Real name: Dr Martin Poulter he/him Email: infobomb@gmail.com Location: Bristol, UK
I'm a member of Wikimedia UK
We are a group of local Wikimedians helping to create
"a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge".
Love Wikimedia? Live in the UK? Donate, Volunteer, and Get Involved!

This is why we do this (YouTube video: just fifty seconds) | And so is this (lots of text if you have the time)

It's important to realise that our mission is not to make a website, but to share knowledge, freely available for reuse.

We need to be kind. This is a higher calling than civility, and entirely compatible with achieving our goals.

All in all, I think what we do actually matters. We change the world. One wiki-edit at a time.

On 9 July 2016 I was named by Wikimedia UK as UK Wikimedian of the Year 2016.
On 10 July 2021 I was made Honourary Member of Wikimedia UK recognising my work for the charity.

edit

From October 2023 onwards, I am doing occasional work for the Centre for Resilience and Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge, some of which involves wiki editing.

From August 2021 onwards, I am employed by the scholar Waqas Ahmed on a project improving articles relating to interdisciplinarity and cognitive flexibility.

From 13 February 2020 onwards, I am employed by the Khalili Collections/Khalili Foundation as a Wikimedian In Residence. The project page is at WP:GLAM/Khalili.

During 2022, I was employed for two days as a Wikipedia consultant by the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford which included writing an improved version of their Wikipedia article. I proposed the changes on the Talk page and got permission from a reviewer to implement them.

From 25 October 2016 to 31 October 2019, I was employed as the Wikimedian In Residence at the University of Oxford, based at the Bodleian Libraries. This was mainly a role that involves training staff within the university and sharing images and data from research projects. The latter part of the project was focused on Wikidata and has a separate project page.

On 4, 5, and 18 May 2016, I worked with the Voltaire Foundation at the University of Oxford on a paid project to improve Wikipedia articles about Voltaire's works. When the edits related to the Foundation directly, I proposed them on Talk pages rather than editing in mainspace.

From April 2015 to March 2016, I was the Wikimedian In Residence at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford. The project page is at Wikipedia:GLAM/Bodleian.

From June 2013 to April 2014, I was the Jisc Wikimedia Ambassador. I used a separate account, User:MartinPoulter_Jisc for the bulk of that work.

Qualifications and approach edit

 This editor is a Veteran Editor IV and is entitled to display this Gold Editor Star.
  This user is block free - (see my block log here!).


My main interest is in promoting critical and scientific thinking. I am a logician by background, but since my doctorate I have been expanding my expertise to include cognitive and social psychology.

I'm an Integrationist: one of the reasons WP has millions of articles is that there are sometimes five different articles on the same topic.

Training and outreach edit

I am an accredited Lead Trainer for Wikimedia UK.

Writing and interviews about Wikipedia edit

Areas of activity edit

I only rarely create new articles, usually in an attempt to counter systemic bias:

Human bias and error (Psychology) edit

Relevant WikiProject: WP:PSYCHOLOGY (Talk)

Scientology/Dianetics edit

I run a site/ media archive about Scientology, from a critical perspective, which I won't link here because it contains potential WP:COPYVIO material. My opinions about the topic, I keep to my own site. Here on WP, I'm interested in raising the quality of certain articles:

  • Purification Rundown and New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project: two interlinked articles that I've taken from quite a dire status to being hopefully quite complete. On 4 March 2011, the latter was promoted to Good Article.
  • Xenu: I was very active in making improvements to this article when it was put up for Featured Article Review, which it passed on 5 December 2008.
  • Disconnection: A large proportion of the content of this page is due to me. At the moment it's a large unstructured stream of instances, which could benefit from better structure.
  • Scientology in the United Kingdom: total rewrite, expanding it from 6K to 66K. Not yet a comprehensive article, but more to come
  • I helped the L. Ron Hubbard article through the candidacy process to get to Featured Article status, which it passed on 5 March 2011.
  • Non-fiction book: Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health: I've expanded this article and added in a variety of sources.
  • Non-fiction book: Bare-faced Messiah: I was a major contributor to this article which, after further major improvements by User:Prioryman, passed Good Article review.

