The distorted mirror of Wikipedia: a quantitative analysis of Wikipedia coverage of academics

Activity of modern scholarship creates online footprints galore. Along with traditional metrics of research quality, such as citation counts, online images of researchers and institutions increasingly matter in evaluating academic impact, decisions about grant allocation, and promotion. We examined 400 biographical Wikipedia articles on academics from four scientific fields to test if being featured in the world's largest online encyclopedia is correlated with higher academic notability (assessed through citation counts). We found no statistically significant correlation between Wikipedia articles metrics (length, number of edits, number of incoming links from other articles, etc.) and academic notability of the mentioned researchers. We also did not find any evidence that the scientists with better WP representation are necessarily more prominent in their fields. In addition, we inspected the Wikipedia coverage of notable scientists sampled from Thomson Reuters list of "highly cited researchers". In each of the examined fields, Wikipedia failed in covering notable scholars properly. Both findings imply that Wikipedia might be producing an inaccurate image of academics on the front end of science. By shedding light on how public perception of academic progress is formed, this study alerts that a subjective element might have been introduced into the hitherto structured system of academic evaluation.Comment: To appear in EPJ Data Science. To have the Additional Files and Datasets e-mail the corresponding autho

Fingerprint databases for theorems

We discuss the advantages of searchable, collaborative, language-independent databases of mathematical results, indexed by "fingerprints" of small and canonical data. Our motivating example is Neil Sloane's massively influential On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. We hope to encourage the greater mathematical community to search for the appropriate fingerprints within each discipline, and to compile fingerprint databases of results wherever possible. The benefits of these databases are broad - advancing the state of knowledge, enhancing experimental mathematics, enabling researchers to discover unexpected connections between areas, and even improving the refereeing process for journal publication.Comment: to appear in Notices of the AM

Open Knowledge Resources for Higher Education: Scholarly Publications, Course Materials, Academic Software

This paper will explain why electronic knowledge resources in academia cannot only be regarded as private commodities, but also as public goods. After sketching a concept of public goods for a postnational, global society, three types of electronic knowledge resources are distinguished: scholarly publications, course materials and academic software. With the help of practical examples, similarities between these resources are developed. Finally, it will be explained what advantages the status of public good for knowledge resources would have and how it could be achieved by the academic community

Female scholars need to achieve more for equal public recognition

Different kinds of "gender gap" have been reported in different walks of the scientific life, almost always favouring male scientists over females. In this work, for the first time, we present a large-scale empirical analysis to ask whether female scientists with the same level of scientific accomplishment are as likely as males to be recognised. We particularly focus on Wikipedia, the open online encyclopedia that its open nature allows us to have a proxy of community recognition. We calculate the probability of appearing on Wikipedia as a scientist for both male and female scholars in three different fields. We find that women in Physics, Economics and Philosophy are considerable less likely than men to be recognised on Wikipedia across all levels of achievement.Comment: Under revie

PENGEMBANGAN ENSIKLOPEDIA DIGITAL BERBASIS LITERASI SAINS PADA PEMBELAJARAN IPA MATERI EKOSISTEM KELAS V SEKOLAH DASAR

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengembangkan dan menghasilkan produk berupa ensiklopedia digital berbasis literasi sains sebagai penunjang pada pembelajaran IPA materi ekosistem kelas V sekolah dasar serta untuk mengetahui kelayakan produk yang telah dikembangkan. Penelitian dilaksanakan di SDN Tebet Timur 15 Pagi dengan jumlah responden sebanyak 20 orang peserta didik kelas V sekolah dasar. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Research and Development (R&D) dengan model pengembangan ADDIE. Model ini terdiri dari dari lima tahapan yaitu Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation dan Evaluation. Tahap analysis dilakukan analisis kebutuhan peserta didik, tahap design dilakukan rancangan produk dan penyusunan instrumen, tahap development yaitu mengaktualisasikan produk dan validasi para ahli, tahap implementation dilakukan uji coba produk, dan evaluasi formatif dilakukan setelah mendapatkan saran dari validator. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan yaitu observasi, wawancara, dan kuesioner. Penelitian ini menghasilkan produk berupa ensiklopedia digital berbasis literasi sains pada pembelajaran IPA materi ekosistem kelas V sekolah dasar. Hasil penelitian dan pengembangan ini memperoleh validasi dari ahli media sebesar 88,3% dengan kategori sangat baik, validasi ahli materi sebesar 96,1% dengan kategori sangat baik, dan validasi ahli bahasa sebesar 97,5% dengan kategori sangat baik. Hasil uji coba one-to-one sebesar 81,9% dengan kategori sangat baik, uji coba small group sebesar 96,6% dengan kategori sangat baik, dan field test sebesar 96,5% dengan kategori sangat baik. Berdasarkan hasil tersebut, ensiklopedia digital berbasis literasi sains layak digunakan sebagai penunjang pada pembelajaran IPA materi ekosistem kelas V sekolah dasar. Dengan demikian, tujuan dari penelitian dan pengembangan ini tercapai dan layak digunakan untuk peserta didik kelas V sekolah dasar. Kata Kunci: Ensiklopedia Digital, Literasi Sains, Pembelajaran IPA. This research aims to develop and produce a product in the form of a digital encyclopedia based on scientific literacy as a support for science learning on ecosystem material for grade V elementary schools and to determine the feasibility of the product that has been developed. The research was conducted at Tebet Timur 15 Pagi Elementary School with 20 respondents in class V elementary school. The method used in this study is Research and Development (R&D) with the ADDIE development model. This model consists of five stages, namely Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation. The analysis stage is carried out by analyzing the needs of students, the design stage is carried out product design and preparation of instruments, the development stage is actualizing the product and validating experts, the implementation stage is carried out product trials, and formative evaluation is carried out after receiving advice from the validator. Data collection techniques used are observation, interviews, and questionnaires. This research produced a product in the form of a digital encyclopedia based on scientific literacy in learning natural sciences material for class V elementary school ecosystems. The results of this research and development obtained validation from media experts of 88.3% in the very good category, validation by material experts of 96.1% in the very good category, and validation by linguists of 97.5% in the very good category. The results of the one-to-one trial were 81.9% in the very good category, the small group trial was 96.6% in the very good category, and the field test was 96.5% in the very good category. Based on these results, scientific literacy-based digital encyclopedias are appropriate to be used as a support for science learning on ecosystem material for grade V elementary schools. Thus, the objectives of this research and development have been achieved and are suitable for use by fifth grade elementary school students. Keywords: Digital Encyclopedia, Science Literacy, Science Learning