{{short description|Editing collaboration on a specific topic}} {{For|details of Wikipedia edit-a-thons|Wikipedia:How to run an edit-a-thon|selfref=yes}} [[File:Guinness World Record for editing Wikipedia, Warsaw, 2023 07.jpg|thumb|The end of the 100-hour-long edit-a-thon (recognized by the Guinness World Records) that took place in Warsaw in September 2023]] thumb|An editathon for university students in Germany An '''edit-a-thon''' (sometimes written '''editathon''') is an event where some editors of online communities such as Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap (also known as a "mapathon"), and LocalWiki edit and improve a specific topic or type of content. The events typically include basic editing training for new editors and may be combined with a more general social meetup. The word is a portmanteau of "edit" and "marathon". An edit-a-thon can either be "in-person" or online or a blended version of both. If it is not in-person, it is usually called a "virtual edit-a-thon" or "online edit-a-thon".
== Locations (in-person events) == Wikipedia edit-a-thons have taken place at Wikimedia chapter headquarters; accredited educational institutions, including Sonoma State University, Arizona State University, Middlebury College,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.middlebury.edu/newsroom/archive/2017-news/node/547035|title=Feminists Strengthen Wikipedia's Content about Women|date=April 18, 2017|website=Middlebury College|access-date=April 24, 2018}}</ref> and the University of Victoria; scientific research institutions such as the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.salk.edu/events/wikipedia-edit-a-thon/|title=Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon - September 7, 2019|website=Salk Institute for Biological Studies|language=en|access-date=2019-09-09|archive-date=2019-06-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619072232/https://www.salk.edu/events/wikipedia-edit-a-thon/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and cultural institutions, such as museums or archives.
== Online/remote events == {{Unreferenced section|date=October 2025}} Several Wikipedia edit-a-thons have been held during the COVID-19 pandemic adhering to social distancing measures. These events have been held online using synchronous voice and video chat as well as through asynchronous message boards and forums.
== Topics == The events have included topics such as cultural heritage sites, museum collections, women's history, art, feminism, narrowing Wikipedia's gender gap, and social justice issues.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-feminist-edit-a-thon-seeks-to-reshape-wikipedia|title=A Feminist Edit-a-Thon Seeks to Reshape Wikipedia|last=Lavin|first=Talia|date=2016-03-11|newspaper=The New Yorker|issn=0028-792X|access-date=2016-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/15/wikipedia-gender-racial-bias_n_7054550.html|title=Editors Are Trying To Fix Wikipedia's Gender And Racial Bias Problem|first1=Sara|last1=Boboltz|last2=Post|first2=The Huffington|date=2015-04-15|website=The Huffington Post|access-date=2016-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uvic.ca/library/home/home/news/current/social-justice-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-workshop.php|title=Social Justice Wikipedia Edit-a-thon workshop - University of Victoria|website=www.uvic.ca|access-date=2016-07-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Michelle R. |date=16 October 2013 |title=Female scientists getting their due on Wikipedia |url=http://www.abqjournal.com/283040/female-scientists-getting-their-due-on-wikipedia.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112000818/https://www.abqjournal.com/283040/female-scientists-getting-their-due-on-wikipedia.html |archive-date=2017-01-12 |access-date=2016-07-30 |newspaper=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2014/02/01/scsu-group-participates-in-edit-a-thon-for-wikipedia-website-/5123333/|title=SCSU group participates in edit-a-thon for Wikipedia website|last=Katzner|first=Ben|date=1 February 2014|newspaper=St. Cloud Times|access-date=5 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160802121102/http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/2014/02/01/scsu-group-participates-in-edit-a-thon-for-wikipedia-website-/5123333/|archive-date=2 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Koh|first=Adeline|title=How to Organize Your Own Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon|url=http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/how-to-organize-your-own-wikipedia-edit-a-thon/49757|access-date=5 February 2014|newspaper=The Chronicle of Higher Education|date=30 May 2013}}</ref>
