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<p><strong>Wikipedia</strong> (<a title="IPA chart for English" href="/wiki/IPA_chart_for_English">IPA</a>: <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ˌwikiˈpiːdi.ə/</span>, <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ˌwɪkiˈpiːdi.ə/</span>, or <span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA">/ˌwaɪkiˈpiːdi.ə/</span> (<span class="unicode audiolink"><a class="internal" title="En-us-Wikipedia.ogg" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/En-us-Wikipedia.ogg">Audio (U.S.)</a></span> <span class="metadata audiolinkinfo"><small>(<a title="Wikipedia:Media help" href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Media_help">help</a>·<a title="Image:En-us-Wikipedia.ogg" href="/wiki/Image:En-us-Wikipedia.ogg">info</a>)</small></span>) is a <a title="Multilingualism" href="/wiki/Multilingualism">multilingual</a>, <a title="World Wide Web" href="/wiki/World_Wide_Web">web</a>-based, <a title="Free content" href="/wiki/Free_content">free content</a> <a title="Encyclopedia" href="/wiki/Encyclopedia">encyclopedia</a> project. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by <a title="Volunteer" href="/wiki/Volunteer">volunteers</a>; the vast majority of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet. Wikipedia's name is a <a title="Portmanteau" href="/wiki/Portmanteau">portmanteau</a> of the words <em><a title="Wiki" href="/wiki/Wiki">wiki</a></em> (a type of collaborative website) and <em><a title="Encyclopedia" href="/wiki/Encyclopedia">encyclopedia</a></em>. Its main <a title="Server (computing)" href="/wiki/Server_%28computing%29">servers</a> are in <a title="Tampa, Florida" href="/wiki/Tampa%2C_Florida">Tampa, Florida</a>, with additional servers in <a title="Amsterdam" href="/wiki/Amsterdam">Amsterdam</a> and <a title="Seoul" href="/wiki/Seoul">Seoul</a>.</p>
<p>Wikipedia's <a title="English Wikipedia" href="/wiki/English_Wikipedia">English edition</a> was launched on <a title="January 15" href="/wiki/January_15">January 15</a>, <a title="2001" href="/wiki/2001">2001</a>, as a complement to <a title="Nupedia" href="/wiki/Nupedia">Nupedia</a>, an expert-written and now defunct encyclopedia. The project is currently operated by the <a title="Wikimedia Foundation" href="/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation">Wikimedia Foundation</a>, a <a title="Non-profit organization" href="/wiki/Non-profit_organization">non-profit organization</a> created by <a title="Jimmy Wales" href="/wiki/Jimmy_Wales">Jimmy Wales</a>, the co-founder of Wikipedia.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-foundercontroversy_1"><a title="" href="#_note-foundercontroversy">[2]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="_ref-Dan_Mitchell_0"><a title="" href="#_note-Dan_Mitchell">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="_ref-David_Mehegan_0"><a title="" href="#_note-David_Mehegan">[4]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="_ref-Brian_Bergstein_0"><a title="" href="#_note-Brian_Bergstein">[5]</a></sup><sup class="reference" id="_ref-The_Hive_0"><a title="" href="#_note-The_Hive">[6]</a></sup> Wikipedia has approximately 7.2 million articles in 251 languages,<sup class="reference" id="_ref-ListOfWikipedias_1"><a title="" href="#_note-ListOfWikipedias">[1]</a></sup> 1.7 million of which are in the English edition. It has steadily risen in popularity since its inception,<sup class="reference" id="_ref-AlexaStats_0"><a title="" href="#_note-AlexaStats">[7]</a></sup> and currently ranks among the top fifteen most-visited websites worldwide.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-0"><a title="" href="#_note-0">[8]</a></sup></p>
<p>Due to its open nature, critics have questioned Wikipedia's reliability and accuracy.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-Who_0"><a title="" href="#_note-Who">[9]</a></sup> The site has also been criticized for its susceptibility to <a title="Vandalism" href="/wiki/Vandalism">vandalism</a>,<sup class="reference" id="_ref-DeathByWikipedia_0"><a title="" href="#_note-DeathByWikipedia">[10]</a></sup> uneven quality, <a title="Systemic bias" href="/wiki/Systemic_bias">systemic bias</a> and inconsistencies,<sup class="reference" id="_ref-SangerElitism_0"><a title="" href="#_note-SangerElitism">[11]</a></sup> and for favoring <a title="Consensus" href="/wiki/Consensus">consensus</a> over <a title="Credential" href="/wiki/Credential">credentials</a> in its editorial process.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-AcademiaAndWikipedia_0"><a title="" href="#_note-AcademiaAndWikipedia">[12]</a></sup> Wikipedia's content policies<sup class="reference" id="_ref-PoliciesAndGuidelines_0"><a title="" href="#_note-PoliciesAndGuidelines">[13]</a></sup> and sub-projects set up by contributors seek to address these concerns.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-1"><a title="" href="#_note-1">[14]</a></sup> Two scholarly studies have concluded that vandalism is generally short-lived<sup class="reference" id="_ref-MIT_IBM_study_0"><a title="" href="#_note-MIT_IBM_study">[15]</a></sup> and that Wikipedia is generally as accurate as other encyclopedias.<sup class="reference" id="_ref-Rosenzweig_2006_0"><a title="" href="#_note-Rosenzweig_2006">[16]</a></sup></p>
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<h2><span class="mw-headline">Authorship and management</span></h2>