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== Let's debunk some myths ==


===Myth: we're experts-only.===
===Myth: we're experts-only.===
 
:Fact: we love experts—we admit it.  And [[Archive:Workgroup Weeks|we want more of them]].  And we want your knowledge too, even if you aren't an expert in anything. Everyone has something to contribute; everyone has some area of special strength.  You do not need to be a credentialed professor to contribute what you know.
:Fact: we love experts—we admit it.  And [[CZ:Workgroup Weeks|we want more of them]].  But this is still a remarkably open project.  You can be an [[CZ:The Author Role|author]] with no degrees and only a basic facility with [[English language|English]].  We agree heartily with the larger "[[Web 2.0]]" crowd on one point: most reasonably well educated people have something to contribute to a project like this. Our youngest registered members are 13, and we have some active [[high school]] students who have done good work.
 
::''For further reading, see [[CZ:The Editor Role|The Editor Role]], [[CZ:The Author Role|The Author Role]], and our [[Special:RequestAccount|sign-up form]].''


===Myth: we're a top-down project, with expert editors giving orders to underlings.===
===Myth: we're a top-down project, with expert editors giving orders to underlings.===
:No, we're very much bottom-up.  If you join, you work on whatever articles ''you'' want to work on, whenever ''you'' want to.  We are a radically collaborative project.  This means we share ownership and work together; nobody "owns" articles or "gives orders".  We aren't the first to use this method; it gained currency online with the [[open source software]] movement. [[Eric S. Raymond]],  a theorist of that movement, compared communities that create free software collaboratively to "[[bazaar]]s," as opposed to the old-fashioned "[[cathedral]]" model where everyone has a specific role and function, and orders are given from the top. (See [http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/ "The Cathedral and the Bazaar."]  We, too, are a bazaar.  We have merely added "village elders" wandering the bazaar.  Their presence does not convert the project into a cathedral; it only helps make the bazaar a little less anarchical and unreliable.


:Fact: no, we're very much bottom-up.  We're a ''[[wiki]]''—really.  If you join, nobody is going to tell you what to do here.  You work on the articles you want to work on, when you want to work on them.  We are a strongly, "radically," collaborative project.  This means we share ownership and work together; nobody "owns" articles or "gives orders" to do this or that.  Of course, we aren't the first to use this method; it gained currency online with the [[open source software]] movement.  One of the theorists of that movement was [[Eric S. Raymond]], who compared communities that create free software collaboratively to "[[bazaar]]s," as opposed to the old-fashioned "[[cathedral]]" model where everyone has a specific role and function, and orders are given from the top down.  (See [http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/ "The Cathedral and the Bazaar,"] free to read online.)  We, too, are a bazaar.  We have merely added "village elders" wandering the bazaar.  Their welcome, moderating presence does not convert the project into a cathedral; it only helps make the bazaar a little less anarchical and unreliable.
::''See [[CZ:Group Editing|Group Editing]] and [[CZ:How to collaborate|How to collaborate]].''
 
::''For further reading, see [[CZ:Group Editing|Group Editing]] and [[CZ:How to collaborate|How to collaborate]].''
 
===Myth: edits appear on the ''Citizendium'' only if they have been specifically approved by editors.===
 
:Fact: that's simply wrong.  Editors ''do not'' approve edits before they appear on the website.  Once you're signed up, you can immediately change any article (or, for approved articles, any article draft—[[Biology/Draft|example]]).  You can.  You really, really can.  Editors ''are not'' standing over your shoulder.  Nor do they really want to do so.  They have their own projects here.  Another author is as likely to critique and edit your work as an editor.  It's like we said.  This is a wiki—a real, robust, bottom-up wiki.


