Open Science • Indic Wikis
Enhancing Scientific Wiki Articles in Indic Languages
Bridging the knowledge gap for the majority of India’s population — making fundamental science, regional biodiversity, and technological innovation accessible in native tongues.
Reach & Parity
The Knowledge Gap
India registers over 117 million daily Wikipedia views, yet critical scientific and technical research remains confined to English. We are dismantling this barrier to reach hundreds of millions of regional-language readers.
Digital Sovereignty
Language Empowerment
Modeled after thriving native-language digital encyclopedias worldwide, we are building a lasting, peer-reviewed Indian-language scientific corpus to serve students, educators, and field researchers for generations.
Curriculum & Research
Scientific Coverage
Spanning biological sciences, chemistry, astrophysics, hyper-local species taxonomy, and historic metallurgy — translating complex foundational science while standardizing accurate Indic terminology.
Organic sources first
Drawing on CSIR, BSI, ZSI, state university libraries, regional gazettes and verified field publications.
India-centric context
Prioritising native agro-climatic zones, endemic species, regional health challenges and local innovators.
Human curation
Researcher-led extraction and regional translation, avoiding unverified synthetic prose.
The Mission
Democratizing scientific knowledge
The knowledge gap
Scientific knowledge is often inaccessible to readers who prefer Indian languages. SciWiki works to bridge this gap by developing reliable, well-referenced and accessible scientific content.
Language empowerment
We aim to build a lasting scientific knowledge base in Hindi, Telugu and other Indian languages, enabling communities to learn, contribute and share knowledge in their preferred languages.
Scientific coverage
From fundamental sciences and biodiversity to agriculture, health, inventions and emerging technologies, SciWiki encourages contributions across all scientific disciplines.
Our vision: A multilingual scientific knowledge commons where reliable scientific information can be discovered, understood, improved and shared by people across India.
Start a new article
Have a specific topic in mind? Enter the title below to begin writing.
<inputbox>
type=create
width=40
buttonlabel=Create new article
placeholder=Enter scientific topic title...
break=no
</inputbox>
Explore by Subject
Select a scientific domain or topic to browse existing articles or start a new one.
01
Biology and living organisms
02
Matter, elements and chemical processes
03
Fundamental laws of nature
04
Life on Earth and its conservation
05
Earth systems and environmental change
06
Applied science and human innovation
07
Quantitative and computational knowledge
08
Science for food systems and rural communities
09
The science of health and the human body
10
Discoveries, inventors and the development of knowledge
Additional Domains Relevant to India
Select a suggested topic to start creating or editing that entry.
Six Primary Collections
A simple starting point for readers, bringing together related subjects from the domains above.
Biology · Species · Ecology · Genetics
Physics · Chemistry · Astronomy
Geology · Climate · Water · Conservation
AI · Engineering · Inventions · Energy
Statistics · Computing · Modelling
Agriculture · Health · Scientists · Heritage
Respectful and evidence-based documentation: Traditional and indigenous knowledge should be documented with appropriate attribution and reliable sources. Clearly distinguish cultural descriptions and traditional claims from scientifically tested findings.
Priority Areas for Interns
SciWiki interns can help build a strong foundation by focusing on these five areas:
01Biodiversity and species taxonomy
Document plants, birds, insects, fungi, ecosystems, species classifications and regional conservation efforts.
02Science and technology in India
Create articles about Indian scientists, research institutions, inventions, discoveries and technological landmarks.
03Health, agriculture and environment
Develop accessible scientific articles about public health, agronomy, water tables, climate resilience and food systems.
04Core scientific concepts
Explain fundamental physics, chemistry, biology and mathematical concepts clearly and accurately in Indic languages.
05Emerging technologies
Expand coverage of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, space systems, renewable energy, robotics and nanotechnology.
How It Works
01
Pick an article
Choose a science topic from your task list or identify an article that needs to be created or expanded.
02
Draft and translate
Write naturally in the target language. Adapt headings, infobox fields and terminology contextually.
03
Cite and review
Add credible inline citations from peer-reviewed journals or academic sources. Check cross-links and categories.
04
Submit and connect
Submit for project evaluation and link the page to Wikidata so it appears across global language versions.
Article Quality Guidelines
Every SciWiki article should aim to be accurate, accessible, verifiable and well organised.
Quick checklist
✓
At least 6 KB of meaningful, readable text, excluding images, templates and infoboxes.
✓
At least 2 reliable, independent sources with proper inline citations.
✓
At least 2 specific and relevant categories.
✓
Aim for 3 interlanguage links configured through Wikidata where equivalent articles exist.
✓
Fully translated infobox labels, headings and standard parameter names.
✓
Freely licensed media sourced from Wikimedia Commons with attribution.
✓
Thoroughly proofread grammar, scientific terminology and factual accuracy.
Content and style
Article length
Aim for at least 6 KB of meaningful, readable article text, excluding images, templates and infoboxes. Confirm how the target wiki measures article byte size before submission.
Tone and language
Use a clear, neutral and encyclopedic tone. Avoid literal, awkward or unreviewed machine translations.
Translation completeness
Translate relevant content, section headings, infobox labels and template parameters into the target language.
Scientific accuracy
Use established regional scientific terminology and explain specialised concepts clearly. Distinguish established findings from hypotheses and active research.
Proofreading
Check grammar, facts, formatting consistency and link functionality before submitting.
Sources, verification and copyright
Reliable sources
Prefer peer-reviewed publications, university textbooks, recognised scientific institutions and reputable news outlets.
Inline citations
Support critical claims with citations that readers can independently verify. Use at least two reliable, independent sources.
Neutrality and verifiability
Follow the target wiki's core policies on neutral point of view, verifiability and appropriate use of automated tools.
Copyright and media
Prefer appropriately licensed images hosted on Wikimedia Commons. Never copy proprietary text without explicit Creative Commons licensing.
Infoboxes
Include an appropriate infobox when useful and supported by the target wiki. Adapt fields and parameters to the target language and available templates.
Categorisation
Add at least two specific, relevant categories at the bottom of each article.
Interlanguage links
Connect equivalent articles through Wikidata where possible. Aim for at least three language connections.
Authority control
Add {{Authority control}} to biographies and other applicable pages only where supported.
Dates
Follow the target wiki's standard date format conventions in published content.
Important note: These standards are SciWiki project baselines. Acceptance of any article ultimately rests with the editorial community and review procedures of each individual Wikipedia language edition.
Pilot Project Languages
Pilot phase
Help build trusted science knowledge in Indic languages
Review, enrich and translate science articles for the SciWiki community. Our pilot project focuses on seven Indian languages, making reliable scientific knowledge accessible to readers in their mother tongues.
Seven pilot languages · One shared mission · Trusted science for everyone
Contribute to SciWiki
Create and improve
Write new articles, expand short entries, improve clarity and fix omissions.
Translate science
Adapt verified research into natural, readable and localised Indic prose.
Research and cite
Identify authoritative citations, insert references and uphold verifiability.
Illustrate and tag
Add Wikimedia Commons diagrams, interlanguage connections and categories.
Help build India’s scientific knowledge commons
Every well-researched article helps make scientific knowledge more accessible, discoverable and reusable for millions of native speakers.
Need Help?
For questions, clarifications or assistance with contributions, contact the SciWiki project team. See SciWiki: Assisted article creation for further guidance, if that page is available on this wiki.
A project of the Language Technologies Research Centre (LTRC), IIIT Hyderabad
Principal Investigator: Dr. Radhika Mamidi