Wikipedia Tightens Editing Policy

Wikipedia has tightened its editing policy to improve accuracy and prevent vandalism on the user-written online encyclopedia.

The changes were discussed Wednesday on the site's blog, following reports on the Web that the site was "clamping down" on its open-editing process, which allows anyone to contribute articles or revise information on existing articles.

Under the new policy, which applies to the English version of the site, articles edited by new contributors will be reviewed by regular contributors, whose comments on the revisions will be posted with the article. Readers will have the option of seeing the article before the changes were made.

In a "small percentage of cases," edited articles will have to be reviewed before they are posted, Wikipedia said. The rule will apply to articles at high risk of vandalism, such as biographies of controversial living people. In those cases, "false information can do the most serious harm to an individual," Erik Moeller, deputy director of the Wikimedia Foundation, said in the blog.

:story: Full story: InformationWeek