As a Mahalo guide and professional internet research, I would have to agree. While we often link to Wikipedia on our main Mahalo search result pages, we refrain from using them as a citation source in the Guide Note section because they do not provide any PRIMARY research. While Wikipedia is a great site, it is made up entirely of secondary research (that is, research that is culled from other sources).

One of the best parts about any Wikipedia page is the list of citations that they provide at the bottom of each page (this was actually one of the inspirations for the Links section on the right of any Mahalo page). That is where the real authoritative information can be found and where people should look to get more in-depth information on the subject they are looking for.

And while it is easy to just refer to Wikipedia and use it as your source, it gives your answer much more authority if you dig down deeper and cite the actual source of the information and where it came from. People who aren't as sophisticated at Internet research may not understand this, though, so we should cut them a little slack. However, as we build up the Mahalo Answers community, it is important (and questions like this help) to let people know what makes a great answer.
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