Creating Secondary Sources to Support Diversity on Wikipedia

How to contribute to diversity on Wikipedia through creating secondary sources.

Secondary sources on Wikipedia 

In order to write a Wikipedia article on any topic, you must be able to cite 3-4 reliable secondary sources. These sources are closely monitored by a dedicated team of users to ensure the reliability and integrity of Wikipedia. However, this means that the information available on Wikipedia reflects a systemic bias, as many people and events are underrepresented online due to discriminative attitudes throughout history. This has resulted in notable figures, who have not been written about, being absent from Wikipedia.

The case of Nobel Prize winner Donna Strickland exemplifies this issue. Strickland is an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Waterloo, and she was previously the president of the Optical Society, which has over 20,000 members. Despite her work, which ultimately led to her Nobel Prize, Strickland was not deemed notable enough to have a Wikipedia page due to a lack of references and sources written about her. Strickland's Wikipedia page was only created after she received her prize when media attention finally led to people writing about Strickland and her career. 

The University can support its commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion by supporting the creation of  secondary sources and provide public access to these. Having a permanent home for interesting research could then support the generation of Wikipedia articles for unrepresented individuals.

© Ewan McAndrew and Clea Strathmann, University of Edinburgh, 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0, unless otherwise indicated.