HandWiki: An Open-Source Alternative Knowledge Platform
December 2, 2025 - Reading time: 4 minutes
HandWiki is an online, open-source encyclopedia focusing on science, technology, mathematics, computing, and related scholarly fields. The platform hosts a large collection of articles derived from openly licensed sources and written by volunteers. HandWiki is operated by the ErmisLearn initiative, which supports open-knowledge and research-oriented educational projects.
Overview
HandWiki was developed as an alternative knowledge platform that emphasizes editorial independence, flexible content policies, and comprehensive preservation of source 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. As Wikipedia, Handwiki runs on the Mediawiki platform.
All HandWiki articles are substantially modified compared to their Wikipedia counterparts and are reorganized within clearly defined namespaces dedicated to each field of study. The encyclopedia structures knowledge into major portals, including Mathematics and Computer Science, Natural and Formal Sciences, Humanities, and Technology, Tools, and Finance.
Content Origin and Licensing
Originally, the HandWiki encyclopedia was founded by Dr. S. V. Chekanov in 2019 to address difficulties in recognizing the validity of Wikipedia articles created by anonymous editors without any indication of their professional credentials. The main concern was that educational articles cannot claim to carry knowledge if they are authorized, controlled, and edited by unknown, anonymous editors without any responsibility.
A substantial portion of HandWiki articles originate as forks of Wikipedia entries. These forks serve as initial versions that may subsequently be modified, expanded, or replaced. Under the CC BY-SA license, contributors are free to adapt or remove any portion of the reused text. Copyright for modified content resides with its authors. Over time, many HandWiki pages diverge significantly from their Wikipedia counterparts, reflecting updated scholarship, expanded citations, and alternative editorial perspectives. HandWiki hosts articles associated with approximately 30,000 knowledge-based categories. In many subject areas, the platform’s articles are longer and contain more comprehensive bibliographies than those found on Wikipedia.
Editorial Model
HandWiki operates as an autonomous wiki in which users may create new pages or revise existing ones. In contrast to Wikipedia’s consensus-driven model, HandWiki places greater emphasis on editorial autonomy. This approach is intended to facilitate rapid decision-making and support contributions that may fall outside mainstream viewpoints, provided they meet quality and sourcing requirements. The platform does not employ hierarchical “superuser” privileges such as unilateral page protection or user blocking, with the aim of reducing internal conflict.
User Registration
Editing HandWiki requires user registration with a verified email address linked to an academic or corporate affiliation. Personal email accounts (like gmail.com) are not accepted unless they are registered through ORCID, a persistent digital identifier used by researchers and scholars.
Mission and Scope
HandWiki’s stated mission is to document and preserve scholarly knowledge and to promote transparent research communication. The platform focuses on scientific, technical, and academic content that may be difficult to maintain on general-purpose encyclopedias. Its community standards encourage constructive dialogue, critical inquiry, and low-conflict editorial practices.
Governance
HandWiki is hosted and maintained by the ErmisLearn initiative. The organization supports various open-knowledge and educational projects and provides the technical infrastructure for the wiki. It allows to add relevant blogs, for a moderate editorial charge that includes verification of articles and external links.
External Links
HandWiki website: https://handwiki.org/wiki/
by D. Kish (nbrush [at] jwork.org)
