Article type
Abstract
Background:
Wikipedia is a popular, collaboratively edited web encyclopaedia. Critics have pointed to risks of misinformation due to poor quality and relevance of sources. We initiated a project where health evidence from SBU’s systematic reviews is used on Swedish Wikipedia.Objectives:
To quantify the access to evidence from SBU’s systematic reviews when quoted on Swedish Wikipedia by SBU staff and a Wikipedian-in-Residence (WIR).Methods:
We held two 3-hour workshops, where a total of 16 staff members were trained in editing and writing Swedish Wikipedia articles. Tailored instructions for participants had been developed by the WIR, who also contributed to articles during a 2-week residency. Participants chose topics freely based on professional interest and perceived need for evidence.Access to the resulting articles was monitored in two ways: 1) total number of page views for each Wikipedia article, calculated by Wikimedia Tool Labs; and, 2) number of visits to SBU’s website directly from any Wikipedia article from 1 January to 31 December 2016, calculated by Google Analytics.
Results:
A total of 26 articles on Swedish Wikipedia were edited or written by SBU staff or WIR in 2016, based on current SBU reviews. Of these 26 articles, 19 (73%) were already started and 7 (27%) were added by us. No article previously referred to SBU reviews.The number of page views per Wikipedia article varied greatly across topics, from 4 to 134 546. The total number of page views for all 26 articles in 2016 was 404 052, and for the 7 new Wikipedia articles 5699. For the 19 pre-existing articles, these numbers include the entire year regardless of date for SBU’s contribution.
Linkage from Wikipedia generated a total of 1255 visits to SBU’s website in 2016, of which 932 visits (74%) were from new IP addresses not previously recorded to access SBU’s website.