Wikipedia’s Conflict of Interest Policy

Brock Read reports on a conflict of interest flap concerning a Wikipedia entry written by someone who knew a great deal about the subject in question–the originator of the theory under discussion. Anthony Benis (Wikipedia page now seems to be missing) could write in detail about “NPA personality theory” for Wikipedia because he developed the theory. Alerted by another Wikipedia contributor and blogger, the Wikipedia editors eventually took down the entry. Meanwhile, Slashdot.com took up the discussion. Read more here in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Here’s a blogpost from the New Scientist Technology Blog that also discusses the situation.