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The use of these raw, first-hand, or out-of-date sources lends itself to inaccurate reporting, undue weight, and original research. Thus, they should only be used with caution and extreme care. Using auxiliary sources
We advise special caution when using Wikipedia as a source for research projects. Normal academic usage of Wikipedia is for getting the general facts of a problem and to gather keywords, references and bibliographical pointers, but not as a source in itself. Remember that Wikipedia is a wiki. Anyone in the world can edit an article, deleting ...
Wikipedia:Academic use – considerations for using Wikipedia as a source for academic work (including a mention that some schools object to citing encyclopedias in general and Wikipedia in particular). Wikipedia:Content disclaimer – Wikipedia contains content you may find objectionable; it also contains spoilers
However, although Wikipedia articles are tertiary sources, Wikipedia employs no systematic mechanism for fact-checking or accuracy. Thus, Wikipedia articles (and Wikipedia mirrors) in themselves are not reliable sources for any purpose (except as sources on themselves per WP:SELFSOURCE). Primary sources are often difficult to use appropriately.
Wikipedia is ideal in these situations because it will allow you to find the information, as well as sources which you can research to confirm that information. In any case, you should not cite Wikipedia itself, but the source provided; you should certainly look up the source yourself before citing it.
Because Wikipedia cannot be considered a reliable source, the use of Wikipedia is not accepted in many schools and universities in writing a formal paper, and some educational institutions have banned it as a primary source while others have limited its use to only a pointer to external sources.
Attribution To re-distribute a text page in any form, provide credit to the authors either by including a) a hyperlink (where possible) or URL to the page or pages you are re-using, b) a hyperlink (where possible) or URL to an alternative, stable online copy which is freely accessible, which conforms with the license, and which provides credit to the authors in a manner equivalent to the ...
Identifying and using primary sources requires careful thought and some extra knowledge on the part of Wikipedia's editors. In determining the type of source, there are three separate, basic characteristics to identify: Is this source self-published or not? (If so, then see Wikipedia:Identifying and using self-published sources.)