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Library Videos: Using Wikipedia for Academic Research

Using Wikipedia for Academic Research

Choosing a topic for your paper is a little like joining a conversation that is already happening around you. While many instructors will not accept Wikipedia as a scholarly source, you can use it to explore a topic or find pertinent books and articles about your subject. This tutorial will outline how to responsibly use Wikipedia in your academic research:

 

 

Topic Selection Techniques

Evaluating sources of information is an important step before using them for research. Consider the following techniques for topic selection:

 

 

 

  •   Choose something of interest to you. Scan your textbook or other course readings for topic ideas or suggestions, draw on what you have read or seen recently that is of interest to you, or pick a topic that is relevant to your career or personal life.
  •   Make a list of potential topics. Get at least 10 ideas down on paper. Then, go back through your list and circle the three most relevant topics.
  •   Conduct pre-research to see what has been written about your potential topic. Choosing a topic that others have written about ensures you will be able to find enough resources.
  •   Have a topic in mind but need help focusing it? Get strategies to narrow or broaden your topic!

 

What can I use Wikipedia for?

Wikipedia, reference books, or general web searching are great places to look for pre-research, even though they may not be appropriate to cite. You can use these sources to:

 

 

  •   Gather overviews of topics and disciplines, histories of subjects, and established information in the field.
  •   Locate brief descriptions for a topic that might lead you to further information sources. Look for keyword and subject-specific vocabulary that can be helpful for later, more complex searching.
  •   Understand how your topic fits into a broader discipline or how multiple topics are interrelated.

 

Additional Resources

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