WikiJournal of Science/Bylaws/Proposed changes

WikiJournal of Science
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ARTICLE I - NAME

This organization shall be known as the WikiJournal of Science (abbreviated Wiki.J.Sci.). The main web site of Wiki.J.Sci. shall be http://www.WikiJSci.org. If the project moves to a separate sister site, the board may vote on the option of changing the name.

ARTICLE II - STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The mission of WikiJournal of Science is to receive scholarly works with no cost for the authors, apply quality checks on submissions by peer review, and make accepted works available on the Internet free of charge, in perpetuity.

ARTICLE III - EDITORIAL BOARD

Section 1. General Powers

The Editorial Board elects the Editor-in-chief and the Assistant to the Editor-in-chief.

The Editorial Board has the right to dismiss the Editor-in-chief and/or Assistant to the Editor-in chief by majority vote.

Section 2. Governance priorities

The Editorial Board must be composed of Editorial Board Members with a set of talents, experience, and competencies that will best fulfill the mission and needs of Wiki.J.Sci. The Editorial Board and its Members are understood to act as fiduciaries with regard to Wiki.J.Sci.

Section 3. Appointment

(a) The number of Editorial Board Members of Wiki.J.Sci. should be kept at a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 20.
(b) An election shall be held if supported by a majority vote of the Editorial Board Members or by a petition supporting a new vote from greater than 20% of the total people in the groups specified in paragraph (d) combined.
(c) Anyone may nominate herself/himself as a candidate for Editorial Board membership. An announcement of candidacy needs to be made at the talk page of the main page of Wiki.J.Sci..
(d) An Editorial Board Member is elected when they receive the greatest number of votes among those candidates running after at least 7 days of voting by the electorate as specified in the subsequent section.

Section 4. Electorate

Eligible voters for Editorial Board Member elections are:

(a) Current Editorial Board Members.
(b) Peer reviewers of Wiki.J.Sci. who have completed at least one peer review.
(c) Editors with at least 30 edits to Wiki.J.Sci. pages.
(d) Not an individual voting for herself/himself.

Section 5. Duration of Term

Editorial Board Members shall serve four-year terms. There is no limit to the number of terms any individual Editorial Board Member may serve.

Section 6. General decisions

(a) Decisions in the Editorial Board are made by consensus on the online discussion page of the editorial board, or by email correspondence. Significant decisions concerning Wiki.J.Sci. shall be made at the earliest after 4 days after email to WJSboardGoogleGroups.com (which only accepts emails from board members) with an appropriate explanation of the subject at hand.
(b) In cases of voting, the act of the majority of the Editorial Board Members shall be the act of the Editorial Board. An Editorial Board Member does not have an obligation to vote, but shall be presumed to have assented to the act of the Editorial Board, unless the Editorial Board Member votes against such action.

Section 7. Article acceptance

The Editorial Board can decide to accept an article for inclusion in Wiki.J.Sci., provided that the article conforms to the following minimal criteria for inclusion:

(a) The article content is not already published in a peer reviewed forum that prohibits further publication.
(b) The author(s), creator(s) and/or sole owner(s) of the exclusive copyright of the work agrees to have it published under a free license (link to list of examples), preferably the "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported" license.
(c) The author(s), creator(s) and/or sole owner(s) have made significant contribution to the article at the point of submission (outlined in the journal guidelines), as determined by the editorial board. The editorial board reserves the right to reject an article on the grounds that a minimum threshold for contribution has not yet been met by one or more submitting authors
(d) Potential conflicts of interests are declared.
(f) A peer review has been performed.

Section 8. Special meetings

(a) Notice of any special board meeting shall be given at least 10 days before the meeting by written notice to WJSboardGoogleGroups.com specifying the date, time, and purposes of the meeting.

(b) An Editorial Board Member may participate in a meeting of such board by means of a conference telephone or online, by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other at the same time. Participating by such means shall constitute presence in person at a meeting.

Section 9. Expenses

Editorial Board Members may not be compensated for their efforts. They may be allowed expenses, by resolution of the Editorial Board, for attending meetings, if necessary.

Section 10. Voting means

Voting on all matters, including the election of Editorial Board Members, may be conducted by mail, electronic mail, facsimile transmission, chat software, video conferencing, wiki software, or other similar verifiable means. Proxy voting shall not be allowed.

Section 11. Records

Email correspondence at WJSboardGoogleGroups.com serve as primary records of discussions of the Editorial Board. Important decisions and events related to Wiki.J.Sci. shall also be made public at, or linked from, the talk page of the main page of Wiki.J.Sci..

Section 12. End of Term

The end of term of an Editorial Board Member is set forth in ARTICLE VI.

