly use it for an overview of the subject, and if desperate, use the links they provide.

 

[RustlessPotato]

Well, I used it mostly as a nexus to other sites or as a quick draft. Sometimes I even use.... books :O !!!!

 

[Scarim Coral]

Consider that the last written work I did at Uni, they banned anyone using wiki as their reference, I look elsewhere for information.
Beside how hard is it to simply click on the reference link below that wiki page for the information? I mean you're not using that wiki as the reference but the links below from that wiki page or does that still count as cheating?

Anyway I just use Wiki for personal reason mainly spoiling myself and reading some of the movies or game plots or just reading in general in those anime wiki or some tips in a game wiki.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Nowadays mostly personal stuff, but back in uni it was the starting point for me.

As in I would go to Wikipedia and read the citations list, take notes of what seemed the most relevant points and go to the Uni Library with a list of books to check out. It actually turned out to be a very effective way of finding the information I needed quickly.

 

[Nickolai77]

You can sometimes get some useful sources that have been cited in a wikipedia article and cite those in your essay. If you're feeling devious/foolish, you could even read the info off a wikipedia article, and cite whatever the wikipedia article cites, but i wouldn't recommend citing from a source you havn't seen with your own eyes, and you might get caught up on the plagiarism checks writing off a wikipedia article.

Basically, use Wikipedia to introduce yourself to a subject, gather some leads to follow up through the appropriate channels and maybe gather some useful sources that have been cited in the article.

 

[LetalisK]

I'll throw in my 2 cents on the starting point bandwagon. It's usually an awesome starting point, but never use it as a source.