WikiJournal User Group/Code of conduct/Draft

This is a page is proposed code of conduct draft.

To discuss and give feedback, please see the discussion page.

The WikiJournal User Group is an academic publisher, but it also is a community including editors, authors, reviewers, discussion contributors, and others. The journals are run by elected editorial boards and aim to enable broad community participation in advising and guiding their direction (via discussion pages, mailing lists, and direct participation).

We are dedicated to maintaining a healthy and constructive environment within the project to enable a respectful, supportive, safe, harassment-free, and equitable experience for everyone involved. All people engaging in WikiJournals, whether paid or volunteer, are required to abide by the following Code of Conduct. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact WikiJournal_CoC@lists.wikimedia.org.

This code of conduct sits alongside: A) the publication ethics statement which lays out additional formal publishing roles and responsibilities of editors, authors and reviewers and B) the bylaws which define our governance procedures.

Positive behaviours to strive for

Treat other people with respect

Collegiality and assuming good faith are core principles of the Wikimedia movement. We realize most people want to help the projects and fellow community members, not hurt them. Remember that most of us are volunteers and need to be appreciated for the time and effort we put into improving the Wikimedia projects.

Engage in collegial, constructive dialogue

We should consider the following when engaging in discussion:

Context and background: Do I have a basic understanding of the context and background of the discussion? Have I made sure to educate myself before asking others to explain things to me?
Respecting differences: Am I being sensitive to cultural differences and language barriers? Am I making assumptions about people and their values based on e.g. their culture, language, gender or sexual orientation?
Experience: Am I considering and not making assumptions about a person’s level of experience (with the Wikimedia movement, a specific topic, etc.)?
Support: Am I framing my comments or questions in a supportive, concise and constructive way, offering suggestions for improvement? Is appropriate assistance or information being offered?
Impact focus: Are my questions focused on outcome and impact or am I overly focused on minor details? Keeping meta-discussions as brief as possible (without curtailing what is necessary) frees time for actual project work.
Readiness: Am I ready to get involved or assist? Do I have time that I can spare? Will I need support and do I know where I can access it?

Respect confidentiality

We must respect and maintain the confidentiality of sensitive or private information that WikiJournal contributors might share in confidence. This may include personal information, information about community members or the general public, information about the internal workings of a WikiJournal contributions about such information.

The confidentiality expectations for specific WikiJournal roles are described in more detail at this location.

Behave ethically

We aim to be honest, transparent and ethical in their dealings with each other, with community members, project users, partners, suppliers and the public.

When acting on a WikiJournal’s behalf, we seek to take good care of WikiJournal property (physical or information), and not expose it to loss, damage, misuse or theft. WikiJournal property should be used solely for legitimate WikiJournal purposes and not for personal benefit.

A WikiJournal’s records, accounts and financial statements must be maintained in appropriate detail, and must conform both to applicable law and to the WikiJournal’s internal systems of controls.

Be an Ambassador for the project

As participants in WikiJournals, we represent the wider Wikimedia community, whether intentionally or not. Our words and actions should reflect well on Wikimedia projects and the image of the community as a whole.

Negative behaviours that are unacceptable

Everyone is free to participate in WikiJournal spaces ‘without distinction of any kind’, including (but not limited to):

race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability.

Harassment

We do not tolerate harassment of contributors in any form. Harassment includes (but is not limited to):

Inappropriate comments related to the characteristics listed above
Stalking, following, or continued one-on-one communications after being asked to cease
Sustained disruption of discussion
Deliberate “outing” and/or sharing personal or private information about a person without their consent (e.g. ‘doxing’)
Publication of non-harassing private communication
Unwanted sexual attention or sexual innuendo
Violence, threats of violence, inciting violence, deliberate intimidation and personal attacks

Discrimination

We do not tolerate discrimination against participants who are able to perform the inherent requirements of a particular task. Discrimination based on the above distinctions includes (but is not limited to):

Rejection of contributions, opinions, articles, or other work based on characteristics listed above
Withholding information from individuals or groups based on the characteristics listed above
Placing unreasonable requirement, condition or practice that disadvantages individuals or groups based on characteristics listed above
Banning of individuals or groups based on characteristics listed above

Reporting a problem & actions

Reporting process

If you are the subject of, or observe, the problem behaviours discussed above in any WikiJournal space, please contact WikiJournal_CoC@lists.wikimedia.org. All communications will be kept confidential unless you give explicit permission. You may be contacted to request further information.

Reports can be as short as a notification with a link, but more information can help us understand what is happening. You can include:

Your contact information (e.g. Wikimedia or Phabricator usernames), if you want to identify yourself
Your account of the incident:
- Where and when it happened
- A description of the unacceptable behavior
- Who was involved and who saw it happen
- Whether the incident is ongoing
Links to public records of the incident or screenshots showing what happened
Any additional information that will help us fully understand the problem, such as previous incidents or special circumstances

Response process by committee

The WikiJournal code of conduct committee is an elected group tasked with ensuring community safety and health. Additionally, they aim to transparently resolve situations where possible and encourage healthy behaviours by identifying learning opportunities. Response contact may be made by a collective WikiJournal code of conduct committee email.

Code of conduct committee response process

The information will be triaged to assess whether it needs to be immediately escalated to a later step
The person who exhibited behaviour which is perceived to be outside of the code of conduct will be contacted via private email and informed that their behavior has been noted. Initial contact will be blame-free e.g.:
- Informing them of a behaviour that may have breached this CoC
- Asking if anything is wrong, and what could be done to help.
- Direct to policy and definitions: please read again
- (e.g. You do not seem to be your usual friendly self, how can we help you to act the way we have known you before? You may have inadvertently behaved in a way that was discriminatory…)
If necessary, each person involved may be requested to provide a single, confidential statement (max 500 words, not including urls).
If the behaviour repeats, the person who exhibited unacceptable behavior will asked to make specific changes. Specific reading may be requested of a section of this CoC, or or other specified material.
The decision and summary of reasoning may be shared on the appropriate channel (e.g. on relevant wiki or mailing list)
In the behaviour repeats, the committee may opt to enforce specific (temporary or permanent) actions, including (but not limited to):
- Private message (from the committee email address)
- Public message (in the same venue that the violation occurred)
- Request reading of a specific code of conduct section, or other information
- Request for an apology (requires prior approval by the potential recipient)
- Remove or hide comments on-wiki
- Mailing list ban
- Interaction ban
- Topic ban
- Site ban
- Metawiki global ban (via request to Stewards)
- Initiate WikiJournal editorial board removal vote
At the committee’s discretion, cases may be referred up to the WMF's Trust and Safety Team (e.g. if behaviour is escalating, dangerous, or unlawful) who may choose to apply office actions.

Anyone subject to such actions may request a single email summarising further reasons for the decision (approx 100-200 words) or mount a single appeal by providing evidence that the problematic situation will not repeat.

Code of conduct committee structure

Committee members are expected to be:

Elected in a transparent manner
Able to act impartially
Aware of potential conflicts of interest and willing to recuse themself if necessary
Able to be trusted with keeping information confidential
Approximately 6-12 in number
2-year renewable terms
In contact with the WMF Trust and Safety Team

CoCs used as inspiration when drafting

WikiJournal

Current WikiJournal CoC (focus on COI, confidentiality and harassment)
An initial proposed draft

WikiMedia Foundation

WMF affliates

Wikipedia

Outside inspiration

Mozilla (Thorough and includes definitions but very long)
Open Con
Nature
ESO
NASW
Astrohack
Equal opportunities in volunteer organisations

General version

A general version of this CoC is available here that omits WikiJournal-specific items