Cochrane-Wikipedia 'edit-a-thon': sharing Cochrane evidence with the world

Article type
Authors
De Haan S1, Dawson J2, Millward H1, Dawson J1
1Cochrane
2Cochrane-Wikipedia
Abstract
Background:
Wikipedia is one of the most widely viewed sources of medical information online, receiving over 10 million page views per day of the medical content alone. The Cochrane-Wikipedia initiative was established in 2014 with the joint goal of sharing Cochrane evidence on Wikipedia in order to provide high-quality, unbiased, health-related information in an accessible format for everyone: medical professionals, healthcare consumers and patients.

Objectives:
1) The first objective of this workshop is to teach participants the basic skills necessary for editing health-related articles on Wikipedia.
2) The second objective of this workshop is for participants to assist in a Wikipedia 'edit-a-thon', with the overall goal of improving the quality of existing health-related Wikipedia articles using Cochrane evidence.

Description:
This will be a hands-on workshop in which participants will be guided through the process of Wikipedia editing by experienced Wikipedians, culminating with each participant having added evidence from a Cochrane Review on Wikipedia. For novice or beginner Wikipedians, a teaching session will focus on providing participants with the basic skill set required to edit a health-related article on Wikipedia, including: setting up a Wikipedia account, finding reliable sources appropriate for Wikipedia health-related articles, communicating evidence to a general audience on Wikipedia, inserting citations into Wikipedia articles and working together with the Wikipedia medical community at WikiProject Medicine. A Wikipedia 'edit-a-thon' will be held at the same time. New and experienced Wikipedians will be encouraged to 'be bold' (Wikipedia-style) and add paraphrased Cochrane evidence directly into Wikipedia articles.