::''For further reading, see [[CZ:The Editor Role|The Editor Role]].  There's nothing there about approving individual edits!''
===Myth: edits appear on the ''Citizendium'' only if they have been approved by editors.===


===Myth: we're Serious.  We accept only your most careful, painstaking work.  Writing here is like writing a term paper—no fun.  We take ourselves Very Seriously.===
:No.  Once you're signed up, you can '''immediately''' change ''any'' article (or, for approved articles, any article draft—[[Biology/Draft|example]]).  Editors ''are not'' standing over your shoulder. Any contributor may critique and edit the work of other contributors.  It's like we said.  This is a wiki—a real, bottom-up wiki.


:Fact: this myth is particularly damaging to new recruits, especially to younger people who aren't sure of themselves.  ''You're welcome here.''  You really are.  This is a work in progress, and we have fun!  Yes, we have a lot of highly educated people here, who are regularly writing really wonderful prose as if it costs them no effort.  But we also have no problem whatsoever with you making a rough start on any topic, as long as somebody else will be able to pick up where you left off.  We are [[CZ:Under Construction|permanently under construction]].  You do not have to be painfully careful, as if you might break something and people will start screaming at you, or will freeze you out socially, if you do.  We're much more relaxed than that.  We want everybody to [[CZ:Be Bold|be bold]], not so careful that you never make any mistakes.  If you're not making any mistakes, you're not participating ''hard enough.''  And you ''don't'' have to write a whole term paper to start an article, though we have [[CZ:Eduzendium|a special initiative]] that encourages educators to assign Citizendium articles instead of term papers.  It's OK with us if you start a [[CZ:Stubs|relatively short article]], just a paragraph or two (we call these "stubs").
===Myth: we're Serious.  Writing here is no fun===
:This is a work in progress, and we have fun!  Yes, we have some highly educated people here, who write wonderful prose as if it is no effort.  But we have no problem with you making a rough start on ''any'' topic.  We are [[CZ:Under Construction|permanently under construction]].  You do not have to be painfully careful, as if you might break something and people will start screaming at you if you do.  We want everybody to [[CZ:Be Bold|be bold]]. And it's fine to start a [[CZ:Stubs|relatively short article]], just a paragraph or two (we call these "stubs").


::''For further reading, see [[CZ:Be Bold|Be Bold]], [[CZ:Under Construction|Under Construction]], and [[CZ:Stubs|Stubs]].''
::''See [[CZ:Be Bold|Be Bold]], [[CZ:Under Construction|Under Construction]], and [[CZ:Stubs|Stubs]].''


===Myth: since real names are required, nobody will participate.  Maybe nobody should—participant privacy will be violated, as our bios will be accessible from Google!===
===Myth: privacy will be violated, as our bios will be accessible from Google!===
:Fact: biographies are ''not'' indexed by [[Google]] (or any other search engine that respects the "noindex" tag).


:Fact: the fact that we have 200+ new participants every month makes it obviously false that nobody will participate in a project in which real names are required.  We admit that we might get ''more'' participants if pseudonyms were widely permitted.  (Note: ''we do'' permit pseudonyms for certain special reasons, e.g., political dissidents in repressive countries.  We have given out roughly 10 pseudonyms.)  As to privacy, biographies are ''not'' indexed by [[Google]] (or any other search engine that respects the "noindex" tag).
:We feel that the advantages of real names outweigh the small sacrifice of allowing our work-in-progress to be viewed publicly. Using real names makes people behave more civilly; it also makes our articles more credible, since readers know that there are people willing to put their names behind them.   


:We feel that the advantages of real names outweigh the small sacrifice of allowing our work-in-progress to be viewed publicly. On the one hand, using real names makes people behave themselves more civilly; on the other hand, it makes our articles more credible, since readers know that there are people willing to put their names behind them.  Besides, you're far more likely to impress your friends and employers by posting publicly here than on, say, [[Facebook]], where many people do use their real names!
::''See Sanger's "[http://www.larrysanger.org/realnames.html Defense of Modest Real Name Requirements]."''


