That is if you measure the contentiousness of topics by the number of editing skirmishes on Wikipedia.

Researchers from Oxford, Rutgers and the Central European University have done just that. The team counted the number of reversed editing changes ("reverts") to devise a list of the 100 most fought over English language pages in a cache of 4.7 million. 

The researchers' "WikiWar Monitor" found the former Australian prime minister ranked 44 on the list, giving rise to more disputes than creation science, the Armenian genocide, Freemasonry, Fox News, evolution and God.

"Our results indicate that Wikipedia is more than just an encyclopaedia; it is also a window into convergent and divergent social-spatial priorities, interests and preferences," the study authors wrote.

The divergence was evident looking at different languages' most controversial topics. Among German pages, the most quarrels were over Croatia; among the French, it was Segolene Royale, the politician and ex-wife to President Francois Hollande, who proved most polarising. 

Koreans in Japan was the most divisive topic among Japanese pages, while Taiwan was the most picked over Chinese page

In 2007, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet staff were found to have edited entries linked to Mr Howard, including the Children Overboard affair page. 

Any changes to their boss's entry would have helped him outrank some traditionally more provocative figures such as libertarian Ron Paul, former Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejadand 16th century round-earth proponent Nicolaus Copernicus.  

It was Mr Howard's friend, former US president George W Bush, who had the most controversial page of all. He proved a hotter topic than anarchism (2), Muhammad (3), and the list of World Wrestling Entertainment personnel (4).  

The notion of truth itself (at number 100) provoked fewer disagreements than Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Britney Spears. 

smh.com.au