Citation practices in Wikipedia talk pages: First insights from an unexplored discussion channel

Wikipedia talk pages serve as democratic forums for editors, fostering discussions on article content and policies, which markedly differ from the formal content of main articles. While existing research predominantly focuses on the articles themselves, this study explores the unique citation dynamics within talk pages. Utilising data from the Wikipedia Knowledge Graph, Crossref Event Data, and OpenAlex, we examine the characteristics and patterns of citations within these collaborative discussions. Preliminary findings suggest that talk pages, although less frequented than main articles, engage deeply with scholarly outputs, often discussing them without necessarily transferring these citations to the main article content. This underscores the distinct consumption patterns on talk pages and their importance in shaping public and scholarly discourse on Wikipedia.