::''For further reading, see [[CZ:Statistics]] and Sanger's "[http://www.larrysanger.org/realnames.html Defense of Modest Real Name Requirements]."''
===Myth: as this is an academic project, we are not open to articles about pop culture.===
:Nonsense; see [[Led Zeppelin]] and [[Metal Gear Solid]]. We are a hybrid academic/public project. We reject ''both'' the idea that knowledge belongs exclusively in the academy, ''and'' the idea that that the academy has no special role to play. We think the most productive ''and'' reliable system involves the marriage of expertise with public interests and knowledge.


===Myth: since this is an academic project, we are not open to articles about pop culture.===
::''See [[CZ:Content Policy|Content Policy]], [[:Category:Games Workgroup]], [[:Category:Hobbies Workgroup]], and [[:Category:Media Workgroup]].''
 
:Fact: we are open to pop culture.  Don't believe us?  See [[Led Zeppelin]] and [[Metal Gear Solid]].  We are better described as a hybrid academic/public project.  Think of it like this: we reject ''both'' the idea that knowledge belongs exclusively in the academy, ''and'' the idea that, after [[Wikipedia]], the academy has no special role to play in explaining what we know.  We think the most productive ''and'' reliable system involves the marriage of expertise with wide-ranging public interests and knowledge.  So, as long as we can expect to [[CZ:Maintainability|maintain]] a full set of articles of a certain category, then go to town!  If snobs try to shut you down, have them talk to the [[User:Larry Sanger|Editor-in-Chief]], who is a confirmed "[[inclusionism|inclusionist]]"!
 
::''For further reading, see [[CZ:Maintainability|Maintainability]] or look at [[:Category:Games Workgroup]], [[:Category:Hobbies Workgroup]], and [[:Category:Media Workgroup]].''


===Myth: since this is an academic project, our articles will have an academic bias.===
===Myth: since this is an academic project, our articles will have an academic bias.===
 
:Our [[CZ:Objectivity_Guidance|objectivity guidance]] requires that our articles feature the full range of opinion on a subject, including opinion outside the mainstream of expert opinion.  The important thing is that all opinion be properly labelled and attributed.
:Fact: our [[CZ:Neutrality Policy|neutrality policy]] specifically requires that our articles feature the full range of opinion on a subject, including opinion that is outside the mainstream of expert opinion.  The important thing is that all opinion be properly labelled and attributed. Besides, as we said, this is a hybrid expert-public project, not just an academic project; the input of the general public is a necessary check on the particular biases that sometimes plague particular disciplines.  So far, this problem has not been much in evidence here.
 
::''For further reading, see [[CZ:Neutrality Policy|Neutrality Policy]].''
 
===Myth: the ''Citizendium'' is just [[Nupedia]] all over again.  Or: it's not different enough from Wikipedia.===
 
:Fact: this is a really egregious error made by those familiar enough with [http://features.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/18/164213&tid=95 the history of Wikipedia and Nupedia] to be "a little dangerous," but not familiar enough to be accurate.  Nupedia wasn't collaborative; the ''Citizendium'' is.  Nupedia was top-down in many respects (e.g., articles were assigned); we are bottom-up.  (Nupedia itself is widely misunderstood, but that's another matter.)  Since Nupedia was allowed to wither and die, the comparison to Nupedia is used to suggest subtly that the ''Citizendium,'' too, will wither and die.  This is now obviously false, since CZ has produced many thousands of article drafts, where Nupedia produced only a few hundred in the same amount of time, and because CZ has accelerated its growth significantly and will probably continue to do so.
 
:As to Wikipedia, our main differences are that we use real names, make a special role for experts in the system, and require contributors to digitally sign a "[[CZ:Fundamentals|social contract]]."  These differences really make a difference.  We have no [[vandalism]].  We have very few bad articles, and many of our articles, even our "developing" articles, are excellent, despite our project's toddlerhood; after five years, we will probably have left Wikipedia entirely in the dust, in terms of quality.  We really are a different sort of community, one that takes a commitment to [[CZ:professionalism|professional]] behavior seriously.  We have our disputes—what vibrant community could be without them?—but they are very rarely the sort of bizarre, [[Franz Kafka|Kafkaesque]] affairs that are so common on Wikipedia.
 
