Study: Wikipedia accurate, but poorly written source for cancer info
Cancer researchers from a Pennsylvania medical college say the information found on Wikipedia is more accurate than previously assumed.
It's just badly written.
"Wikipedia's lack of readability may reflect its varied origins and haphazard editing," said Yaacov Lawrence, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. "Reassuringly, we found that errors were extremely rare on Wikipedia."
According to the press release, Lawrence and a colleague chose 10 cancer types and compared information from standard oncology textbooks to that available on Wikipedia and the patient-oriented section of the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query (PDQ), a peer-reviewed database.
"Overall our results are reassuring," Lawrence said. "On the one hand, Wikipedia appears to be extremely accurate, on the other, the resources invested ... in the PDQ are clearly justified."
About the Author
A native Atlantan, Boone joined the AJC staff in 2007. He quickly carved out a niche covering crime stories, assuming the public safety beat in 2014. He's covered some of the biggest trials this decade, from Hemy Neuman to Ross Harris to Chip Olsen, the latter of which was featured on Season 7 of the AJC's award-winning "Breakdown" podcast.
