Wikipedia and medicine: quantifying readership, editors, and the significance of natural language

Journal of Medical Internet Research
James M Heilman, Andrew G West

Abstract

Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited encyclopedia. One of the most popular websites on the Internet, it is known to be a frequently used source of health care information by both professionals and the lay public. This paper quantifies the production and consumption of Wikipedia's medical content along 4 dimensions. First, we measured the amount of medical content in both articles and bytes and, second, the citations that supported that content. Third, we analyzed the medical readership against that of other health care websites between Wikipedia's natural language editions and its relationship with disease prevalence. Fourth, we surveyed the quantity/characteristics of Wikipedia's medical contributors, including year-over-year participation trends and editor demographics. Using a well-defined categorization infrastructure, we identified medically pertinent English-language Wikipedia articles and links to their foreign language equivalents. With these, Wikipedia can be queried to produce metadata and full texts for entire article histories. Wikipedia also makes available hourly reports that aggregate reader traffic at per-article granularity. An online survey was used to determine the background of contributors. Standard mining...Continue Reading

References

Apr 25, 2009·Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA·Michaël R Laurent, Tim J Vickers
Jun 9, 2009·International Journal of Medical Informatics·Benjamin HughesJonathan Wareham
Jul 22, 2010·Nurse Education Today·Carol A Haigh
Feb 2, 2011·Journal of Medical Internet Research·James M HeilmanMichaël R Laurent
Jul 10, 2012·International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology·Peter G VolskyCraig S Derkay
Nov 10, 2012·Medical Teacher·Usaid K AllahwalaDeshan F Sebaratnam
Apr 20, 2014·PLoS Computational Biology·David J McIver, John S Brownstein
Nov 14, 2014·PLoS Computational Biology·Nicholas GenerousReid Priedhorsky
Dec 17, 2014·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Nuša Farič, Henry W W Potts

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

May 7, 2015·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Alexander PfundnerMatthias Samwald
Aug 3, 2016·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Tiago Taveira-GomesMaria Amélia Ferreira
Aug 25, 2016·International Journal of Bipolar Disorders·Jörn ConellMichael Bauer
Nov 6, 2015·Journal of Korean Medical Science·Armen Yuri GasparyanGeorge D Kitas
Oct 22, 2016·The Lancet Global Health·Gwinyai MasukumeJames M Heilman
Sep 15, 2016·Academic Medicine : Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges·Amin AzzamJack D McCue
Aug 30, 2017·Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health·Thomas ShafeeJames Heilman
Jun 25, 2019·Anatomical Sciences Education·Athikhun SuwannakhanTaweetham Limpanuparb
Sep 17, 2019·Computers, Informatics, Nursing : CIN·Jordan EschlerUba Backonja
Mar 7, 2020·ELife·Lauren A MaggioJohn M Willinsky
Aug 5, 2016·Postgraduate Medical Journal·Mark M Hammer, Gavriel D Kohlberg
Nov 8, 2018·Journal of Digital Imaging·Teresa Martin-Carreras, Charles E Kahn
Nov 15, 2019·Academic Medicine : Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges·Heather MurrayLauren A Maggio
Aug 18, 2020·International Journal of Dentistry·Ebtissam M Al-MadiMohammad I Al-Obaida
Jan 22, 2019·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Dariusz JemielniakMaciej Wilamowski
Oct 19, 2017·Systematic Reviews·Lena SchmidtClive E Adams
May 12, 2018·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Peter HoltzJoachim Kimmerle
Mar 19, 2019·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Shira Schecter WeinerYocheved Bensinger-Brody
Feb 29, 2020·PeerJ·Gerardo Lagunes-GarcíaErnestina Menasalvas-Ruiz
Oct 9, 2020·Perspectives on Medical Education·Lauren A MaggioJennifer E Dawson
Jan 19, 2021·Journal of Medical Internet Research·Fei SunShusen Zheng
Jul 22, 2020·International Journal of Medical Informatics·Lishan Yu, Sheng Yu
May 7, 2021·Nicotine & Tobacco Research : Official Journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco·M Justin Byron, John R Hughes
Aug 18, 2021·Contraception·Kathleen Broussard, Andréa Becker
Oct 2, 2021·Inquiry : a Journal of Medical Care Organization, Provision and Financing·Diana M CeballosThais C Morata

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

eMedicine
Wikimedia
MedlinePlus
SimilarWeb

Related Concepts

Trending Feeds

COVID-19

Coronaviruses encompass a large family of viruses that cause the common cold as well as more serious diseases, such as the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; formally known as 2019-nCoV). Coronaviruses can spread from animals to humans; symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath, and breathing difficulties; in more severe cases, infection can lead to death. This feed covers recent research on COVID-19.

Blastomycosis

Blastomycosis fungal infections spread through inhaling Blastomyces dermatitidis spores. Discover the latest research on blastomycosis fungal infections here.

Nuclear Pore Complex in ALS/FTD

Alterations in nucleocytoplasmic transport, controlled by the nuclear pore complex, may be involved in the pathomechanism underlying multiple neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Here is the latest research on the nuclear pore complex in ALS and FTD.

Applications of Molecular Barcoding

The concept of molecular barcoding is that each original DNA or RNA molecule is attached to a unique sequence barcode. Sequence reads having different barcodes represent different original molecules, while sequence reads having the same barcode are results of PCR duplication from one original molecule. Discover the latest research on molecular barcoding here.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disease characterized by unexplained disabling fatigue; the pathology of which is incompletely understood. Discover the latest research on chronic fatigue syndrome here.

Evolution of Pluripotency

Pluripotency refers to the ability of a cell to develop into three primary germ cell layers of the embryo. This feed focuses on the mechanisms that underlie the evolution of pluripotency. Here is the latest research.

Position Effect Variegation

Position Effect Variagation occurs when a gene is inactivated due to its positioning near heterochromatic regions within a chromosome. Discover the latest research on Position Effect Variagation here.

STING Receptor Agonists

Stimulator of IFN genes (STING) are a group of transmembrane proteins that are involved in the induction of type I interferon that is important in the innate immune response. The stimulation of STING has been an active area of research in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Here is the latest research on STING receptor agonists.

Microbicide

Microbicides are products that can be applied to vaginal or rectal mucosal surfaces with the goal of preventing, or at least significantly reducing, the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Here is the latest research on microbicides.

Related Papers

Journal of Medical Internet Research
James M HeilmanMichaël R Laurent
Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
V ZlatićM Domazet
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA
Michaël R Laurent, Tim J Vickers
© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved