Can yout trust Wikipedia?

Academic institutions everywhere appear to all agree on one thing…Wikipedia cannot be trusted. I am sure that many can agree that they have heard the phrase “unreliable source” used in relation to Wikipedia numerous times throughout their academic career. Yet despite this warning to students, many still use Wikipedia to gather information for their projects. In a poll done by Escapist Magazine, 45% said that they use Wikipedia as a trustworthy source, 20% said no, and 34% said sometimes. So the majority appears to use Wikipedia at some point as a source in the academic world.

The founders of Wikipedia definently had a smart idea, one hated by teachers, but loved by students, that appears to be wildly popular. Even though in an article by Wired Campus the founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales appears to agree with academic teachers. He says in the article that Wikipedia is not reliable enough to use as a source. He is planning on putting together a fact sheet for professors so that they can teach their student how to use his website.

So, basically Wikipedia is to be used to gather information on subjects, not cited. Wales’s had one comment to make about college students who cite Wikipedia and get a bad grade. “I have no sympathy for their plight, for God’s sake you are in college, don’t cite the encyclopedia!!”