Wikipedia, reliable sources and public policy issues:
Investigating the role of organisation publishing

Project Summary

A key part of Wikimedia’s defence system against mis/disinformation is its content and citation policies however Wikipedia’s reliable sources policies are still grounded in traditional notions of the research publishing economy as primarily commercial and scholarly publishers and mainstream news media. This is problematic for public policy and public interest topics which tends to have a more diverse media economy of sources, including organisations based in government, civil society, education and commercial sectors, and genres such as reports, policy briefs, fact sheets and datasets.

Public policy is a complex, dynamic and multicentric environment and this is reflected in the diverse publishing ecosystem producing policy-related research including International NGOs, national government agencies, think tanks and research centres. Publications produced by organizations (grey literature) are often more timely and accessible and provide perspectives from community and Indigenous organizations, however some are also partisan and funded by commercial or vested interests – making evaluation of sources challenging.

This research project seeks to understand the extent that policy research reports and papers from organisations are being cited on Wikipedia, what kinds of sources are being cited and how can editors and readers be supported in evaluating their credibility. It will analyse and extend existing research from English Wikipedia (including Avieson 2022; Ford et al. 2013; Lewoniewski 2022; Luyt 2021; Singh et al. 2021; Wong et al. 2021) and the Missing Link Project undertaken by Analysis & Policy Observatory, funded by a WMF Alliance grant in 2022. 

The research will involve mapping organisations and genres across key topics on English Wikipedia including analysis by location, topic area, sector and genre, and provide recommendations for improving guidelines that better reflect the complexity of the research publishing ecosystem. Wikidata will also be used to analyse and collect data, classify policy sources and genres and visualise key policy networks.

The project will provide new insights not only for Wikimedia but also for the wider evidence and policy research community. It will also help to strengthen Wikipedia’s verifiability processes and Wikimedia’s role as a leader in digital and media literacy and education – helping to deliver the WMF 2030 Movement Strategy and supporting Wikimedia's ongoing role in providing essential infrastructure and content for the free knowledge ecosystem.

The Reliable Sources and Public Policy Issues on Wikipedia is a research project funded by the Wikimedia Foundation through the Research Fund program 2023-2024. 

The nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation provides the essential infrastructure for free knowledge. across the global network of Wikimedia projects and languages.