Sunday 21 August 2016

Guidelines for Participating in Wikipedia from NIH | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Source: https://www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office-communications-public-liaison/guidelines-participating-wikipedia-nih



Guidelines for Participating in Wikipedia from NIH

Wikipedia
is an encyclopedia and is the fifth most popular property on the web.
At present [February 3, 2015] there are more than 75,000 active
contributors across the globe with hundreds of thousands of volunteers
at computers working on more than 13,000,000 articles in more than 260
languages. Recently, the system has become much more sophisticated and
"vandals" are handled quickly. But the majority of science articles and
good health information are rated by Wikipedia as "incomplete." There is
a real opportunity to strengthen this public resource. A biochemistry
professor who was part of the NIH Wikipedia Academy workshop in July
2009, noted about the content: "[it is] meant to derive its authority
from journal references, scientific literature…." We hope these
guidelines will help you to become part of a unique opportunity in
keeping with the NIH’s history of making credible, vetted, authoritative
information available to the public. The time spent can be minimal, but
the impact could be great. Information you have already developed that
might benefit scientists or the public worldwide could be put up in a
few minutes — or one item in a journal club could be an entry (suggested
by some NIH scientists) as a shared experience, or if one has
permission and is so inclined, an authored article in an area needing
new information would require more effort. Many have heard that schools
will not permit citation of Wikipedia — completely appropriate—and
acknowledged by Wikipedia. They, as with any encyclopedia, would not be a
credible citation, however, the growing list of peer-reviewed,
published sources used in citation makes it an invaluable tool for
getting started or locating original sources.


  1. NIH scientists and health and science writers can
    contribute to Wikipedia within their own fields. Contributions may be
    in the form of a range of activities from authoring articles in areas of
    individual or laboratory expertise, editing for accuracy or improving
    current entries, or providing—and this is an important contribution —
    citations.
  2. Remember that Wikipedia makes every effort to be a neutral resource
    and fact-based. The community is particularly sensitive to self
    aggrandizing, hype, or policy items. The main page for NIH programs (IC
    or Office) should go through the appropriate communication officer in
    your IC or Office.
  3. Time spent on Wikipedia entries must be approved by the immediate
    supervisor and the time permitted for this outreach activity
    predetermined before the work is begun. It is recommended that the staff
    person indicates the areas he/she will contribute to in the time
    allotted.
  4. In your NIH capacity: NIH staff scientists and science writers and
    health professionals may only contribute to Wikipedia entries in their
    own scientific and health areas of expertise from the NIH.
  5. In your personal capacity: To contribute to articles in additional
    areas of interest, NIH employees should use personal resources,
    including non-Government home computers and personal internet accounts.
  6. NIH staff may only share information that is in the public domain
    and contribute factual information not opinion. Nor should staff enter
    into discussions of policy. That is not appropriate to Wikipedia nor NIH
    guidelines.
  7. To ensure quality and avoid instances of plagiarism, Wikipedia
    requires contributors to cite literature or link to existing materials
    and to provide proper attribution to authors and sources, even if the
    work is in the public domain. There is constant vigilance by Wikipedians
    in favor of fact over opinion; inaccurate information is corrected
    through a series of permissions.
  8. The Wikimedia Foundation has established a switchboard, staffed by
    volunteers, for NIH editors and contributors. Contributors should use
    the NIH Switchboard for Wikipedia to ensure that your contributions are
    welcomed. We will be posting information about contacting the
    switchboard on line.
  9. Seize opportunities to link to full articles through NIH public access holdings.
  10. These guidelines are designed for communications from NIH.
    Individuals may, of course, contribute privately to Wikipedia on their
    own time and own equipment in areas of personal knowledge.
  11. We are using these guidelines as a working document for the NIH
    community. If you have comments or questions, please contact us at NIHWikipediaComments@mail.nih.gov (link sends e-mail).
This page last reviewed on September 11, 2015



Guidelines for Participating in Wikipedia from NIH | National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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