Community Guidelines

To ensure that members feel safe participating in our group, we ask you to follow the following guidelines when interacting in this group, whether this is on Slack, during our biweekly sessions or outside of, but related to, our group. Briefly, we aim to create a space where we can come together to learn about open science practices and support each other in dealing with the frustrations and issues we face in a vulnerable, humble and mutually supportive way. To make the space welcoming to all, we use inclusive language, acknowledge our privileges, share the discussion space, refrain from making judgements, make space for a wide range of perspectives and emotions, and hold ourselves and others accountable. In line with the spirit of Open Science, this group aims to be collaborative, transparent and acknowledging of individuals' contributions.

In more detail, we aim to uphold the following values and principles in this community:

• We hold a non-judgemental space: Talking about open science practices often brings up weaknesses, mistakes or neglect not only in science in general, but in our own research practices. In our opinion, making science more transparent and open requires us to be honest and humble about the ways our research practices are less than optimal. This is not something to be ashamed of, or to shame others for. We are all in this space to learn and find better ways to conduct our projects.
• We encourage curiosity and discussion: Many issues in academia are grey, rather than black-and-white, and sometimes common research practices are actually problematic, so we would like to encourage everyone taking part to share their perspectives and question anything, even if it seems well accepted or normal. Ask questions when you don't understand something or are not familiar with a concept that is being discussed. Sometimes people with less experience notices issues that experts don't, simply because they have become used to standard practices in their field.
• We share the discussion space: Try to express your thoughts and questions concisely, so everyone can have the chance to share and be heard. Avoid interrupting others when they speak.
• We value diversity and aim to create an inclusive environment: A diverse group of participants is essential for getting a complete picture of a topic, and therefore for the critical discussion of it. We encourage everyone to share their experiences, especially when they diverge from what has already been contributed, and expect participants to welcome perspectives different from their own. We acknowledge that systemic inequalities drench our everyday environments, and that some of us hold unearned privilege due to our race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic status and/or other personal characteristics and their intersections, while others face disadvantages. We aim to actively counteract these inequalities by acknowledging them (to address an issue, it first needs to be recognized), keeping track of the diversity of the materials used and the persons participating and presenting in our group, and addressing any gaps in representation, instances of discrimination, use of inappropriate language and microaggressions. At the same time, we recognize our limitations in identifying, preventing and addressing such inequalities, and welcome feedback on how to improve our practices.
• We use inclusive, respectful language: Be considerate of how the language you use may impact others. Violent language, threats, demeaning jokes, intimidation and exclusionary comments, involving, but not limited to race, sex, gender, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity and socio-economic status, have no place in our space. Even if you mean well, your statements might still have a real, negative influence on others.
• We address and refer to others using the names/pronouns they go by: Knowing what people like to be called is a key part of talking and relating with them. When we talk in groups, we not only refer to people by names, but also by pronouns such as 'she', 'he', or gender-neutral pronouns such as 'they'. Assuming what pronoun a person goes by based on their appearance can lead to mistakes, and may make the person in question feel uncomfortable and be less likely to participate in the group. We want everyone to feel comfortable participating here, and we want everyone to know how to refer to each other respectfully. So when we introduce ourselves in this group, each person is invited to share their name and information about what pronoun they go by. If you do not wish to share pronouns, please feel free to only share your name. If you don't care which pronoun is used to refer to you, please recognize this might because people rarely if ever use the wrong pronouns when referring to you, which is a privilege that not everyone shares. In that case, you may decide to not share pronouns or to share pronouns without stating your feelings about them. If you forget someone's pronouns, you can ask them to remind you before you refer to them.
• We hold ourselves and others accountable: We follow the accountable spaces guidelines put forth by CommunityWise in their Anti-Racist Organizational Change (AROC) resources. In brief, we are open to critical self-reflection, avoid making assumptions about other people, consider our privilege and potential power dynamics that might be present, and apologize, listen and adjust our behaviour when we say something problematic. When we see something inappropriate happening, we speak up, or, if we don't feel comfortable intervening, we find other ways to address the situation, e.g., you can contact the OSSSG's conflict resolution response team – see the Conflict Resolution Document for contact info.
• We prioritize health and mental well-being: Graduate school is stressful, and life can take all kinds of expected and unexpected turns, so it's okay not to feel okay sometimes. In our group, we welcome everyone as they are in the moment, there is space for all emotions – except those harmful to others. We aim to make this a space where people do not feel they have to pretend to be fine when they are really not, a space where everyone can share and find support, whether it is about open science or not. When collaborating within this group, we are flexible and understanding of changing circumstances of the people we are working with and how this affects their ability to contribute, and aim to find solutions that prioritise the health and mental well-being of the people involved.
• We do not tolerate harassment: Unwanted physical contact, sexual attention, repeated unwanted social contact and any other kind of harassment are unacceptable. Consent is explicit, conscious and continuous, never implied. Ask the person in question if you are not sure whether your behaviour towards them is welcome or not. When someone tells you to stop, stop. See also the University of Calgary's Harassment Policy. Not following these guidelines will have consequences, and can lead to temporary or permanent removal from the group (see OSSSG's Conflict Resolution Document for the procedure), and/or a complaint being filed with the University.
• We respect the privacy and safety of others: To ensure that people can safely engage with our group, we ask that you do not share any personal information shared in this group (either verbally or written) or photograph others without their permission. Doxing, i.e. publicly sharing (or threatening to share) private and/or personally identifying information without the permission of others is a form of harassment, and will be addressed as such.
• We value collaboration over competition: Our group is a space where we come together to learn, where we let go of the competitive nature of grad school and academia in general. We are all capable human beings, with our own strengths and limitations, and we can achieve the most when we collaborate and help each other. This space is not about who is 'best in open science', but a place to find and give support to each other. Every step taken towards making science more open is great, and we appreciate and celebrate each one. The challenges used in our group are geared towards personal development, not to spur competition.
• We give credit where credit is due: While our group, just like Open Science, greatly values sharing and collaboration,this does not mean the contributions of individuals should go unnoticed. On the contrary, we aim to acknowledge all contributions to our group, and encourage members to share their work through Open Science channels/using licenses, because we believe such sharing can lead to greater use and recognition of your work.
• We value transparency and ongoing feedback: In our group, we aim to make decision and organizing processes transparent, and to continuously engage with members to receive feedback on our group and how we can grow and improve.

