Britannica has been a global leader in information since 1768. We’ve gone from publishing encyclopedia sets to selling CD-ROMs (which may seem even more quaint today than books) to going fully digital. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to being clear, fair, accurate, and relevant.
Why should you trust what you read at Britannica?
That’s a very fair question, and the fact that you thought to ask it means that you know that not all information is created equal. So consider:
- Britannica’s editorial staff is made up of writers and editors who have extensive knowledge in their fields, which range from geography to botany to technology and beyond.
- Britannica commissions work from experts, including leading thinkers in academia and journalism. Notable contributions have come from Nobel laureates and world leaders. Think we’re blowing smoke? Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Madeleine Albright, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, among others, have all written for Britannica.
It’s about our process as much as our people
- Once an article is written, it is reviewed and revised by a team of editors.
- Articles are edited to make sure that they cover the important points a reader needs to know, are written in an engaging way, and are fair, making clear not only what is known about a topic but also what may still be in dispute.
- They are fact-checked according to a 14-point checklist to ensure that we have not only captured the big picture of a topic but also verified all the details.
Making sure it stays right
Unlike the days when the encyclopedia was printed and couldn’t be changed for upwards of a year, today editors at Britannica are continuously updating and revising content.
- When news happens, the relevant Britannica articles are updated by our staff editors or supplemented by a feed from our news partners. Our goal is to go deeper than the who, what, and when of a news event. We want Britannica to be the authoritative source for the context and history you need: the why and the how.
- When we hear from readers about possible mistakes, we investigate and, when necessary, correct. (Mistakes happen, even with a highly exacting process. We are human, after all.) If you have feedback, let us know at [emailprotected]or by clicking on the feedback button that appears on articles.
Trust, but verify
If after reading all this, you’re still not sure about our process, know that we make it transparent to readers and users how, why, and when we revise articles. Just click on Article History in any article to see what has been done—from adding media to fixing the way an article appears on your phone to updating for developments and more.
FAQs
They are fact-checked according to a 14-point checklist to ensure that we have not only captured the big picture of a topic but also verified all the details.
Who is the editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica? ›
Tracy Grant is editor-in-chief of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Can you trust Encyclopaedia Britannica? ›
Britannica's content is among the most trusted in the world. Every article is written, and continually fact-checked, by our experts.
Can anyone edit a Britannica article? ›
Once returned to Britannica, the article, with any changes supplied by the author, may again be edited and reviewed by content and supervisory editors and by copy editors. The article will then be published, and the author's name will be associated with it in the article's history.
Is it OK to cite Encyclopedia Britannica? ›
Authors of articles in general encyclopedias, or encyclopedias that cover all subject areas (such as the Encyclopedia Britannica), are not always listed. There are few situations in which you would list an entire encyclopedia in your references; you will need to list the individual article(s) that you consulted.
Which is more reliable Wikipedia or Britannica? ›
For serious errors, such as misinterpretations of important concepts, 4 were found in Wikipedia, and 4 in Britannica (1:1). The study concluded that "Wikipedia comes close to Britannica in terms of the accuracy of its science entries", although Wikipedia's articles were often "poorly structured".
Who runs Encyclopedia Britannica? ›
Is Britannica owned by Merriam-Webster? ›
Merriam-Webster dictionary, any of various lexicographic works published by the G. & C. Merriam Co. —renamed Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, in 1982—which is located in Springfield, Massachusetts, and which since 1964 has been a subsidiary of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Is the Encyclopedia Britannica peer-reviewed? ›
Britannica is an English peer-reviewed proprietary general encyclopedia with some content freely available online.
How do I know Britannica is reliable? ›
What makes Britannica so credible in today's information age? Britannica's editorial content is unmatched by competitors in quality, quantity, and up-to-dateness. Our knowledge is tapped from experts from around the globe, including historians and Nobel Prize winners.
Access to PCs and the Internet. Microsoft had a CD-ROM based encyclopedia , you could have a reliable encyclopedic source for a fraction of the money. Later on, Wikipedia and the Internet simply made book-based encyclopedias obsolete.
Is it worth buying Encyclopedia Britannica? ›
The Encyclopedia Britannica contains carefully edited articles on all major topics. It fits the ideal purpose of a reference work as a place to get started, or to refer back to as you read and write. The articles in Britannica are written by expert authors who are both identifiable and credible.
Is the Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica reliable? ›
Editorial quality has been Encyclopaedia Britannica's top priority since the company was founded in 1768. Britannica's methods for ensuring quality have changed over time, but their purpose has remained constant: to generate and validate content that represents the best, most up-to-date knowledge available.
What is the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit? ›
The subtitle of Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
Is Britannica considered a publication? ›
The Encyclopædia Britannica was first published in 1768, when it began to appear in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Is Britannica a reliable source academic? ›
Trust Britannica Library as a reliable source with objective, fact-check, and unbiased content that is written by experts and vetted through rigorous editorial process. Take a look at our editorial process which serves as the backbone of our products, experiences, and content.
Is Britannica peer edited? ›
Britannica is an English peer-reviewed proprietary general encyclopedia with some content freely available online.
Is Encyclopedia.com a reliable source? ›
Encyclopedia.com has more than 100 trusted sources, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses including The Columbia Encyclopedia, Oxford's World Encyclopedia, and the Encyclopedia of World Biography. with facts, definitions, biographies, synonyms, pronunciation keys, word origins, and abbreviations.
