HandWiki is an online, open-source encyclopedia focused on science, technology, mathematics, computing, and related scholarly fields. The platform hosts a large collection of articles derived from openly licensed sources and original contributions written by volunteers. HandWiki is operated by the ErmisLearn initiative, which supports open-knowledge, research-oriented, and educational projects. HandWiki was developed as an alternative knowledge platform emphasizing editorial independence, flexible content policies, and long-term preservation of scholarly material. Although the platform incorporates content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license, it is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation and maintains its own governance structure, editorial guidelines, and community standards. Like Wikipedia, HandWiki is built on the MediaWiki software platform.
All HandWiki articles are substantially modified compared to their Wikipedia counterparts and are organized within clearly defined namespaces dedicated to specific fields of study. The encyclopedia structures its content through major portals, including Mathematics and Computer Science, Natural and Formal Sciences, Humanities, and Technology, Tools, and Finance.
Content Origin and Licensing
HandWiki was founded in 2019 by Dr. S. V. Chekanov to address concerns related to the assessment and long-term reliability of educational content authored and maintained by anonymous contributors without clearly stated credentials. The project was motivated by the view that scholarly and educational articles benefit from transparent authorship and accountable editorial practices.
A substantial portion of HandWiki articles originates as forks of Wikipedia entries, serving as initial reference versions that may subsequently be modified, expanded, or fully rewritten. In accordance with the CC BY-SA license, contributors may adapt, reorganize, or remove reused text, with copyright for modified content retained by its respective authors. Over time, many HandWiki pages diverge significantly from their Wikipedia counterparts, reflecting updated research, expanded bibliographies, and alternative editorial perspectives. The platform hosts articles across approximately 30,000 subject-based categories, and in many areas, its articles are longer and include more extensive references than those found on Wikipedia.
Editorial Model
HandWiki operates as an autonomous wiki that allows registered users to create new pages and revise existing ones. In contrast to Wikipedia’s consensus-driven editorial model, HandWiki places greater emphasis on individual editorial responsibility. This approach is intended to enable efficient decision-making and to support contributions that may fall outside mainstream viewpoints, provided they meet established quality and sourcing standards. The platform does not employ hierarchical “superuser” privileges such as unilateral page protection or user blocking, with the aim of minimizing internal conflicts.
Editing HandWiki requires user registration with a verified email address associated with an academic or corporate affiliation. Personal email accounts (such as gmail.com) are not accepted unless they are linked through ORCID, a persistent digital identifier widely used by researchers and scholars.
Mission and Governance
HandWiki’s mission is to document, preserve, and disseminate scholarly knowledge while promoting transparent research communication. The platform focuses on scientific, technical, and academic content that may be difficult to sustain within general-purpose encyclopedias. Its community standards emphasize constructive dialogue, critical inquiry, and low-conflict editorial collaboration.
HandWiki is hosted and maintained by the ErmisLearn initiative, which supports a range of open-knowledge and educational projects and provides the technical infrastructure for the platform. In addition to encyclopedia content, HandWiki allows the publication of relevant blogs, subject to a moderate editorial fee that covers article review and verification of external links.
External Links
HandWiki website: https://handwiki.org/wiki/
by M.Simons (a HandWiki contributor)