Wikipedia:Ten simple rules for editing Wikipedia

It has been suggested that this page be merged with Wikipedia:Eight simple rules for editing our encyclopedia. (Discuss)

This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

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Wikipedia is the world's most successful online encyclopedia, now containing over 3.3 million English language articles.^[1] It is probably the largest collection of knowledge ever assembled, and is certainly the most widely accessible. Wikipedia can be edited by anyone with Internet access who chooses to, but does it provide reliable information? A 2005 study by Nature found that a selection of Wikipedia articles on scientific subjects were comparable to a professionally edited encyclopedia,^[2] suggesting a community of volunteers can generate and sustain surprisingly accurate content.

For better or worse, people are guided to Wikipedia when searching the Web for biomedical information.^[3] So, there is an increasing need for the scientific community to engage with Wikipedia to ensure that the information it contains is accurate and current. For scientists, contributing to Wikipedia is an excellent way of fulfilling public engagement responsibilities and sharing expertise. For example, some Wikipedian scientists have successfully integrated biological data with Wikipedia to promote community annotation.^[4][5] This, in turn, encourages wider access to the linked data via Wikipedia. Others have used the wiki model to develop their own specialist, collaborative databases.^[6][7][8][9] Taking your first steps into Wikipedia can be daunting, but here we provide some tips that should make the editing process go smoothly.