Online Community guidelines (Slack)

• Use threads to reply to posts (hover over a message and select 'Reply in thread'). This still notifies the people involved in the conversation, but spares everyone else unnecessary notifications.
• Keep comments focused on the topic at hand. If you have a comment not associated with the purpose of a channel, please share it in the #_social channel.
• Be aware that comments posted in public slack channels will be visible to all members. Do not post personal comments that you would not want public members to know.
• Direct Messaging is available, and is promoted for side-topics amongst a group, and one on one conversations, when the comments are not applicable to public threads.
• All comments will be held to the standard of the general community guidelines.
• External links related to the discussed topic are allowed in the appropriate channels, otherwise they are only permitted in the #_social channel.
• Avoid speaking in "CAPS LOCK". Use appropriate language when engaging in community threads.
• Failure to follow these guidelines can result in a temporary suspension of privileges as agreed upon by the Feedback community, and continued breach of rules will result in a permanent ban.

Sources used in writing up Community guidelines:

• NeuroHackadamy 2020 Code of Conduct by Kirstie Whitaker and the Neurohackademy organising committee (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 CA) license)

  • Attributions:

    • This code is adapted (lightly) from the Alan Turing Institute Data Study Group Code of Conduct which was itself heavily adapted from the Citizen Lab Summer Institute 2017 Code of Conduct and used under a CC BY 2.5 CA license. We really appreciate the work that they put into creating such a well-considered process.
    • Parts of this Code are based onthe xvzf Code of Conduct,the Contributor Covenant,the Django Code of Conduct and Reporting Guide and we are also grateful forthis guidance from Ada Initiative.
• CommunityWise Anti-racist Organizational Change: Resources & Tools for Nonprofits – Accountable spaces guidelines
  • This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
• University of Calgary, department of Psychology, department values
  • https://arts.ucalgary.ca/psychology/about

Sources used for online community guidelines:

• https://www.getopensocial.com/blog/community-management/setting-community-moderation-guidelines
• https://www.bangthetable.com/blog/7-guidelines-for-online-content-moderation/?creative=414216732423&keyword=&matchtype=b&network=g&device=c&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Canada%20-%20Engagement&utm_term=&hsa_acc=5736987729&hsa_cam=6945294930&hsa_grp=90793961943&hsa_ad=414216732423&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=dsa-19959388920&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=b&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=CjwKCAjww5r8BRB6EiwArcckC641CG-8Dsf5tRKP3WBFPaDmK3hKw6CFKBK35N78Z5sA9c-86pzI5BoCdg8QAvD_BwE