This essay is intended to capture the advice that I give to researchers and product managers on how to run experiments and recruit for surveys on Wikipedia.
To start the process of eliciting approval for your subject recruitment request, create a page describing your project and subject recruitment needs/plans.
Once you've thoroughly described your project on the project page, post a public notice about your intent to experiment/recruit participants for your study. Generally, you want to post this notice in a space that is most relevant for the users who will be affected. For English Wikipedia, the village pump is a good general venue, but if you can post more specifically (e.g. an affected WikiProject's talk page), that's desirable.
Make sure you include a link to your research project page in all notification postings.
Respond promptly to questions and concerns.
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Obtain consensus (or silence)
Wait at least one week for feedback to come. If there's no substantial pushback, proceed. If there is substantial pushback, build concensus. Do not run a study if there is pushback -- no matter how inane. That has never gone well.
The checklist provides a set of questions that Wikipedians should ask themselves about studies that might affect their work.
Minimize sample size to minimize disruption.
Studies that affect a larger number of editors will need wider consensus to move forward. If you're planning to survey thousands of Wikipedians, a silent response to your notice is not enough. There should at least be some agreement that the study should move forward.
Consider vulnerable populations
Members of the Wikimedia community become more stressed as they are targeted for intensive research more frequently. In general, community members who are highly active or members of highly researched minority populations are more often sought by researchers for surveys more often. Consider estimates of user demographics when designing a survey and see the estimates of members of frequently requested populations.
Give back to the community.
Your research results will likely have value to the community. Editors may be more likely to approve of your work if you can deliver your results in a freely licensed format for their consumption. Make sure that you document your results in a timely manner on your project page.
Wikipedians tend to appreciate openness. The wiki keeps a public record of the history of all pages and conversations. You will aid Wikipedians in tracking your activities by ensuring that they happen on-wiki. Make sure you are logged in when participating in discussions and sign your comments with four tildes (e.g. ~~~~). Make sure you keep your project page up to date.
Be responsive, but patient.
You can't rush consensus. However, you can make sure that questions, suggestions and concerns posted to your project's talk page are addressed quickly.