Hi Jonathan, Can you please give a concrete example of what, for example, the http://ide.mit.edu/sites/default/files/publications/SSRN-id3039505.pdf researchers would have had to do differently under this new policy?
Best regards, Jim > Date: Tue, 2 Jan 2018 15:29:03 -0800 > From: Jonathan Morgan <jmor...@wikimedia.org> > To: Wiki Research-l <Wiki-research-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: [Wiki-research-l] New policy about performing research on English > Wikipedia > > Hi there wiki-research folks, > > This is just a heads-up that English Wikipedia has adopted a new policy[1] > about research on that project. The policy codifies some new requirements > for community notification and disclosure that potentially apply to all > research projects (regardless of the affiliation of the researcher). > > You can read more about the policy on WP:NOT[1], but I've included the > major points below for your convenience: > > - any research project that involves directly changing article content, > surveying a large number of editors, or asking editors sensitive questions > about their real-life identities needs to be discussed on Wikipedia's > Village Pump[2] before it is begun[3] > - researchers should disclose who they are on their user pages, > including their institutional affiliation, sources of research funding (if > applicable), and the intentions behind their research[4] > > Many aspects of this policy boil down to either common sense, existing > ethical standards for human subjects research, or both. However, this > policy also leaves certain definitions and thresholds undefined. What is a > "large number" of surveyed users? What is a "sensitive question"? > There are no concrete answer to these questions yet, and that's probably a > good thing. The best way to keep this policy from becoming overly > restrictive[5] is for researchers to follow its guidance in good faith, and > ask questions when they're uncertain. > > Projects that are deemed to be in violation of these guidelines may lose > editing privileges. If the violations are deemed particularly frequent or > severe, the EnWiki community may decide to make even more rules, which > could have a chilling effect on wikiresearch in general. Nobody wants > that. > > If you have general questions about this policy or its application, the > best place to ask is the WP:NOT talkpage.[6] > > If you have questions related to a specific planned research project, the > best thing to do is to err on the side of caution and open up a discussion > on the Village Pump before you begin. > > You are also welcome to post your project plan to this list, where we, your > friendly peers, will hopefully offer constructive feedback and links to > relevant resources. > > Wikimedia Foundation research staff are not in charge of these guidelines, > but are happy to offer advice "from the trenches" so to speak if asked. We > are on this list too. > > As always, if you are currently researching Wikipedia, or plan to do so, > please create a Research Project page on MetaWiki[7] (example[8], tips[9]), > keep it up to date, and link to it from your userpage[10]. That way > interested parties can follow your research and ask questions, and you > won't need to constantly re-explain what you're doing every time someone > asks. > > Happy researching, > > Jonathan > > > > 1. > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not#Wikipedia_is_not_a_laboratory > 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals) > 3. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not#cite_note-7 > 4. > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not#cite_note-8 > 5. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Instruction_creep > 6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:What_Wikipedia_is_not > 7. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Projects > 8. > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Supporting_Commons_contribution_by_GLAM_institutions > 9. > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Project_documentation_best_practices > 10. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:LZia_(WMF) > > > > > -- > Jonathan T. Morgan > Senior Design Researcher > Wikimedia Foundation > User:Jmorgan (WMF) <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jmorgan_(WMF)> _______________________________________________ Wiki-research-l mailing list Wiki-research-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wiki-research-l