Women, African Americans, and members of the LGBT community are using edit-a-thons to bridge the gap in Wikipedia's sexual and racial makeup<ref>{{cite web|last1=Reynosa|first1=Peter|date=3 December 2015|title=Why Don't More Latinos Contribute to Wikipedia?|url=http://eltecolote.org/content/en/commentary/why-dont-more-latinos-contribute-to-wikipedia/|access-date=December 4, 2015|publisher=El Tecolote}}</ref> and to challenge the under-representation of Africa-related topics.<ref>Wexelbaum, Rachel S., Katie Herzog, and Lane Rasberry. "Queering Wiki." (2015).</ref>
==Organizers== Some Wikipedia edit-a-thons have been organized by Wikipedians in residence. The OpenStreetMap community has also hosted several edit-a-thons.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mapbox.com/blog/spring-openstreetmap-editathon/ |title=OpenStreetMap #Editathon at MapBox |date=12 April 2013 |first=Ian |last=Villeda |access-date=7 April 2014 |archive-date=10 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910021349/https://www.mapbox.com/blog/spring-openstreetmap-editathon/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Foster |first=Mike |date=18 October 2013 |title=Fall 2013 OpenStreetMap Editathon |url=http://dusp.mit.edu/uis/event/fall-2013-openstreetmap-editathon |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408223530/http://dusp.mit.edu/uis/event/fall-2013-openstreetmap-editathon |archive-date=8 April 2014 |access-date=7 April 2014 |website=Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Urban Studies and Planning}}</ref>
==Examples== {{Further|Wikipedia:How to run an edit-a-thon#Selective list of edit-a-thons in the English language or in English-speaking countries}} thumb|Carol Ann Whitehead, organizer of the Ada Lovelace Day Edit-a-thon [[File:DSC1607p.jpg|thumb|Beginning of the 100-hour-long edit-a-thon (recognized by the Guinness World Records) that took place in Warsaw in September 2023]] * The "Wiki loves SDGs" initiative held a week-long online edit-a-thon on topics around the Sustainable Development Goals. The event took place online in September 2020 during Global Goals Week. It was organized by Project Everyone, an NGO in the UK, and had around 300 registered participants, 108 active contributors and 64 new editors. Most of the participants were from developing countries and seven out of the nine prize winners were from Africa. The event focused on improving SDG-related content on the English Wikipedia (some improvements were also made to the Spanish, Macedonian,<ref>Kiril Simeonovski (2020) [https://diff.wikimedia.org/2020/10/08/wikipedia-and-sustainable-development-goals-engaging-smaller-wikipedias/ Wikipedia and Sustainable Development Goals: Engaging smaller Wikipedias], Diff (blog hosted by Wikimedia Foundation)</ref> Catalan and Portuguese Wikipedias). About 500 articles were improved.<ref>{{Cite web|title="Wiki loves SDGs" - Global Goals Week online edit-a-thon on SDG topics in September 2020|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Online_edit-a-thon_SDGs_September_2020|access-date=14 October 2020|website=Wikipedia}}</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2020}} Jimmy Wales attended the closing ceremony and presented the nine awards to the most engaged volunteers.<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 September 2020|title=Wiki Loves SDGs Closing Ceremony on 25 September 2020|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbxVnG-51oA| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/cbxVnG-51oA| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|access-date=14 October 2020|website=The Global Goals (Youtube channel)}}{{cbignore}}</ref> * In August 2018, [https://www.futureclimateafrica.org/ Future Climate for Africa] and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network convened the first African Wikipedia edit-a-thon on climate change in Cape Town South Africa. * The longest edit-a-thon recognized by Guinness World Records took place first in 2016 (from June 9 to 12) at the Museo Soumaya in Mexico City where Wikimedia Mexico volunteers and museum's staff edited during 72 continuous hours.<ref>{{Cite web|date=13 June 2016|title=México ganó un nuevo récord Guinness y seguro te va a ser útil|url=http://www.dineroenimagen.com/2016-06-13/74222|access-date=2016-06-13|website=Dinero en Imagen.com|language=es-MX}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last1=Cruz y Corro|first1=Andrés|last2=Fernanda López|first2=María|date=22 July 2016|title=Wikipedia edit-a-thon, 72 hours long, is recognized with a Guinness World Record|url=https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/07/22/mexico-soumaya-rodin/|access-date=2016-07-30|website=Wikimedia Blog}}</ref> In 2023, this record was broken by Polish wikipedians (see below). * Since 2014, Art+Feminism has held world-wide edit-a-thons annually to expand the histories of women, feminism, and arts found on Wikipedia, and to dismantle the biases on how women are represented online. 