Nature study measures Wikipedia against Britannica
Taking Jimmy Wales up on his stated goal of "Britannica-or-better quality" for Wikipedia articles, the scientific journal Nature has conducted a study pitting Wikipedia against the Encyclopædia Britannica. In an article by Jim Giles, "Internet encyclopaedias go head to head", it reported that Wikipedia approaches the quality of Britannica for articles on scientific topics, but hasn't fully matched this standard yet. It was one of the first formal peer reviews that used experts to compare Wikipedia articles with those of another publication.
The results of the study found that in the sample of 42 articles, Encyclopædia Britannica had 123 errors while Wikipedia had 162 (for averages of 2.9 and 3.9 errors per article, respectively). The study was widely discussed in the media, usually interpreted as reflecting favorably on Wikipedia in the aftermath of the Seigenthaler incident, although some coverage emphasized that it showed Wikipedia to be more error-prone.
In an accompanying editorial, Nature encouraged readers to review and help improve articles on scientific topics related to their work. Based on a survey the journal conducted, it noted that relatively few scientists edit Wikipedia (less than 10% of Nature authors). However, the editorial argued that these contributions would be critical "to increase the quality of the mushrooming number of entries." A separate item profiled the efforts of two such contributors, Vaughan Bell and William M. Connolley. Meanwhile, Nobel Prize winner Barry Marshall has reportedly endorsed the Wikipedia article on Helicobacter pylori, the discovery for which he and Robin Warren received the award. (Helicobacter pylori is, in fact, a featured article.)
Although the source of each article was not identified to reviewers in the Nature study, several people commented that a reader likely would have been able to tell the difference based on the content. In media coverage about the study, Britannica officials pointed out that the focus on factual errors neglected considerations of style and writing quality, while spokesman Tom Panelas gave Wikipedia an apparently backhanded compliment for its coverage of such topics as extreme ironing.