I thank you all for your guidance and I see that whilst having students in
teaching classes editing multiple subjects is ok, asking students to edit
multiple topics about research in the same institution, topic etc is
unlikely to be OK because they will be too close to the people involved and
I agree this is A Bad Idea.
However just in the interest of being clear, with respect to the other
things mentioned here, I was not talking about original research - only
peer reviewed published papers - and never mentioned articles about
"yourself/biography".
I certainly wouldn't want anyone to even imagine I would consider such
practices.
On a more personal note I am a writer who was last employed as an academic
many years ago.
I take these issues seriously, which is why I came here to ask questions
in the first place. I do believe the issues are not yet clear and need to
be so.
It is especially confusing when I see people referencing their own
websites!
With thanks
Jen / Open Research
Sent from my mobile
On 10 Jul 2014, at 20:05, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
In general:
1. Citing your own academic work and/or adding an article on Wikipedia
about your work would be to introduce original research AND potentially
COI, and both of those are not ok. You could propose an edit on an article
talk page with an explanation that you are the researcher.
2. Editing an article about yourself would be COI. You could propose an
edit on the article talk page with the explanation that you are the subject
of the article.
3. Encouraging your students to add your or their research on Wikipedia
would be meatpuppetry, original research, and/or potentially COI, and any
of those is not OK.
4. Encouraging your students to edit your biography on Wikipedia would be
meatpuppetry and potentially COI, and both of those are not OK. A professor
did this in the past and was caught.
When in doubt, I recommend writing on an article talk page, explaining
your relationship to the content that you are proposing to add, and writing
a draft of your proposed change for other editors to review.
Pine
On Thu, Jul 10, 2014 at 11:48 AM, Jon Beasley-Murray <
jon.beasley-murray(a)ubc.ca> wrote:
Hi:
Your question was: "is there a way to count the contributions that a user
has made *on behalf of* another particular user?" (my emphasis)
And: "It seems to me that the way to overcome this roadblock is to
introduce a way of counting the contributions made by a person (say, a
research student, or a colleague) *on behalf of* a Professor." (again, my
emphasis)
Which rather sounds like a proxy, by any definition of that term.
I would be strongly against encouraging such practices.
Take care
Jon
On Jul 10, 2014, at 11:12 AM, Jennifer Gristock <gristock(a)me.com> wrote:
I too believe that the ideal approach is for academics to write about
other
people's work: that is why my original question was about ways of
tracing/counting this.
But if you're saying that a research student writing about other people
'a
work (plural, not singular ) is not advisable because they are somehow a
'proxy', I must say I don't quite see it that way, but thank you for
helping me to see the multiple ways in which this could be construed.
Sent from my mobile
> On 10 Jul 2014, at 18:21, Jon Beasley-Murray <
jon.beasley-murray(a)ubc.ca> wrote:
>
> Jennifer:
>
> I would be very wary indeed of the model you're proposing, in which
either
individual researchers or their proxies insert their work into
Wikipedia. We see enough of that already, and I would be concerned if
there were any official (or even semi-official) encouragement of the
practice.
>
> The issue is less conflict of interest (though that's true, too) as
(self)promotion (which you seem to be actively encouraging) and undue
weight.
>
> This is not to say that professors (academics, researchers) should not
be
writing in their areas of expertise. Of course they should! But
perhaps a rule of thumb is that they should be writing about *other*
people's work in that area, rather than their own.
>
> Take care
>
> Jon
>
>> On Jul 10, 2014, at 7:43 AM, Jennifer Gristock <gristock(a)me.com>
wrote:
>>
>> Greetings everyone. I'm still working on that system to encourage
university professors to contribute to Wikipedia, a system that is
concerned not through teaching, like the Education Programme, but through
research.
>>
>> I need some help. Can you tell me, in the Wikipedia API, is there a
way to
count the contributions that a user has made on behalf of another
particular user? For example, a professor might ask a group of PhD students
to make contributions involving his/her research on various Wikipedia
pages, on his/her behalf.
>>
>> I have been frequently told (at the Teahouse and elsewhere) that
Professors are not allowed to contribute information about their own
published research papers on Wikipedia pages, because this would be biased.
(Which is rather a downer for the professor, because this means they are
forbidden to write about the things they are most passionate and
knowledgeable about.)
>>
>> If this is rule is true, then it must certainly be seen as a
roadblock to
academic engagement with Wikipedia. If it isn't, then it is
editors' perception of the rule as true (as I have experienced) that is the
roadblock.
>>
>> It seems to me that the way to overcome this roadblock is to
introduce a
way of counting the contributions made by a person (say, a
research student, or a colleague) on behalf of a Professor. So at the end
of the year, the Professor can say 'my research contributed to X edits on
Wikipedia' as easily as each individual student (who might contribute on
behalf of many academic researchers) can count their individual edits.
>>
>> Can the API accommodate this in some way? Perhaps through some sort
of
'project' code or something?
>>
>>
>> Yours hopefully,
>>
>> Jenny Gristock (Open_Research)
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On 9 Jul 2014, at 22:40, LiAnna Davis <lianna(a)wikiedu.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all!
>>>
>>> I wanted to draw your attention to the Educator Training we'll be
having as part of the Wikimania Pre-conference on August 7:
>>>
>>>
https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education_Pre-Conference/Educator_…
>>>
>>> The Educator Training is designed to give educators of all levels
the
knowledge they need to use Wikipedia or other Wikimedia projects as a
teaching tool in their classrooms. The training is open to educators from
any country, and Wikipedia editing experience is not required.
>>>
>>> If you're interested in attending or you know someone who is, please
see the page for more information. I especially encourage anyone who's
thought about getting a Wikipedia Education Program going in your country
to attend, as you'll learn a lot about the different kinds of assignments
students could do.
>>>>
>>>> LiAnna
>>>
>>>
>>>> --
>>>> LiAnna Davis
>>>> Head of Communications and External Relations
>>>> Wiki Education Foundation
>>>> +1-415-770-1061
>>>>
www.wikiedu.org
>>>>
>>>> Please note my new email address and update your contacts
accordingly: lianna(a)wikiedu.org
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Education mailing list
>> Education(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>>
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