Abstract
Background:For almost any topic, a Wikipedia page will appear among the first ten items of a search online. Wikipedia is also a site whose quality and reliability has been called into question.Methods:In this paper, we aim to discuss medical practitioners’ use of Wikipedia, what this consists of and what it might be. We consider the context and history of Wikipedia before discussing the relationship between Wikipedia and the medical profession. In so doing, we will consider Wikipedia as a means of informal self-education and the extent to which it might inform clinical decision-making. We compare with the existing literature results from our two small-scale empirical studies of Wikipedia and clinical decision-making.Results:Notwithstanding issues over quality and reliability, Wikipedia’s rules on verifiability are such that its articles are very heavily referenced, and this is just as true of health-related articles. The Cochrane/Wikipedia Initiative in improving the quality and reliability of medical and health pages in Wikipedia is significant in increasing reliability. Our respondents largely concurred with the results from earlier studies on the use of Wikipedia by medical practitioners.Conclusion:Perhaps the very doubt over Wikipedia’s accuracy is its greatest strength as a means of informal education of doctors. That medical and health articles on Wikipedia can be so fully referenced and still be doubted is arguably a good thing and one whose effects may be spread into other, more trusted, publications. Hence, one might envisage a future where no one source is taken automatically on trust.
Highlights
In the days before the Internet, the only sources of information available to doctors seeking information quickly were print and colleagues
Accuracy and reliability have clearly been of justifiable concern and will, despite efforts to the contrary, likely remain so
The fact that anyone can edit does sometimes mean that persons who do not know better do edit
Summary
In the days before the Internet, the only sources of information available to doctors seeking information quickly were print and colleagues. There were the issues around datedness: even with the latest edition, it was possible that what one was seeking was already out of date or that there was a divergence of opinion in the medical community and one’s text or journal article was only reporting part of the issue. All this changed as the Internet developed. No. For almost any topic, a Wikipedia page will appear among the first ten items of a search online. Wikipedia is a site whose quality and reliability has been called into question
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