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Evolution of Wikipedia’s medical content: past, present and future

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, August 2017
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Mentioned by

news
3 news outlets
blogs
5 blogs
twitter
103 X users
facebook
3 Facebook pages
wikipedia
11 Wikipedia pages
googleplus
2 Google+ users

Citations

dimensions_citation
84 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
87 Mendeley
citeulike
2 CiteULike
Title
Evolution of Wikipedia’s medical content: past, present and future
Published in
Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, August 2017
DOI 10.1136/jech-2016-208601
Pubmed ID
Authors

Thomas Shafee, Gwinyai Masukume, Lisa Kipersztok, Diptanshu Das, Mikael Häggström, James Heilman

Abstract

As one of the most commonly read online sources of medical information, Wikipedia is an influential public health platform. Its medical content, community, collaborations and challenges have been evolving since its creation in 2001, and engagement by the medical community is vital for ensuring its accuracy and completeness. Both the encyclopaedia's internal metrics as well as external assessments of its quality indicate that its articles are highly variable, but improving. Although content can be edited by anyone, medical articles are primarily written by a core group of medical professionals. Diverse collaborative ventures have enhanced medical article quality and reach, and opportunities for partnerships are more available than ever. Nevertheless, Wikipedia's medical content and community still face significant challenges, and a socioecological model is used to structure specific recommendations. We propose that the medical community should prioritise the accuracy of biomedical information in the world's most consulted encyclopaedia.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 103 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 87 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 87 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Researcher 16 18%
Student > Master 15 17%
Student > Bachelor 9 10%
Other 8 9%
Student > Ph. D. Student 8 9%
Other 17 20%
Unknown 14 16%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 19 22%
Computer Science 8 9%
Social Sciences 7 8%
Engineering 6 7%
Nursing and Health Professions 5 6%
Other 22 25%
Unknown 20 23%