Several US universities ban Wikipedia as primary source
{{date|March 22, 2007}}
{{WikimediaMention}}

[[Image:Wikipedia-logo.png|thumb|right|Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]]

Many professors at universities throughout the United States have recently adopted policies prohibiting [[Wikipedia]], the free online encyclopedia, from being used as a primary source in reports.

Neil Walters, a history professor at [[w:Middlebury College|Middlebury College]] claims that vandalism of Wikipedia was used as a source in reports submitted to him. 

Walters' department adopted a policy banning the use of Wikipedia as a primary source, while allowing it to be used for background information. Individual professors at other schools, including [[w:UCLA|UCLA]] and the [[w:University of Pennsylvania|University of Pennsylvania]], have taken up this policy.

Wikipedia contributors regularly review the articles, but with the English version of the site recently reaching 1 million articles, they can rarely take time to protect every entry against subtle vandalism.

Wikipedia's guidelines, and the statements of its founder, [[Jimmy Wales]], have advised against using Wikipedia or other encyclopedias as a primary source.

== Sources ==

*{{source|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17740041/
|title=The word on Wikipedia: Trust but verify
|author=Lisa Daniels and Alex Johnson
|pub=MSNBC
|date=March 22, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.informationweek.com/internet/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=198500163&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News
|title=Wikipedia Becomes Intelligence Tool And Target For Jihadists
|author=Thomas Claburn
|pub=InformationWeek
|date=March 22, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/life-liberty-and-wikipedia/
|title=Life, liberty and Wikipedia
|author=Mike Nizza
|pub=New York Times
|date=March 22, 2007}}

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[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Society]]
[[category:Wikipedia]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania]]
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many professors at universities throughout the United States have recently adopted policies prohibiting Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, from being used as a primary source in reports.

Neil Walters, a history professor at Middlebury College claims that vandalism of Wikipedia was used as a source in reports submitted to him. 

Walters' department adopted a policy banning the use of Wikipedia as a primary source, while allowing it to be used for background information. Individual professors at other schools, including UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania, have taken up this policy.

Wikipedia contributors regularly review the articles, but with the English version of the site recently reaching 1 million articles, they can rarely take time to protect every entry against subtle vandalism.

Wikipedia's guidelines, and the statements of its founder, Jimmy Wales, have advised against using Wikipedia or other encyclopedias as a primary source.
Education United States Society University of Pennsylvania