Content Volatility of Scientific Topics in Wikipedia: A Cautionary Tale.

ABSTRACT: Wikipedia has quickly become one of the most frequently accessed encyclopedic references, despite the ease with which content can be changed and the potential for 'edit wars' surrounding controversial topics. Little is known about how this potential for controversy affects the accuracy and stability of information on scientific topics, especially those with associated political controversy. Here we present an analysis of the Wikipedia edit histories for seven scientific articles and show that topics we consider politically but not scientifically "controversial" (such as evolution and global warming) experience more frequent edits with more words changed per day than pages we consider "noncontroversial" (such as the standard model in physics or heliocentrism). For example, over the period w

SUBMITTER: Wilson AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4537301 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature