The Body of Evidence 191 – How to fact check Wikipedia with Susan Gerbic
Jul 2, 2026
Susan Gerbic, founder of Guerilla Skepticism on Wikipedia, trains volunteers to improve science and skepticism coverage. She recounts how she learned editing, explains Wikipedia’s rules and why secondary sources matter. Hear how her mentor training works, their multilingual fact-checking projects, and why improving Wikipedia helps search and AI.
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Wikipedia Is Much More Curated Than People Think
- Wikipedia now enforces many rules and is much more accurate than the old open-edit myth suggests.
- Susan Gerbic explains bots and active reviewer communities remove vandalism quickly on high-traffic pages while obscure pages can remain unchanged longer.
Avoid Primary Sources Use Reliable Secondary Sources
- Do not add primary research or personal interpretation to Wikipedia; use notable secondary reliable sources instead.
- Susan emphasizes that editors aren't trusted experts by default, so citations must come from sources with journalistic integrity or scholarly reviews.
How To Join The Guerilla Skeptic Training
- Join Guerilla Skepticism by contacting Susan Gerbic on Facebook Messenger and complete a short pre-training followed by a self-paced four-month course.
- Trainees create a Wikipedia account, finish hands-on exercises, and rewrite a stub article under mentorship.