::''For further reading, see [[CZ:We aren't Wikipedia|We aren't Wikipedia]], Sanger's [http://features.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/18/164213&tid=95 Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia: A Memoir,] and "[http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/02/28/whos-more-command-and-control-wikipedia-or-cz/ Who's more command-and-control, Wikipedia or CZ?]" (a blog post).''


===Myth: there is no point to the ''Citizendium,'' because Wikipedia exists.===
===Myth: there is no point to the ''Citizendium,'' because Wikipedia exists.===
:Fact: Wikipedia has uneven quality, and is off-putting to most experts.  We believe that, in the end, more people will be comfortable with the CZ model.  The world can use ''more than one'' "go to" source for free reference information. 


:Fact: Wikipedia has uneven quality, and is extremely off-putting to most experts—indeed, to most people, period—who might otherwise contribute to it.  We believe that, in the end, a lot more people will be comfortable with and attracted to the open, yet sensible CZ model.  Some of us expect a [[tipping point]] to come in the next year or two, in which CZ will be flooded with more and more people who are now firmly persuaded that we are a force to contend with.  There is no danger whatsoever of our giving up.  Your work here will be well used as part of a resource with tens of thousands, and then probably hundreds of thousands, of articles.
::''See [[CZ:Why Citizendium?|Why Citizendium?]]''
 
:Besides, we're sure you'll agree that the world can use ''more than one'' "go to" source for free reference information.  We are the best hope for a real alternative!
 
::''For further reading, see [[CZ:Why Citizendium?|Why Citizendium?]] and [[CZ:Workgroup Weeks|Workgroup Weeks]].''
 
===Myth: most ''Citizendium'' articles are just copied from Wikipedia.===
 
:Fact: wrong.  While we do allow people to copy Wikipedia articles here, we keep careful track of them, and by far most of our articles are completely original.  Besides, many if not most of the articles that are sourced from Wikipedia are ''not'' counted in our [[:Category:CZ Live|CZ Live]] article count (currently {{PAGESINCAT:CZ Live}}).  We strongly encourage people who copy their articles from Wikipedia to work on them here; we generally prefer that people start over, in order to give the public "added value."  If someone copies a Wikipedia article here ''without'' changing it, we won't take credit for it, and we are more than willing to let others start over from scratch on the topic.
 
::''For further reading, see [[CZ:How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles|How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles]] and [[CZ:Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians|Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians]].''
 
===Myth: our experts are called "constables."===


:Fact: no, our experts are called "[[CZ:The Editor Role|editors]]."  Constables are community moderators, who are mainly tasked with letting people into the system, and (only occasionally) enforcing our [[CZ:Professionalism|Professionalism policy]] (which says, basically, to be polite). Our constables are, as it turns out, some of the kindest and most welcoming people here.
===Myth: most ''Citizendium'' articles are copied from Wikipedia.===
No; copying material from other sources, such as Wikipedia, is [[CZ:Import|allowed under certain conditions]], but most of our articles are original. Most [[:Category:External Articles|articles sourced from Wikipedia]] are ''not'' counted in our [[:Category:CZ Live|CZ Live]] article count (currently {{PAGESINCAT:CZ Live}}). We encourage people to start over, to give the public "added value", or at least work to improve imported material quickly.  


::''For further reading, see [[CZ:Constabulary]].''
::''see [[CZ:How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles|How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles]] and [[CZ:Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians|Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians]].''


