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- Maryam Zaringhalam, Jess Wade (12 April 2019). "It matters who we champion in science". Washington Post. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
Take Clarice Phelps, the first African American woman to be part of team that discovered a superheavy element. Phelps purified the berkelium-249 that was used in the discovery and identification of Tennessine (element 117), named after the location of the lab where she works. But Phelps was not named in the official announcement and was not profiled by international newspapers. Without these crucial pieces of recognition, her biography was quickly deemed not appropriate for Wikipedia.
- Samira Sadeque (April 29, 2019). "Wikipedia just won't let this Black female scientist's page stay". The Daily Dot. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
The drive to get Phelps' name on Wikipedia was initiated by a Jess Wade, a postdoctoral researcher in physics in the U.K., who has a mission to make women scientists visible on the internet—starting with their Wikipedia pages, which many people rely on for information.
- Sam Lemonick (June 9, 2019). "Kit Chapman tells stories of the superheavy elements". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
Wade wrote a short entry about Phelps, but Wikipedia later deleted it after critics argued Phelps was not notable enough to warrant a page. Chapman thinks his tweet about Phelps drew trolls' attention to the entry, which led to a campaign to delete the page.
- Katrina Krämer (3 July 2019). "Female scientists' pages keep disappearing from Wikipedia – what's going on?". Chemistry World. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
Jessica Wade, a physical chemist at Imperial College London, UK, who created both Phelps' and Tuttle's page, says out of the 600 articles she has written so far about female, black, minority ethnic or LGBTQ+ scientists, six have been deleted as they weren't deemed notable. But almost every single one is being scrutinised – particularly those on ethnic minority women, Wade says.
- Cara Curtis (31 July 2019). "Wikipedia bios for women scientists are more likely to be flagged for removal". The Next Web. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
A few months ago, Sarah Tuttle, an astrophysicist, tweeted how her Wikipedia page was flagged for deletion. This came after the online encyclopedia platform had removed Clarice Phelps', an African-American nuclear scientist, bio three times during Black History Month in February.
- Andrea Catherwood (5 December 2019). "Women in Stem v Wikipedia". BBC Woman's Hour.
Who decides what appears on Wikipedia?
- Phoebe Southworth (7 December 2019). "Physicist embroiled in sexism row with Wikipedia after female scientists she wrote profiles for 'not notable enough'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
I've written about people from all kinds of different backgrounds from across the world, and all different aspects of science, said Dr Wade. They do the most incredible research in difficult circumstances. One of the most memorable was a phenomenal woman chemist called Clarice Phelps.
- Chantalle Edmunds (8 December 2019). "Physicist accuses 'white men in North America' Wikipedia editors of sexism for flagging her profiles of prominent female scientists as 'not notable enough'". Daily Mail. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
'One of the most memorable was a phenomenal woman chemist called Clarice Phelps,' Wade told Woman's Hour.
- Claire Jarvis (25 April 2019). "What a Deleted Profile Tells Us About Wikipedia's Diversity Problem". Undark Magazine. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
Clarice Phelps may have been the first black woman to help discover an element. For Wikipedia, that wasn't enough.
- Jocelyn Evans (February 11, 2020). "Physicist writes 900 Wikipedia entries to boost diversity in science". itv.com. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
Asked about some of the highlights from her 900 Wikipedia entries so far, Dr Wade reeled off in an instant a list of female scientists and scientists of colour. One entry - from the start of her project - is Gladys West, an African American mathematician known for her work on mathematical modelling of the shape of the Earth. Another was Katie Bouman, the woman behind the first black hole image. Dr Wade described Clarice Phelps, the first African-American woman to be involved with the discovery of a chemical element, as a "rockstar".
- Timothy Harper (October 11, 2022). "This 33-year-old made more than 1,000 Wikipedia bios for unknown female scientists". today.com. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
One example was Clarice Phelps. Wade heard about the young African-American nuclear chemist, and wrote a Wikipedia bio describing her work on a team that discovered a new periodic-table element at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Phelps entry bounced on and off Wikipedia as critics deleted it and Wade defended it. In the end, Wade won, and Phelps' entry is back on Wikipedia for good.
- Sidney Page (October 17, 2022). "She's made 1,750 Wikipedia bios for women scientists who haven't gotten their due". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
About 15 biographies Wade has written have been deleted, including one on Clarice Phelps, a nuclear chemist who is recognized as the first Black woman to be involved with the discovery of a chemical element.
- Arman Khan (November 18, 2022). "I've Made More Than 1,700 Wikipedia Entries on Women Scientists and I'm Not Yet Done". Vice (magazine). Retrieved November 18, 2022.
The page on Phelps, written by Wade, was initially taken down because there weren't enough citations on Phelps' tennessine contribution. This was largely because not enough publications had written about Phelps at the time.
- Eva Baron (October 7, 2025). "Meet the Physicist Who Wrote Over 2,000 Wikipedia Biographies for Women in STEM". My Modern Met. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
Wade's biography on Clarice Phelps, a Black nuclear chemist who was part of a team that discovered a new element in the Periodic Table, faced scrutiny and even deletion from other Wikipedia editors and contributors. In order to keep the entry online, Wade had to put up a fight—and eventually she won.
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