Wikipedia is a useful source of information for university students

because: its coverage is broad and encyclopedic in scope
- because: it has more than 1 million articles on wide-ranging topics
  - Problem: there is no hierarchy of knowledge (Wikipedia (2019))
    - Solution: there are portals and categories
      - Problem: they don't tell users which information is more important to know
        but: comparing information importance is not the function of an encyclopedia
  - because: Wikipedia gives a general information for the students, the information can be use as a covered introduction, not for the reference propose.
- but: it is also bias
  - but: Wikipedia has an official Neutral Point of View policy (Wikipedia (2019))
    - but: Wikipedia articles rarely ascend to the desired level of neutrality
      - Cause: all articles are edited by people
        because: people are inherently biased
    - because: it aims to describe disputes rather than to take sides in them
  - but: it uses a program called WikiScanner to detect bias (Wikipedia, 2009, Reliability of Wikipedia, Section 3.3)
  - because: it reflects the viewpoints and interests of those who write it
    - but: there can be many authors, so the text is less biased to one opinion
    - but: all writing reflects the biases of the author(s) to some degree
but: many schools do not allow their students to use Wikipedia as sources
- Problem: its information lacks authority
  - Solution: users can verify its information with other sources
- but: schools should not forbid the use of Wikipedia as a source
  - because: if students get inaccurate information from Wikipedia, it is a chance for them to contribute by correcting it and giving a reference
  - because: if students get inaccurate information from Wikipedia, it is an opportunity to educate them on fact checking
  - because: forbidding the use of a source of information is censorship
because: its entries invariably show up on the first page of a Google search
but: Wikipedia can be edited by everyone, it hasn't any credit for students.
but: some of its information may be inaccurate or misleading
- because: anyone can create and edit its content
  - but: inaccurate entries are quickly corrected by editors who monitor pages (Wikipedia (2019))
    - but: You can never be sure that the latest version is absolutely correct
      - but: you can never be sure that any information is correct unless you check it
  - but: the democratic and timely way in which content is created and revised adds value to Wikipedia (Wallace (2005) )

Reliability of Wikipedia. (2009, February 17). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:09, February 18, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reliability_of_Wikipedia&oldid=271370613 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliability_of_Wikipedia#Susceptibility_to_editorial_bias)

Wallace, D. & Van Fleet, C. (2005). "The democratization of information? Wikipedia as a reference resource." Reference and User Services Quarterly, 45, p.100-103.

http://www.delta-sky.com/sections/index.php/lifestyle/wikipedia_vs_encyclopedia/