== Some other interesting facts you might not have known about us ==
== Some other facts ==
Here are some more assorted facts that are not common knowledge, but which might put us in a new and exciting light for you:
* Though we are an open wiki, we have almost no vandalism and little if any "trolling."   
* Though we are an active and open wiki, we have no vandalism and little if any "trolling."  What other wiki can say that?
* Our well-developed articles feature [[CZ:subpages|subpages]] ([[:Category:subpages|here's a list]]), which cover many other kinds of reference information.
* Our well-developed articles feature [[CZ:subpages|subpages]] ([[:Category:subpages|here's a list]]), which cover many other kinds of reference information you might want. An encyclopedia article, plus supporting reference material, is called a "cluster."
* CZ articles are intended to be [[CZ:Article mechanics|coherent narratives]], not random grab-bags of facts.
* CZ articles are intended to be [[CZ:Article Mechanics|coherent narratives]], not random grab-bags of facts.
* The person [http://www.larrysanger.org/roleinwp.html who led Wikipedia in its first year], and designed many of its fundamental policies, is also the [[User:Larry Sanger|founder of Citizendium]].   
* The person [http://www.larrysanger.org/roleinwp.html who led Wikipedia in its seminal first year, and designed many of its fundamental policies,] is also leading CZ.  Suffice it to say that he learns from his mistakes.
* It is easy to get a [[CZ:Quick Start|quick start]]. In [[Help:Index/Join|our sign-up procedure]], we don't ask that much information about you.  Someone will review your account request, and let you into the system typically within 72 hours.  Once you've signed up, it is easy to [[CZ:Start Article|start a new article]].
* It is easy to get a [[CZ:Quick Start|quick start]]. In [http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Special:RequestAccount our sign-up procedure,] we don't actually ask that much information about you.  A human being will review your account request, and let you into the system typically within 24 hours, but often within just a few hours.  Once you've signed up, it is easy to [[CZ:Start Article|start a new article]].
* As of 2020, there is no longer an elected [[CZ:Council|Council]], although inevitable certain pages still refer to such.  Editorial policy and management decisions are made by a team of folks who work offline from the wiki; if you are an active author here, you can ask to join it.  For that purpose, please email us at manager A T citizendium.org.
* We have a [[CZ:Neutrality Policy|neutrality policy]], which we have a better chance of living up to than the Other Place.
* We no longer have an elected [[CZ:Managing Editor|Managing Editor]], but our management team is still about to make swift decisions and help resolve disputes if necessary.  Please use the [https://forms.gle/uEsckP5hCkAiifus7 Enquiry Form] to learn more. If you would like to become on the managing editor of this wiki, it might be possible, but you need to join and contribute here for a while so we have confidence in you.
* Our Citizens are bound by a [[CZ:Fundamentals|social contract]].  It's not called "the Citizens' Compendium" for nothing!
* We are a non-profit, civic project that uses [[Creative Commons]] Attribution-ShareAlike as the license for our content, and our contributors can help make decisions about the project.
* Editorial policy decisions are settled by our [[CZ:Editorial Council|Editorial Council]], not by some bogus, and impossible, "consensus."
* Citizendium's site moderators, responsible for monitoring the project for behavior issues, used to be called "[[CZ:Moderator Group|Constables]]".  Now, our management team, who are (or have been) active users themselves, will respond at need or upon submission of the [https://forms.gle/uEsckP5hCkAiifus7 Enquiry Form].
* Larry Sanger has declared, when he first announced the Citizendium in September 2006, that he would leave his position as editor-in-chief within two to three years, in order to set a positive precedent.  He is not "dictator for life."
* We are not a [[Silicon Valley]] for-profit business.  We are a non-profit, civic project that uses [[Creative Commons]] Attribution-ShareAlike as the license for our content, and our Citizens are essentially co-owners of the project.


== Why all the errors about CZ? ==
== Why all the myths about CZ? ==
So, why have there been so many errors passed around about CZ?  And why are so many of our interesting innovations largely unknown?  There are probably two reasons.
There are probably two reasons.


First, this is a ''genuinely innovative'' project. Nothing quite like it has ever existed before.  The expert-public hybrid model and several other innovations are quite simply ''new.''  But most people are not able to take such novel things on board easily, because they think in terms of prototypes or examples. Therefore, to them, we are ''like'' a traditional academic project, ''like'' Nupedia, or ''like'' Wikipedia.  In short, most people naturally think in terms of stereotypes, and so we have been stereotyped.  No doubt that's been the fate of most real innovators.  This means only that we need to educate people--which this page attempts to do.
First, this is a ''genuinely innovative'' project. The expert-public hybrid model and several other innovations are ''new.''  But most people are not able to take such novel things on board easily; to them, we are ''like'' a traditional academic project, or ''like'' Wikipedia.  In short, most people naturally think in terms of stereotypes, and so we have been stereotyped.  This means only that we need to educate people—which this page attempts to do.


