In "Internet Encyclopaedias Go He-to-he", a 2005 article published in the scientific journal Nature, the results of a blind experiment (single-blind study), which d the factual and inational accuracy of entries from and the Encyclopædia Britannica, were reported. The 42-entry included science articles and biographies of scientists, which were d for accuracy by anonymous
acemic reviewers; they found that the average entry contained four errors and omissions, while the average Encyclopædia Britannica entry contained three errors and omissions. The study concluded that and Britannica were comparable in terms of the accuracy of its science entries. theless, the reviewers h two principal criticisms of the science entries: (i) thematiy confused content, without an intelligible structure (, presentation, interpretation); and (ii) that undue weight is given to controversial, fringe theories about the subject matter.
The dis of the Encyclopædia Britannica editors led to Nature publishing ditional survey documentation that substantiated the results of the comparative study. Based upon the ditional documents, Encyclopædia Britannica denied the validity of the study, stating it was flawed, because the Britannica extracts were compilations that sometimes included articles written for the youth version of the encyclopedia. In turn, Nature ackledged that some Britannica articles were compilations, but denied that such editorial details invalidated the conclusions of the comparative study of the science articles.
The editors of Britannica also said that while the Nature study showed that the rate of error between the two encyclopedias was similar, the errors in a article usually were errors of fact, while the errors in a Britannica article were errors of omission. According to the editors of Britannica, Britannica was more accurate than in that respect. Subsequently, Nature magazine rejected the Britannica response with a rebuttal of the editors' specific objections about the research method of the study. Lack of methodical fact-ing American journalist John Seigenthaler, the object of the Seigenthaler incident
Inaccurate ination that is not obviously false may persist in for a long time before it is challenged. The most prominent cases reported by mainstream media involved biographies of living people.
