Wikipedia talk:Wikipedia is not an acceptable citation

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This essay advises researchers to "cite the originals" referenced by a Wikipedia article, rather than the article — a tertiary source — itself. Good advice, certainly. But one shouldn't do that (in or out of Wikipedia) until one has actually gone to such originals. (See the comment in Wikipedia:Citing sources#Intermediate sources: State where you got it.) Wikipedia can point to valid sources, but can't be a proxy for them. — Jrmccall 21:08, 19 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Very good point. I've changed the wording to make that even more clear. It's a shame that this needs to be spelled out - my teachers would have hung me out to dry in ninth grade if I'd tried that sort of thing. Durova 02:16, 20 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]