While being a bit repetitive does not necessarily constitute a serious problem, simply repeating the same information at some length is clearly seen as a potential source of distraction or potential irritation to the reader:
- "Within different sections, the article is [...] generally well structured, although there are some cases where information is repeated in multiple sections. For example, information on the applications of antibiotics in genetic engineering is given at the end of the article and in the section on mechanisms of antibiotic resistance; within the section on mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, general information is provided on mechanisms of antibiotic resistance followed by very specific information on mechanisms of resistance to one class of antibiotics (fluoroquinolones)." (Reviewer 1 – academic – Antibiotic resistance)
The point made by this reviewer of the Wikipedia article on Evo Morales makes an important general point which does appear to have been made considerably more often with respect to Wikipedia:
- "It feels a little disaggregated at times [...] The piece is fine but not exceptional in terms over overall coherence. It doesn't read as if someone has thought about the whole text as a reading experience, whether the author or editor. So it's fine if you're delving in to get a particular fact, but it doesn't work amazingly well as a singular read." Reviewer 2 – academic – Evo Morales)
The notion of the 'singular read' frequently surfaces in one way or another in article reviews, as indicated in the previous sub-section of this report, and is one that should clearly be considered seriously, in terms of its impact upon reading experience. More serious still, perhaps, is the suggestion from both the other reviewers for the same article that internal inconsistencies had resulted in actual contradictions in the content:
- "I think that there is a very marked shift between the first 'biographical' part of the article, and the part that begins with the 2005 election victory of Evo. The first part is rather 'Evo-friendly' and relies almost exclusively on direct quotes from Evo. The second part of the article is rather more 'anti-Evo' and relies on newspaper references. It almost seems at times that it was written by two different people." (Reviewer 1 – research student – Evo Morales)
- "Moves from statements that are too favourable to Morales to some statements that are too critical without enough support. Weak sourcing and bibliography. Would not cite in non-academic piece as not rigorous or well-organised enough." (Reviewer 3 – academic – Evo Morales)
However, there were in fact very few indications of any significant degree of internal contradiction identified in the broad sample of Wikipedia articles. The problem identified here concerns a lower level, but nonetheless important, issue of a lack of consistency and cohesion arising from the multi-authorship of articles.
Neutrality/ Bias
The issue of bias did not often appear to arise from this sample as a major threat to the quality of articles from Wikipedia, or indeed any other sources. It was generally referred to
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