The Wikipedia’s Manual of Style in Spanish and English: similarities, differences and evolution

Abstract

Abstract

Any collaborative publication requires rules in accordance with stylistic and linguistic criteria in the presentation of its contents. In the case of Wikipedia, Internet users have the manual of style, which also includes tools for the correct use of multimedia resources, hypertext, referencing and categorization that enrich the text. However, there is no single version of the manual, but several depending on the language that corresponds to the respective Wikipedia translation. For that matter, the similarities and differences between the English and Spanish versions were analyzed, as well as statistical data on their evolution over 20 years. It was found that the English version is much more extensive and dense than the Spanish version and that, due to the obvious language differences, the sections vary. Even so, both versions coincide that Wikipedians must write in the standard variant of the corresponding language, since the encyclopedia is aimed at a global audience.

Key words: Wikipedia, manual of style, Spanish, English, collaborative writing, On-line editing.