Boy do I disagree with Shane. Yes, it is true that relying on previously
published source sshifts the burden. But that doesn't mean there is no
difference. I can see a difference between our assuming the burden, and
editors of journals and publishers assuming the burden. First, most
academic articles and books go through a peer-review process. This process
has its flaws, but it does mean that authors are held accountable to
experts in the field on which they are writing. Second, published books
and articles are authored and authors are accountable. This is not the
case in Wikipedia where, as a collaborative project, articles have no
authors. Problems with wikipedia articles are likely to be debated on talk
pages, which may lead to changes in articles -- an original, innovative,
and interesting process I am happy to participate in. But when scholarly
books and articles are published, professional researches in the field
often go out and try the experiments over, or re-check sources, or try to
apply theories to other situations, and then publish more articles or books
which carry research further. Our articles can report on this process and
the debates within academic fields it engenders, but we cannot be a
substitute for it.
One of the big problems with peer-review is, as Shane points out, that it
excludes ideas and research that peers do not find credible. There
certainly should be a venue for such indiosyncratic and potentially
ground-breaking work. The internet already provides a venue for
publicizing such work. I do not think the internet needs one more such
venue. There are, thanks to the WWW, now an almost infinite space for
people to present such fringe research. The question is, do we report on
it. I still say: no. If such fringe research has merit I truly believe it
will end up in a book or peer-reviewed journal. We all know how much of
what is our there is crap. I just don't think we should waste reader's
time with crap, and I think to include it in our encyclopedia articles
demeans the whole project. How do we decide what is crap? We don't -- we
let professional editors of journals and presses do that, because that is
their business. Wikipeida's strength is that it is an amateur's venture,
and that is indeed it is a strength. It is also a weakness, and I see no
reason why, in this one case, we can't rely on the pros.
Steve
Message: 7
Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 12:06:51 +1000
From: Shane King <shakes(a)dontletsstart.com>
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Original research
To: English Wikipedia <wikien-l(a)Wikipedia.org>
Message-ID: <41B661BB.6000302(a)dontletsstart.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales wrote:
The basic concept is as follows: it can be quite
difficult for us to
make any valid judgment as to whether a particular thing is _true_ or
not. It isn't appropriate for us to try to determine whether
someone's novel theory of physics is valid, we aren't really equipped
to do that. But what we _can_ do is check whether or not it actually
has been published in reputable journals or by reputable publishers.
So it's quite convenient to avoid judging the credibility of things by
simply sticking to things that have been judged credible by people
much better equipped to decide.
I've been thinking about this for a few days,
and I can't get around one
basic issue: we haven't solved the problem. We've shifted the burden of
evaluating the credibility of the theory to evaluating the credibility
of the sources. I see no reason to believe we're any better at
evaluating the credibility of sources than of theories.
Heck, I see no reason why we should even care whether something is
credible. The NPOV policy says we shouldn't, as I read it. In fact, I
largely see the NPOV policy and the "no original research" policy as
being in conflict. We have to report neutrally on all views, yet we
exclude views that experts don't deem credible. Am I the only one who
sees a contradiction in that?
If it was up to me, "no original research" would mean precisely what it
looks like it does. You can't write new stuff directly to wikipedia.
However, if someone else has written it somewhere, it's fair game,
without the need for credibility evaluation.
I think the real purpose of the rule is about not misrepresenting things
on wikipedia, and making crackpots' ideas seem more mainstream than they
are. But if we write with intellectual honesty (ie call minority
opinions minority opinions when they are) and cite our sources, I don't
see any need for the no original research rule as it's currently
formulated.
One of the best things about wikipedia is that it has the ability to
report on the bizarre that would never make it above the radar of a
normal encyclopedia. I find that to be perhaps the most entertaining
part of reading wikipedia. I think it's unfortunate that we have a rule
that restricts that without providing any real benefit that I can see.
Shane.
Steven L. Rubenstein
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Bentley Annex
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701