Table 1.

Purpose and recommended methodological considerations for studies utilizing Wikipedia page views for health research.

Purpose of Wikipedia page views for health research
1. To describe the changes in the utilization of online health information from Wikipedia at the country and global levels 2. To assess the impact of public events on public interest and information usage about health-related Wikipedia pages 3. To estimate and predict the incidence and prevalence of diseases 4. To predict data from other internet data sources 5. To evaluate the effectiveness of health education initiatives 6. To explore the evolution of a health topic
Recommended checklist of methodological considerations for
studies utilizing Wikipedia page views for health research
Specify: 1. Precise Wikipedia page or pages of study 2. Language of the Wikipedia page 3. Dates of data collection 4. Dates explored 5. Type of data (e.g., monthly or daily) 6. Whether page views were limited to Internet users 7. Whether web crawlers and redirects to the Wikipedia page were included