Second, a lot of Web 2.0 advocates, whose favorite online platforms are websites like Wikipedia and [[YouTube]], are philosophically opposed to our basic policies. <!-- They tend to be [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/sanger07/sanger07_index.html radical egalitarians] and [http://edge.org/3rd_culture/lanier06/lanier06_index.html closet anarchists.]-->So they dislike the idea that we ask people to take real-world responsibility for their contributions and that we make even a low-key "gentle guidance" role for experts. <!-- Our opponents have usually just created [[straw man|straw men]], which they have proceeded to knock down.-->  We hope that a more nuanced understanding of what we are up to will eventually emerge anyway.
Second, a lot of Web 2.0 advocates, whose favorite online platforms are websites like Wikipedia and [[YouTube]], are opposed to our basic policies (i.e. they are opposed, on egalitarian principles, to the notion of expert guidance). <!-- They tend to be [http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/sanger07/sanger07_index.html radical egalitarians] and [http://edge.org/3rd_culture/lanier06/lanier06_index.html closet anarchists.]-->So they dislike the idea that we ask people to take real-world responsibility for their contributions and that we make even a low-key "gentle guidance" role for experts. <!-- Our opponents have usually just created [[straw man|straw men]], which they have proceeded to knock down.-->  We hope that a more nuanced understanding of what we are up to will eventually emerge anyway.


'''See also:''' [[CZ:Why Citizendium?|Why Citizendium?]]
'''See also:''' [[CZ:Why Citizendium?|Why Citizendium?]]


{{Getting Started}}
{{Getting Started}}

Latest revision as of 01:45, 8 March 2024


We enjoy considerable goodwill from many people. But the Citizendium is also misunderstood. This page is devoted to correcting many errors about us.

Myth: we're experts-only.

Fact: we love experts—we admit it. And we want more of them. And we want your knowledge too, even if you aren't an expert in anything. Everyone has something to contribute; everyone has some area of special strength. You do not need to be a credentialed professor to contribute what you know.

Myth: we're a top-down project, with expert editors giving orders to underlings.

No, we're very much bottom-up. If you join, you work on whatever articles you want to work on, whenever you want to. We are a radically collaborative project. This means we share ownership and work together; nobody "owns" articles or "gives orders". We aren't the first to use this method; it gained currency online with the open source software movement. Eric S. Raymond, a theorist of that movement, compared communities that create free software collaboratively to "bazaars," as opposed to the old-fashioned "cathedral" model where everyone has a specific role and function, and orders are given from the top. (See "The Cathedral and the Bazaar." We, too, are a bazaar. We have merely added "village elders" wandering the bazaar. Their presence does not convert the project into a cathedral; it only helps make the bazaar a little less anarchical and unreliable.
See Group Editing and How to collaborate.

Myth: edits appear on the Citizendium only if they have been approved by editors.

No. Once you're signed up, you can immediately change any article (or, for approved articles, any article draft—example). Editors are not standing over your shoulder. Any contributor may critique and edit the work of other contributors. It's like we said. This is a wiki—a real, bottom-up wiki.

Myth: we're Serious. Writing here is no fun

This is a work in progress, and we have fun! Yes, we have some highly educated people here, who write wonderful prose as if it is no effort. But we have no problem with you making a rough start on any topic. We are permanently under construction. You do not have to be painfully careful, as if you might break something and people will start screaming at you if you do. We want everybody to be bold. And it's fine to start a relatively short article, just a paragraph or two (we call these "stubs").
See Be Bold, Under Construction, and Stubs.

Myth: privacy will be violated, as our bios will be accessible from Google!

