I think you just gotta keep the fact that wikipedia is written by other people in mind when you are doing research. It is still a valuable tool. It may not always provide a complete account of a subject but usually gives a good overview and at the very least provides you with some common terminology related to the subject.
I'm a CS grad. student and I use Wikipedia as a starting point for my research all the time. If i'm not at all familiar with a subject, I go there, get some keywords, and then use those to look around on the internet(usually google scholar, which is freakin awesome).
Therefore, I think Wikipedia should never be used as a sole reference. Then again, if all of your information comes from any one place you're in trouble so that shouldn't be a surprise.
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I think you just gotta keep the fact that wikipedia is written by other people in mind when you are doing research. It is still a valuable tool. It may not always provide a complete account of a subject but usually gives a good overview and at the very least provides you with some common terminology related to the subject. I'm a CS grad. student and I use Wikipedia as a starting point for my research all the time. If i'm not at all familiar with a subject, I go there, get some keywords, and then use those to look around on the internet(usually google scholar, which is freakin awesome). Therefore, I think Wikipedia should never be used as a sole reference. Then again, if all of your information comes from any one place you're in trouble so that shouldn't be a surprise.