@article{library978617,
           month = {April},
            year = {2014},
          author = {Chitu Okoli and Mohamad Mehdi and Mostafa Mesgari and Finn {\rA}rup Nielsen and Arto Lanam{\"a}ki},
       publisher = {John Wiley \& Sons},
         journal = {Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology},
            note = {This is a post-print of an article accepted for publication in Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology copyright {\copyright} 2014 (American Society for Information Science and Technology). The content of this version is identical to the final published article except for various minor editorial corrections. This paper can be cited as:

Okoli, Chitu, Mohamad Mehdi, Mostafa Mesgari, Finn {\rA}rup Nielsen and Arto Lanam{\"a}ki (2014). Wikipedia in the eyes of its beholders: A systematic review of scholarly research on Wikipedia readers and readership. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (Forthcoming since April 2014).},
           title = {Wikipedia in the eyes of its beholders: A systematic review of scholarly research on Wikipedia readers and readership},
        keywords = {Wikipedia, systematic review, literature review, readers, readership, encyclopedias, knowledge sources, health information, news sources, website ranking, website popularity, credibility, information literacy, students, Web references},
             url = {https://spectrum.library.concordia.ca/978617/},
        abstract = {Hundreds of scholarly studies have investigated various aspects of the immensely popular Wikipedia. Although a number of literature reviews have provided overviews of this vast body of research, none of them has specifically focused on the readers of Wikipedia and issues concerning its readership. In this systematic literature review, we review 99 studies to synthesize current knowledge regarding the readership of Wikipedia and also provide an analysis of research methods employed. The scholarly research has found that Wikipedia is popular not only for lighter topics such as entertainment, but also for more serious topics such as health information and legal background. Scholars, librarians and students are common users of Wikipedia, and it provides a unique opportunity for educating students in digital literacy. We conclude with a summary of key findings, implications for researchers, and implications for the Wikipedia community.}
}