Citizendium- Providing a Better Definition and Article on Homeopathy

 A new alternative to wikipedia, CITIZENDIUM (www.citizendium.org) now has a fair  description of homeopathy on it.

The older write up on homeopathy on Wikipedia has been comandeered by some nasty anonymous individuals and drug company representatives, since Wikipedia’s articles and definitions are open to constant editing. A battle has brewed over homeopathy and non-experts, anyone with a computer can now write virtually anything. Unfortunately, some of Wikipedia’s entries have become like the bathroom wall on facebook and homeopathy is one of them.

The new definition on Citizendium is still bogged down by contradictory information and some writers purport to define a health science as great as only scientifically based. Although a contradictory and complimentary approach is allowed the definition never really “takes off” to reveal the wonder of homeopathy. At the very least, the honest basics of homeopathy is there.

Dana Ullman the main homeopathic representative,  has written a number of books on homeopathy and has a Masters of Public Health. He has many years of experience in the homeopathy field. He worked on the new article and definition on Citizendium. The result overall is good- http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Homeopathy  . 

In a recent release Dana Ullman writes:

 As much as I love wikipedia for certain subjects, its article on homeopathy is truly awful. If you have ever read Wikipedia’s article on homeopathy, you probably got very confused and quite angry. You discovered an extremely biased anti-homeopathy article that was full of misinformation. Such is the problem at present on wikipedia which is edited by anybody, and in fact, the vast majority of people who edit there do so under pseudonyms, some of whom work for drug companies, some of whom are bored teenagers, and some of whom are closed-minded skeptics.

Luckily, there is a NEW good and viable alternative to wikipedia called Citizendium.org (www.citizendium.org). This site was founded by one of the two gentlemen who started wikipedia, Larry Sanger. Larry was concerned about the misinformation on wikipedia written by anonymous people, many of whom are not experts. Therefore, on Citizendium.org, he requires every author to edit under their real names. He and the Editorial Council grant authority to those people who are real experts and gives them the position of “editor.” An article remains in “draft” stage (and is not readable by the public) until three “editors” propose acceptance of the article to an “Editorial Council.”

Larry Sanger personally asked me to participate in Citizendium in order to help create a high quality article on homeopathy. Needless to say, this was a real pleasure, as distinct from the “edit wars” typical of wikipedia. That said, other authors and editors on Citizendium are not necessarily “pro” homeopathy, but they are not nearly as vehementally antagonistic to homeopathy as are so many people who participate on wikipedia. 

I am pleased to announce that after many months of collaborative efforts from a variety of advocates and skeptics of homeopathy, the article on homeopathy has been accepted by the Editorial Council. You can now read it at: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Homeopathy  

I encourage people to consider using www.Citizendium.org rather than wikipedia if you want to obtain more accurate information about a subject. I also encourage people to consider becoming an author at Citizendium. Information on how to sign-up is provided at this website.

Authors can now further improve this article by editing the DRAFT version until this next version received support from three editors and then acceptance by the Editorial Council. THIS is a rational process. And finally, the efforts on Citizendium to COLLABORATE rather than attack is admirable. 

–DANA ULLMAN, MPH