Training modules/dashboard/slides/11402-why-verify

Why verify?

Behind every great Wikipedia article is a collection of great sources. One of the first things you should do, even before you choose a topic to write about, is create a collection of good sources.

You shouldn’t trust everything you read on the internet, and Wikipedia is no different. You can see where facts come from at the end of the article. That helps anyone verify facts to make sure that they’re true.

When you add content to Wikipedia, you’ll want to be sure that people can check out your sources of information, too.

So, make sure you only share facts from reliable sources. Reliable sources include:

Textbooks
Literature reviews
Books or publications written by experts in the field, and published by reliable publishers.

Do not use:

Blog posts
Press materials intended to show something in a certain light

In some cases, such as articles that involve medical editing, newspapers and pop-press articles aren’t appropriate, either! (If that applies to you, be sure to check out our module on editing for Medical information).