Despite headlines, frequent edits don’t cause inaccuracy « Wikimedia blog

"Despite headlines, frequent edits don’t cause inaccuracy 0 Comments BY Katherine Maher and Juliet Barbara ON August 18th, 2015 Iceberg_IlulissatWikipedia articles on controversial scientific topics, like ‘Global warming,’ receive more edits. Contrary to recent media reports, this does not make them more inaccurate. Photo by Sir48, freely licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikipedia is the encyclopedia anyone can edit. This open, collaborative model is what makes it one of the world’s most popular sources of information. It is also what makes Wikipedia reliable and accurate, as everyone can review changes and additions to its articles. Although vandalism and inaccuracies can occur, its community of volunteer editors has established mechanisms to ensure that the vast majority of inaccurate content is addressed within minutes. Last week, a study was published in the open-access journal PLOS One: “Content Volatility of Scientific Topics in Wikipedia: A Cautionary Tale.” The study prompted a flurry of discussion around the accuracy of scientific articles on Wikipedia. The Wikimedia community has longstanding support for academic research about Wikipedia. However, the media coverage of this particular study has drawn some questionable conclusions."

Read the article for a further analysis of the study.