# Explicit knowledge

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{{Short description|Type of knowledge}}
[[File:Wikipedia_and_Encyclopædia_Britannica.jpg|thumb| Laptop displaying the Wikipedia article for "Encyclopedia" next to 15th edition of the [Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica) showing the same article.]]
'''Explicit knowledge''' (also '''expressive knowledge''')<ref>L. C. Jain, ''Virtual Environments for Teaching and Learning'', World Scientific, 2002, p. 179.</ref> is [knowledge](/source/knowledge) that can be readily articulated, [conceptualized](/source/conceptualization) , codified, [formalized](/source/Logic_translation), stored and accessed.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Helie|first1=Sebastien|last2=Sun|first2=Ron|title=Incubation, Insight, and Creative Problem Solving: A Unified Theory and a Connectionist Model|journal=Psychological Review|date=2010|volume=117|issue=3|pages=994–1024|doi=10.1037/a0019532|pmid=20658861|url=http://www.cogsci.rpi.edu/~rsun/folder-files/helie-sun-psycrev2010-f.pdf|access-date=2019-09-24|archive-date=2019-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712082025/http://www.cogsci.rpi.edu/~rsun/folder-files/helie-sun-psycrev2010-f.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It can be expressed in formal and systematic language and shared in the form of data, scientific formulae, specifications, manuals and such like.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nonaka |first=Ikujiro |last2=Toyama |first2=Ryoko |last3=Konno |first3=Noboru |date=2000 |title=SECI, Ba and Leadership: a Unified Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0024-6301(99)00115-6 |journal=Long Range Planning |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=5–34 |doi=10.1016/s0024-6301(99)00115-6 |issn=0024-6301|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is easily codifiable and thus transmittable without loss of integrity once the syntactical rules required for deciphering it are known.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kogut |first=Bruce |last2=Zander |first2=Udo |date=1992 |title=Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.3.3.383 |journal=Organization Science |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=383–397 |doi=10.1287/orsc.3.3.383 |issn=1047-7039|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  Most forms of explicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge is often seen as complementary to [tacit knowledge](/source/tacit_knowledge).<ref name="Nonaka">{{cite journal|last1= Ikujiro |first1= Nonaka |title=  The Knowledge-Creating Company |journal= Harvard Business Review |date= 2007 }}</ref>

Explicit knowledge is often seen as easier to formalize compared to [tacit knowledge](/source/tacit_knowledge), but both are necessary for knowledge creation. Nonaka and Takeuchi introduced the SECI model as a framework for knowledge creation. The SECI model involves four stages where explicit and tacit knowledge interact with each other in a spiral manner. The four stages are:
* [Socialization](/source/Socialization), from tacit to tacit knowledge
* Externalization, from tacit to explicit knowledge
* Combination, from explicit to explicit knowledge
* Internalization, from explicit to tacit knowledge.<ref name="Nonaka">{{cite journal|last1= Ikujiro |first1= Nonaka |title=  The Knowledge-Creating Company |journal= Harvard Business Review |date= 2007 }}</ref>

== Examples == 
The information contained in [encyclopedia](/source/encyclopedia)s and [textbook](/source/textbook)s are good examples of explicit knowledge, specifically [declarative knowledge](/source/declarative_knowledge). The most common forms of explicit knowledge are manuals, documents, procedures, and how-to videos. Knowledge also can be audio-visual. Engineering works and [product design](/source/product_design) can be seen as other forms of explicit knowledge where human skills, motives and knowledge are externalized. 

In the [scholarly literature](/source/Academic_publishing), papers presenting an up-to-date "systemization of knowledge" (SoK) on a particular area of research are valuable resources for PhD students.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Systemization of Knowledge (SoK) Papers |url=https://www.jsys.org/type_SoK/ |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=www.jsys.org}}</ref>

==See also==
* [Descriptive knowledge](/source/Descriptive_knowledge)
* [SECI model of knowledge dimensions](/source/SECI_model_of_knowledge_dimensions)
* [Tacit knowledge](/source/Tacit_knowledge)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* National Library for Health - [https://web.archive.org/web/20090210202932/http://www.library.nhs.uk/KnowledgeManagement/SearchResults.aspx?tabID=289&catID=10397 Knowledge Management Specialist Library] - collection of resources about auditing intellectual capital.
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Category:Knowledge
Category:Cognitive psychology

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