Citizendium ( /ˌsɪtɨˈzɛndiəm/ SIT-i-ZEN-dee-əm; "the citizens' compendium of everything") is an English-language wiki-based free encyclopedia project launched by Larry Sanger, who co-founded Wikipedia in 2001.
It was first announced in September 2006 as a fork of the English Wikipedia, but that idea was abandoned prior to its March 2007 public launch in favor of emphasizing original articles. The project aims to improve on the Wikipedia model by providing increased reliability. It hopes to achieve this by requiring virtually all contributors to use their real names, by strictly moderating the project for unprofessional behavior, by providing what it calls "gentle expert oversight" of everyday contributors, and also through its "approved articles". Approved articles have undergone a form of peer-review by topic experts with credentials, and are closed to real-time editing.
By 27 October 2011, the site had fewer than 100 active members. As of August 2012, it had 16,270 articles, of which 164 had achieved editorial approval, and around 17 contributors making at least 20 edits a month. The managing editor is Anthony Sebastian.
Read more about Citizendium: Founder Viewpoints