Dariusz Jemielniak

“ Moreover, it makes the professor’s life so much easier because a new article is often checked for plagiarism and commented on by members of the community. However, I believe there are even more important reasons for students and scholars to appreciate Wikipedia. Billions of people do not have access to free knowledge. We are the 1% in terms of knowledge access privilege; developing Wikipedia, the common good of humanity, is our moral obligation. The fact that Wikipedia development makes our coursework easier is only a nice bonus. ”

“ Some professors dislike it when students cite Wikipedia. While no encyclopedia should be the only source in academic-level essays, it should be emphasized that our primary duty is to report and accurately refer to all sources that were actually used, with no exceptions. Academic honesty and transparency are crucial for scholarly work, and it is difficult to understand why citing specifically Wikipedia is taboo. ”

“ Yet, the most important reason for animosity towards Wikipedia may be that it challenges the existing institutional hierarchy of knowledge distribution and is much more successful in reaching the public than academic publications. ”