Fact: biographies are not indexed by Google (or any other search engine that respects the "noindex" tag).
We feel that the advantages of real names outweigh the small sacrifice of allowing our work-in-progress to be viewed publicly. Using real names makes people behave more civilly; it also makes our articles more credible, since readers know that there are people willing to put their names behind them.
See Sanger's "Defense of Modest Real Name Requirements."

Myth: as this is an academic project, we are not open to articles about pop culture.

Nonsense; see Led Zeppelin and Metal Gear Solid. We are a hybrid academic/public project. We reject both the idea that knowledge belongs exclusively in the academy, and the idea that that the academy has no special role to play. We think the most productive and reliable system involves the marriage of expertise with public interests and knowledge.
See Content Policy, Category:Games Workgroup, Category:Hobbies Workgroup, and Category:Media Workgroup.

Myth: since this is an academic project, our articles will have an academic bias.

Our objectivity guidance requires that our articles feature the full range of opinion on a subject, including opinion outside the mainstream of expert opinion. The important thing is that all opinion be properly labelled and attributed.

Myth: there is no point to the Citizendium, because Wikipedia exists.

Fact: Wikipedia has uneven quality, and is off-putting to most experts. We believe that, in the end, more people will be comfortable with the CZ model. The world can use more than one "go to" source for free reference information.
See Why Citizendium?

Myth: most Citizendium articles are copied from Wikipedia.

No; copying material from other sources, such as Wikipedia, is allowed under certain conditions, but most of our articles are original. Most articles sourced from Wikipedia are not counted in our CZ Live article count (currently 16,453). We encourage people to start over, to give the public "added value", or at least work to improve imported material quickly.

see How to convert Wikipedia articles to Citizendium articles and Introduction to CZ for Wikipedians.

Some other facts

  • Though we are an open wiki, we have almost no vandalism and little if any "trolling."
  • Our well-developed articles feature subpages (here's a list), which cover many other kinds of reference information.
  • CZ articles are intended to be coherent narratives, not random grab-bags of facts.
  • The person who led Wikipedia in its first year, and designed many of its fundamental policies, is also the founder of Citizendium.
  • It is easy to get a quick start. In our sign-up procedure, we don't ask that much information about you. Someone will review your account request, and let you into the system typically within 72 hours. Once you've signed up, it is easy to start a new article.
  • As of 2020, there is no longer an elected Council, although inevitable certain pages still refer to such. Editorial policy and management decisions are made by a team of folks who work offline from the wiki; if you are an active author here, you can ask to join it. For that purpose, please email us at manager A T citizendium.org.
  • We no longer have an elected Managing Editor, but our management team is still about to make swift decisions and help resolve disputes if necessary. Please use the Enquiry Form to learn more. If you would like to become on the managing editor of this wiki, it might be possible, but you need to join and contribute here for a while so we have confidence in you.
  • We are a non-profit, civic project that uses Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike as the license for our content, and our contributors can help make decisions about the project.
  • Citizendium's site moderators, responsible for monitoring the project for behavior issues, used to be called "Constables". Now, our management team, who are (or have been) active users themselves, will respond at need or upon submission of the Enquiry Form.

Why all the myths about CZ?

There are probably two reasons.

First, this is a genuinely innovative project. The expert-public hybrid model and several other innovations are new. But most people are not able to take such novel things on board easily; to them, we are like a traditional academic project, or like Wikipedia. In short, most people naturally think in terms of stereotypes, and so we have been stereotyped. This means only that we need to educate people—which this page attempts to do.

Second, a lot of Web 2.0 advocates, whose favorite online platforms are websites like Wikipedia and YouTube, are opposed to our basic policies (i.e. they are opposed, on egalitarian principles, to the notion of expert guidance). So they dislike the idea that we ask people to take real-world responsibility for their contributions and that we make even a low-key "gentle guidance" role for experts. We hope that a more nuanced understanding of what we are up to will eventually emerge anyway.

See also: Why Citizendium?


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