Wikipedia Should Not Be Cited For Research Paper

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During high school and college, whenever I was assigned to write a research paper, my professors always emphasize, “Do not use Wikipedia as your source.” I followed this rule pretty well, but I have never thought deeply into the reasons behind why shouldn’t Wikipedia be cited as a source in research papers. After today’s reading, I gained a sense about what Wikipedia is, how it operates, and more importantly why it is an invalid citation for research papers. Wikipedia’s lack of defined authorship and proper inspections lead to potential incorrect information existing on its pages. Because of its nature as an open online encyclopedia that everyone can contribute to and benefit from, a single page of Wikipedia can have hundreds of authors, and