Adding evidence to Wikipedia: editing workshop

Article type
Year
Authors
Owens N1, Millward H2, De Haan S3, Poore S4
1Communications & External Affairs
2Cochrane Communications & External Affairs Department
3Cochrane CEAD
4Wikipedia Medical Project, USA
Abstract
Objectives: To introduce participants to:
1. Wikipedia, its contributor community, and the values it holds important;
2. the Cochrane-Wikipedia initiative and ongoing projects; and
3. how to edit articles in Wikipedia, specifically how to register as a user, creating user pages, general editing, citing and referencing, and following some good practices.

Description: Wikipedia has been accepted worldwide as a credible source of health information by lay people, medical students, and healthcare professionals. With about 155,000 medical articles getting about 400 million page views each month, there is an urgent need for ensuring that information available on Wikipedia is accurate, current, reliable, and free from bias. As Cochrane contributors and gatekeepers for ‘trusted evidence, informed decisions, and better health’, helping to ensure the quality and reliability of Wikipedia medical articles is a logical extension of our mission to produce, disseminate, and advocate for the best available evidence. This workshop is for new or novice editors in Wikipedia who wish to learn more about Wikipedia and to contribute actively to the improvement of medical articles. Participants wishing to make specific edits are encouraged to prepare and bring edited text, references, and other resources in advance of the workshop to maximize efficient use of limited time.