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 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.
Can you trust Encyclopaedia Britannica? ›
With contributions from Nobel laureates, historians, curators, professors and other notable experts, Britannica Academic provides trusted information with balanced, global perspectives and insights that users will not find anywhere else.
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 accurate Britannica or Wikipedia? ›
Encyclopædia Britannica also argued that a breakdown of the errors indicated that the mistakes in Wikipedia were more often the inclusion of incorrect facts, while the mistakes in Britannica were "errors of omission", making "Britannica far more accurate than Wikipedia, according to the figures".
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.
Who has read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica? ›
After reading all of its 18 volumes, the Shah extended his royal title to include "Most Formidable Lord and Master of the Encyclopædia Britannica". Roughly a century later, Amos Urban Shirk, an American businessman, read the entire 23-volume 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica over a period of four years.
How accurate is 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.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
| Founded | 1768 Edinburgh, Scotland |
|---|
| Founder | Colin Macfarquhar Andrew Bell |
| Country of origin | Scotland |
| Headquarters location | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Key people | Jacqui Safra (President) Jorge Cauz (CEO) |
4 more rowsThe subtitle of Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
Why did Encyclopedia Britannica fail? ›
But the digital age was evolving fast, and over the next 20 years, the Encyclopedia Britannica would die a slow death. Over a three-year span starting in 1993, revenues dropped 50%, following the release of Microsoft's CD-ROM encyclopedia, Encarta.
Are Encyclopedia Britannica worth anything? ›
The Internet has rendered vintage encyclopedias obsolete and today the value is primarily from people looking to have a set similar to the one that they grew up with. A complete 1967 white britannica encyclopedia sells for $50 or so at auction and for $120 to $150 from antique book dealers.
Do they still sell Encyclopedia Britannica? ›
The encyclopaedia is maintained by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 contributors. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, which spans 32 volumes and 32,640 pages, was the last printed edition. Since 2016, it has been published exclusively as an online encyclopaedia.
Is Britannica a reliable source academic? ›
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.
Is Britannica peer edited? ›
Britannica is an English peer-reviewed proprietary general encyclopedia with some content freely available online.
Is the encyclopedia a reliable source? ›
Published encyclopedias, either in print or online, are written by experts and reviewed by experts to insure that the information is accurate, complete, and useful. Wikipedia is not published in the traditional sense because it does not go through a formal editorial process.
