Abstract

This study examines the revision histories of 10 Wikipedia articles nominated for the site's Featured Article Class (FAC), its highest quality rating, 5 of which achieved FAC and 5 of which did not. The revisions to each article were coded, and the coding results were combined with a descriptive analysis of two representative articles in order to determine revision patterns. All articles in both groups showed a higher percentage of additions of new material compared to deletions and revisions that rearranged the text. Although the FAC articles had roughly equal numbers of content and surface revisions, the non-FAC articles had fewer surface revisions and were dominated by content revisions. Although the unique features of the Wikipedia environment inhibit strict comparisons between these results and those of earlier revision studies, these results suggest revision in this environment places unique structural demands on writers, possibly leading to unique revision patterns.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2008-04-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088307312940
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Written Communication
  2. Computers and Composition
  3. Computers and Composition
  4. College English
  5. Computers and Composition
Show all 11 →
  1. Pedagogy
  2. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  3. Communication Design Quarterly
  4. Written Communication
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  6. Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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