ARTICLE IV - EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Section 1. General Powers

(a) The Editor-in-chief has full powers to carry out operations and policies, either directly or through a written delegation of authority.
(b) The Editor-in-chief may sign and execute any deeds, mortgages, bonds, contracts, or other instruments which the Editorial Board has authorized to be executed, except in cases where the signing and execution thereof shall be expressly delegated by the Editorial Board or by these Bylaws to some other officer or agent of Wiki.J.Sci., or shall be required by law to be otherwise signed or executed.

Section 2. Responsibilities

(a) The Editor-in-chief shall see that the resolutions and directives of the Editorial Board are carried into effect except in those instances in which responsibility is assigned to some other person by the Editorial Board.
(b) The Editor-in-chief shall have general supervision of the affairs of Wiki.J.Sci. and shall make reports to the Editorial Board to keep Editorial Board members informed of corporation activities.
(c) The Editor-in-chief ensures that each new board member is added to the Google Group of the Editorial Board in order to receive emails to WJSboardGoogleGroups.com.

Section 3. Appointment

The Editor-in-chief is appointed by consensus in the Editorial Board.

Section 4. Expenses

The Editor-in-chief may not be compensated for the corresponding efforts. The Editor-in-chief may be allowed expenses, by resolution of the Editorial Board, if necessary.

Section 5. End of Term

The end of term of the Editor-in-chief is set forth in ARTICLE VI.

ARTICLE V - ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Section 1. General Powers

The Assistant to the Editor-in-chief will act in place of the Editor-in-chief on the event of his or her resignation or incapacity. The Assistant to the Editor-in-chief shall have the General powers and responsibilities of the Editor-in-chief when the Editor-in-chief is absent or unable to perform the corresponding duties.

Section 2. Appointment

The Assistant to the Editor-in-chief is appointed by consensus in the Editorial Board.

Section 3. Expenses

The Assistant to the Editor-in-chief may not be compensated for the corresponding efforts. The Assistant to the Editor-in-chief may be allowed expenses, by resolution of the Editorial Board, if necessary.

Section 4. End of Term

The end of term of the Assistant to the Editor-in-chief is set forth in ARTICLE VI.

ARTICLE VI - END OF TERM

Bylaws concerning end of term applies equally, unless specifically noted, to Editorial Board Members, Editor-in-chief and Assistant to the Editor-in-chief, and these positions are referred to as a group as Officials in this article. The end of term of an Official follows the fulfillment of having served a four-year term, resignation or removal, as detailed in following sections of this article, or death.

Section 1. Four-year term

An Official shall serve four-year terms. There is no limit to the number of terms an individual may serve as an Official.

Section 2. Resignation

An Official may resign at any time by giving written notice to the Editorial Board. Any such resignation shall take effect at the time specified therein, or, if the time be not specified therein, upon its acceptance by the Editorial Board.

Section 3. Removal

An Official may be removed by a majority vote of total people in an electorate as specified in ARTICLE III, Section 4.

ARTICLE VII - FINANCIAL

Section 1. Dedication of Assets

The property of Wiki.J.Sci. is irrevocably dedicated to charitable purposes and no part of the net income or assets of this Wiki.J.Sci. shall ever inure to the benefit of any Editorial Board Member or to the benefit of any private individual other than compensation in a reasonable amount to its contractors for services rendered.

Section 2. Dissolution

Upon the dissolution or winding-up of Wiki.J.Sci., its assets remaining after payment, or provision for payment, of all debts and liabilities of the Wiki.J.Sci. shall be distributed to The WikiMedia Foundation or another mission-aligned organization.

Section 3. Loans

No loans shall be contracted on behalf of the Wiki.J.Sci. and no evidence of indebtedness shall be issued in its name unless authorized by a resolution of the Editorial Board.

Section 4. Treasurer

(a) The Treasurer is appointed by consensus in the Editorial Board.
(b) The Treasurer is a position which can be held by an Editorial Board Member.
The Treasurer shall have the following responsibilities:
(c) have charge and custody of and be responsible for all funds and securities of Wiki.J.Sci.
(d) receive and give receipts for monies due and payable to Wiki.J.Sci. from any source whatsoever
(e) review the financial operations of Wiki.J.Sci. and make financial reports to the Editorial Board at regular and special meetings, as well as keeping the public informed by keeping a specifically designated online page up to date.

Section 5. Fiscal year

The fiscal year of Wiki.J.Sci. shall be January 1 - December 31 of each year.

ARTICLE VIII - AMENDMENT

(a) Alterations, amendments, or repeals of these bylaws can be made on the 'Proposed changes' subpage for discussion and consensus building at the Wiki.J.Sci discussion page and/or WikiJSci@GoogleGroups.com.
(b) Once consensus has been reached, the new bylaws may be adopted as binding by a majority of votes of the Editorial Board, provided that at least 10 days written notice is given to WJSboard@GoogleGroups.com with intention to alter, amend or repeal or to adopt new Bylaws.