Relevant WikiProject: Scientology (Talk)

Reviewing edit

I've been GA Reviewer or Peer Reviewer for: Nobel Prize, A Journey, Homosexuals Anonymous, Body schema, Peter Hitchens, Requiem for a Species, Social loafing, Stereotype threat

Reviewed for DYK: Shandilya Upanishad, Thomas Gilovich, Ismail al-Atrash, Yoko Kawahara, Anna Rügerin, William Smith (antiquary) / The Annals of University College (double nomination), Angélique Duchemin, Sato Project, Lucien Sève, The Lincoln Project, Meine engen Grenzen, Man Down (Holby City), Pippa Wicks, Robert Lee Durham, Origins of the Hermit Brothers of the Order of Saint Augustine and Their True Establishment Before the Great Lateran Council, Dawa Dem, Joseph Clark (painter), Antoinette Dinga Dzondo, If We Must Die, Open university, John W. Tyler, Special motion to strike, Arden Warner, Apple worker organizations, Jaz Brisack, WEMG (Tennessee), Lynching of Deborah Yakubu, Kamikaze Hearts (film), Fionula Brennan, Joseph (art model), Phoenician sanctuary of Kharayeb, Committee for the Prevention of Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, Al Qarara Cultural Museum, Sophia, a Person of Quality, Waste Siege

Barnstars edit

Awarded edit

Received edit

  The Xenu Barnstar
For your amazing work on the Xenu article. Thank you for helping to keep it at the highest quality rating on the English Wikipedia - Featured Article quality status. Cirt (talk) 03:00, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
  The Copyeditor's Barnstar
For your help in copyediting the Nobel Prize. Esuzu (talkcontribs) 20:09, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
  The Original Barnstar
Well done with your successful work on confirmation bias. hamiltonstone (talk) 11:42, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks for the article on Khalili Collection of Japanese Art, lovely job! † Encyclopædius 09:54, 28 May 2020 (UTC)

  The Editor's Barnstar
I, -- Cirt (talk), award The Editor's Barnstar to MartinPoulter, for excellent efforts contributing to bringing the article L. Ron Hubbard to Featured Article quality status. Well done! Wikipedia is enhanced and the community benefits from your successful efforts to improve the quality of articles on this project. Cheers, -- Cirt (talk) 16:35, 6 March 2011 (UTC)
  The Featured Article Medal
By the authority vested in me by myself it gives me great pleasure to present you with this special, very exclusive award created just for we few, we happy few, this band of brothers, who have shed sweat, tears and probably blood, in order to be able to proudly claim "I too have taken an article to Featured status". Gog the Mild (talk) 10:54, 4 April 2023 (UTC)
  The Psychology Barnstar
I, Smallman12q, hereby award MartinPoulter the Psychology Barnstar for his excellent article on confirmation bias. Thank you!Smallman12q (talk) 01:13, 23 July 2010 (UTC)
For the man who contributes so much in this field.Fainites barleyscribs 18:52, 12 April 2011 (UTC)
  The Real-Life Barnstar
For contributions to and organisation of various Wikimedia events in the UK — Rod talk 21:14, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

Thank you, Martin, for doing the great presentation at Worldcon in London. I was nice to meet you there. Sydney Poore/FloNight♥♥♥♥ 06:19, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

For doing an excellent job explaining the Wikimedia community at: https://slack.com/podcast/episode-26 . Astinson (WMF) (talk) 22:29, 21 June 2017 (UTC)


Wikimedia in the UK edit

Sub-pages edit

Refs about calligrapher Amanat Khan Shirazi / ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Amānat Khān:

Refs about "Heaven on Earth: Art from Islamic Lands" exhibition 2004

Refs about "Power and Protection: Islamic Art And The Supernatural" exhibition 2016

Refs about "Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk" exhibition at V&A museum

Refs about Katrine Marçal book "Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner?"

Refs about Morton book The Importance of being understood

Refs for social perception

Wikipedia API
Advanced searching