Health information on Wikipedia

The Wikipedia online encyclopedia has, since the late 2000s, served as a popular source for health information for both laypersons and, in many cases, health care practitioners. Health-related articles on Wikipedia are popularly accessed as results from search engines, which frequently deliver links to Wikipedia articles.^[1] Independent assessments have been made of the number and demographics of people who seek health information on Wikipedia, the scope of health information on Wikipedia, and the quality and reliability of the information on Wikipedia.^[2]

The English Wikipedia was estimated in 2014 to hold around 25,000 articles on health-related topics.^[3] Across Wikipedia encyclopedias in all languages there were 155,000 health articles using 950,000 citations to sources and which collectively received 4.8 billion pageviews in 2013.^[4] This amount of traffic makes Wikipedia one of the most consulted health resources in the world, or perhaps the most consulted resource.^[4]

^ Laurent, M. R.; Vickers, T. J. (2009). "Seeking Health Information Online: Does Wikipedia Matter?". Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 16 (4): 471–479. doi:10.1197/jamia.M3059. PMC 2705249. PMID 19390105.
^ Heilman, James M; Kemmann, Eckhardt; Bonert, Michael; Chatterjee, Anwesh; Ragar, Brent; Beards, Graham M; et al. (31 January 2011). "Wikipedia: A Key Tool for Global Public Health Promotion". Journal of Medical Internet Research. 13 (1): e14. doi:10.2196/jmir.1589. PMC 3221335. PMID 21282098.
^ Faric, Nusa (5 December 2014). "Around half of Wikipedia's medical editors are experts". Diff. Wikimedia Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b Heilman, James M; West, Andrew G (2015). "Wikipedia and Medicine: Quantifying Readership, Editors, and the Significance of Natural Language". Journal of Medical Internet Research. 17 (3): e62. doi:10.2196/jmir.4069. ISSN 1438-8871. PMC 4376174. PMID 25739399.

[laurent-1] Laurent, M. R.; Vickers, T. J. (2009). "Seeking Health Information Online: Does Wikipedia Matter?". Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. 16 (4): 471–479. doi:10.1197/jamia.M3059. PMC 2705249. PMID 19390105.

[2] Heilman, James M; Kemmann, Eckhardt; Bonert, Michael; Chatterjee, Anwesh; Ragar, Brent; Beards, Graham M; et al. (31 January 2011). "Wikipedia: A Key Tool for Global Public Health Promotion". Journal of Medical Internet Research. 13 (1): e14. doi:10.2196/jmir.1589. PMC 3221335. PMID 21282098.

[around_half-3] Faric, Nusa (5 December 2014). "Around half of Wikipedia's medical editors are experts". Diff. Wikimedia Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 May 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2023.

[HeilmanWest2015-4] Heilman, James M; West, Andrew G (2015). "Wikipedia and Medicine: Quantifying Readership, Editors, and the Significance of Natural Language". Journal of Medical Internet Research. 17 (3): e62. doi:10.2196/jmir.4069. ISSN 1438-8871. PMC 4376174. PMID 25739399.

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