I read the New England Journal of Medicine and a few other journals every week. When I come across something I don't understand, I search Google to look it up. Usually, the first or second hit is Wikipedia. So that's how I came to Wikipedia. If I can contribute, I'm glad to help. And of course it's a great way for me to understand what I'm reading myself.
I appreciate that much of the biomedical writing on Wikipedia is done by some pretty well-informed graduate students, PhDs, medical students and MDs who can give me a lot of the fundamental biology and clinical medicine that I'm looking for.
I think my most useful contribution is to take an entry that's written for specialists and rewrite it for the general reader. Don't forget, Wikipedia is written for the general reader, not the specialist or doctor. If people are leaving messages in the Talk page that an article is so complicated that they can't understand it, that's a sign that it should be made more accessible. If people can't understand what you've written, what's the point of writing it?
I believe that an article can be written so that the general reader can understand it, without losing any important technical details. Science magazine does it every week. I like to keep the technical language -- because people need to learn the jargon in order to do further research -- but if you use a technical term that the average reader wouldn't know, you have to define it.
WP:NOTJOURNAL "Scientific journals and research papers. A Wikipedia article should not be presented on the assumption that the reader is well versed in the topic's field. Introductory language in the lead and initial sections of the article should be written in plain terms and concepts that can be understood by any literate reader of Wikipedia without any knowledge in the given field before advancing to more detailed explanations of the topic. While wikilinks should be provided for advanced terms and concepts in that field, articles should be written on the assumption that the reader will not or cannot follow these links, instead attempting to infer their meaning from the text."
Know your audience "Wikipedia is not primarily aimed at experts; therefore, the level of technical detail in its articles must be balanced against the ability of non-experts to understand those details. When contributing scientific content, imagine you have been tasked with writing a comprehensive scientific review for a high school audience. It can be surprisingly challenging explaining complex ideas in an accessible, jargon-free manner. But it is worth the perseverance. You will reap the benefits when it comes to writing your next manuscript or teaching an undergraduate class."
- I heard one of the prize winners, Professor [François] Jacob, forewarn an audience of specialists more or less as follows: «In describing genetic mechanisms, there is a choice between being inexact and incomprehensible». In making this presentation, I shall try to be as inexact as conscience permits.[1]
 | This user has been on Wikipedia for 17 years and 9 months. |
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