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Asked by to Clare, Divya, Ian, Jess, Lewis on 18 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Lewis Dean answered on 18 Mar 2014:
I love wikipedia, but I don’t use it for work. It is too unreliable and it not properly set out like a science article.
We have our own ways of finding information – there are websites that allow us to search all the different articles and reports that have been published by other scientists. These are much more useful than wikipedia.
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Ian Hands-Portman answered on 18 Mar 2014:
Yes! it can be very handy to check a quick bit of info but it can also be wrong and some of the articles might be spoofs so you have to be able to judge what’s accurate ( usually by checking somewhere else ). I’d never just copy and paste an article but reading though a Wikipedia on a subject before you start writing can just give you the right angle you need to get you started on writing an introduction.
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Jess Smith answered on 18 Mar 2014:
Haha yes Lewis is right, we aren’t really meant to use it for work. Occasionally if I have forgotten a formula I might check it on Wikipedia, but don’t tell my supervisor!
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Clare Nevin answered on 18 Mar 2014:
It’s good for a reminder of topics that I haven’t looked at for a while as usually it gives a general overview of a topic. But not for scientific writing. When you write a scientific paper you have to list all of your sources and these have to come from real research papers where you explain how other research supports or disproves your work. Wikipedia sometimes does have citations but it can be easily edited and people can write about whatever they like so I wouldn’t trust it no.
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