2019 marks the expansion of the movement to include "gender non-binary activists and artists".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artandfeminism.tumblr.com/post/181023341915/announcing-our-year-6-campaign-gender-the|title=ART+FEMINISM — Announcing Our Year 6 Campaign: Gender + The...|website=ART+FEMINISM|language=en|access-date=2019-03-08}}</ref> * The global Ada Lovelace Day Edit-a-thon, an initiative to improve the diversity of Wikipedia articles, was co-created by Carol Ann Whitehead and Google Expert, Susan Dolan. It took place on October 9, 2019,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://unya.dk/2019/03/19/wiki-edit-a-thon-writing-women-back-into-history/|title=Wiki-edit-a-thon: Writing Women Back into History – UNYA Denmark|date=19 March 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref> in Manchester at The Pankhurst Centre.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Global Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon (#Wikieditathon) 2019 – Manchester|url=https://findingada.com/event/global-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-wikieditathon-2019-manchester/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015171428/https://findingada.com/event/global-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-wikieditathon-2019-manchester/ |archive-date=2019-10-15 |access-date=|website=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.digital-science.com/wiki-edit-a-thon/|title=Wiki Edit-a-Thon|website=Digital Science|date=20 September 2018|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-06|archive-date=2019-10-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015185149/https://www.digital-science.com/wiki-edit-a-thon/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Ada Lovelace Day at The Pankhurst Centre|url=https://findingada.com/event/global-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-wikieditathon-2019-manchester/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015171428/https://findingada.com/event/global-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-wikieditathon-2019-manchester/ |archive-date=2019-10-15 |access-date=|website=}}</ref> * In 2023 the first 100-hour-long edit-a-thon, recognized by Guinness World Records, was organized in Warsaw, Poland, from September 26 to 30, to celebrate Polish Wikipedia's 22nd birthday. It took place at the Warsaw Public Library – Central Library of the Masovian Voivodeship, and 127 editors participated in the event, but additional volunteers also helped to support it.<ref>{{Cite web|title=100 hours of continuous Wikipedia editing|url=https://ue.poznan.pl/en/news/guinness-world-record-for-the-longest-time-editing-wikipedia|access-date=2026-01-07|website=Poznań University of Economics and Business|language=pl}}</ref>
==Gallery== {{gallery |File:Editatón 72HorasConRodin - Sábado - 35.jpg|The ''72 horas con Rodin'' edit-a-thon in Mexico City is the longest ever held, recognized by Guinness World Records. |File:Cross section of participants at the Igbo Wiktionary Edit a thon.png|Cross section of participants at the Igbo Wiktionary virtual edit-a-thon in August 2020 |File:Giants in the field of Women in the Arts 2.jpg|Attendees at the 2013 Women in the Arts Edit-a-thon in Washington, DC |File:Editathon das minas.jpg|An edit-a-thon in São Paulo, Brazil, aimed at creating and improving Wikipedia articles relating to feminism, women's rights and notable women |File:What-is-an-edit-a-thon-sherry-antoine.mp3|AfroCrowd Manager Sherry Antoine explaining edit-a-thons |File:-2-Wiki-Loves-SDGs-Volunteers-Group-Workplace.png|Virtual workroom for the online edit-a-thon on SDG topics in September 2020 (using Workplace by Facebook) |File:Wiki4Climate opening session group photo.png|"Wiki4Climate" opening session group photo in November 2020 }}
== See also == * Hackathon * Wikipedia:Meetup * WikiGap Challenge on Meta-wiki - Example of high-impact virtual edit-a-thon / writing challenge in March 2020 * Meta-wiki Category:Edit-a-thons * Meta-wiki Category:Wikimedia meetups
; {{Category tree|Wikipedia meetups}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Wikimedia edit-a-thons}} * [https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapathon OpenStreetMap 'Mapathons']
{{Wikipedia}}
Category:Activism by type Category:OpenStreetMap Category:Wikipedia