ScienceBlogs

Code of Conduct

Be courteous

Treat your ScienceBlogs colleagues online as you would in person. Respect their boundaries, beliefs, and opinions. Keep things civil—we all share at least one common goal: to advance the conversation about science. Whatever our differences, it is easier to work together toward this goal if we are polite to one another. We recognize that there are often strong feelings about issues we discuss here; but while we encourage honest and passionate debate, we will not stand for misplaced or ad hominem attacks.

If you disagree, do so respectfully

Attempt to resolve miscommunications or conflicts that arise in the forums directly with whomever is involved, rather than attacking them publicly in the forums or on your blog. If you are offended by something someone has written, explain to them privately why you are offended and allow them a chance to make amends or to explain themselves in return.

If a problem arises on the blogs and you choose to respond publicly, do so in a way that addresses the problem directly without escalating personal conflicts.

If you find that someone is unreceptive to your complaint, tell your community manager. If s/he agrees that what they’ve posted is unacceptable, they will ask them to remove it themselves and explain their decision.

Take responsibility for what you post.

Post what you know to be factual and accurately representative in any given situation.

Do not post anything that:
- slanders, defames, threatens, or harasses another person
- is bigoted, pornographic, hateful, racist, sexist, intolerant, or excessively vulgar
- compromises the confidentiality of the forums or your fellow bloggers’ privacy

Respect and protect the identity of pseudonymous bloggers.

Regardless of your personal view on blogging under a pseudonym, those who do have strong reasons for doing so. As a member of this community, you may become privy to information about these bloggers that is not public, including their identities. You are asked to keep this information in confidence and not threaten fellow bloggers with intentional exposure or encourage similar indirect activities.