WikiJournal User Group/Bylaws
WikiJournal User Group
Open access • Publication charge free • Public peer review • Wikipedia-integrated
These bylaws apply to the WikiJournal User Group. For the bylaws of the individual journals, see:
ARTICLE I - NAME
The name of this organization is WikiJournal (abbreviated as WikiJ, Wiki J or WJ). Individual WikiJournals are subject-specific journals accepted by WikiJournal.
ARTICLE II - STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The mission of WikiJournal 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 - JOURNALS
Section 1. Criteria
A journal must fulfill at least the following criteria to become an Individual WikiJournal:
- No cost for authors to have their works published
- Open access for anyone to read, adapt, and distribute without cost
- Peer review of all articles before publication, by at least two knowledgeable persons for the subject at hand
- Transparency, with peer reviews and article discussions being open for everyone
- Engagement, with anyone free to share ideas, contribute to, and edit the journals (but changes to an article's meaning require a new peer review)
Section 2. Inclusion or rejection
(a) Inclusion or rejection of journals to become an Individual WikiJournal is decided by a majority of votes of the Administrative Board of WikiJournal, counting after at least 20 days have passed since a public notice of the election has been made at the main talk page of WikiJournal.
(b) The Administrative Board may request additional criteria that an individual journal needs to fulfill before being eligible for inclusion.
(c) The Administrative Board may at any time elect to officially disapprove an Individual WikiJournal, but should first inform the individuals involved in that journal about the reasons for disapproval in a timely manner.
Section 3. Organization
(a) WikiJournal is the publisher of Individual WikiJournals.
(b) WikiJournal is responsible for uniformity of editorial procedures, as well as for the technical infrastructure of Individual WikiJournals.
(c) WikiJournal administers the financials of Individual WikiJournals, unless having approved an Individual WikiJournal to handle some or all financials independently.
(d) Each Individual WikiJournal may have its own legal organization. Each Individual WikiJournal may have bylaws of its own, as long as they are compatible with these bylaws.
(e) Each Individual WikiJournal has full powers over all its pages and editorial proceedings. Before having adopted bylaws, the consensus among active journal participants decides in matters related to that journal.
Section 4. Preliminary journals
A journal may operate as a Preliminary WikiJournal before it is accepted as an Individual WikiJournal. A Preliminary WikiJournal should use the word Preliminary or an equivalent word in its title until being accepted as an Individual WikiJournal.
ARTICLE IV - VOTING
Section 1. Scope
(a) The voting procedures in ARTICLE IV apply to:
- (b) Appointment of community-selected members of the Administrative Board as specified in ARTICLE V.
- (c) Removal of any Official as specified in ARTICLE VIII.
- (d) Amendment of these bylaws as specified in ARTICLE X
Section 2. Eligible voting members
Eligible voting members are:
- (a) Current members of the Administrative Board
- (b) Current members of any Editorial Board of Individual WikiJournals
- (c) Current Associate Editors of any Individual WikiJournal
- (d) Peer reviewers who have completed at least one peer review for an Individual WikiJournal
- (e) Authors who have completed at least one article published in an Individual WikiJournal
- (f) Registered Wikiversity users with at least 30 edits to pages of WikiJournal, including Individual WikiJournals
- (g) Not an individual voting for themself
Section 3. Quorum
(a) A quorum is constituted by the lesser of the following two:
- (b) Ten (10) votes from eligible voting members or
- (c) One-fifth (20%) of the total number of Editorial Board members.
Section 4. Outcome
(a) Votes and appointments are decided by the majority of votes cast by eligible voting members at 14 days after the initial public posting of the corresponding appointment application, removal proposal or proposal of bylaw changes.
(b) A vote may be extended if a quorum is not reached after 14 days.
ARTICLE V - ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD
Section 1. General Powers
The Administrative Board elects the Chair and the Vice-chair.
The Administrative Board has the right to dismiss the Chair and/or Vice-chair by a majority of votes.
Section 2. Governance priorities
The Administrative Board must be composed of members with a set of talents, experience, and competencies that will best fulfill the mission and needs of WikiJournal. The Administrative Board and its members are understood to act as fiduciaries with regard to WikiJournal.
Section 3. Appointment of journal representatives
Each Individual WikiJournal is entitled to at least one representative in the Administrative Board. The community or the editorial board of each journal decides on a candidate representative, and the Administrative Board subsequently decides to accept or reject the candidate by a majority of votes.
Section 4. Appointment of community-selected members
(a) The number of Community-selected members of the Administrative Board of WikiJournal should be kept at a minimum of 10.
(b) Anyone may nominate themself as a candidate for Administrative Board membership. An announcement of candidacy needs to be made at the talk page of the main page of WikiJournal.
(c) An Administrative Board Member is elected by a majority of votes from a voting procedure as specified in ARTICLE IV.
Section 5. Duration of Term
Administrative Board Members shall serve four-year terms. There is no limit to the number of terms any individual Administrative Board Member may serve.
Section 6. General decisions
(a) Decisions in the Administrative Board are made by consensus on the main Discuss page of WikiJournal, or by consensus by email correspondence. Significant decisions concerning WikiJournal shall be made at the earliest after 4 days after email to the mailing list of the Administrative Board with an appropriate explanation of the subject at hand.
(b) In cases of voting, the act of the majority of the Administrative Board Members shall be the act of the Administrative Board. An Administrative Board Member does not have an obligation to vote, but shall be presumed to have assented to the act of the Administrative Board, unless the Administrative Board Member votes against such action.
Section 7. Special meetings
(a) Notice of any special Administrative Board meeting shall be given at least 10 days before the meeting by written notice to the internal email list of the Administrative Board specifying the date, time, and purposes of the meeting.
(b) An Administrative Board Member may participate in such a meeting 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 8. Expenses
Administrative Board Members may not be compensated for their efforts. They may be allowed expenses, by resolution of the Administrative Board, for attending meetings, if necessary. A public notice must be made at least 10 days at the talk page of the main page of WikiJournal before such resolution.
Section 9. Voting means
Voting on all matters, including the election of Administrative Board Members, may be conducted on-wiki, by mail, electronic mail, facsimile transmission, chat software, video conferencing, wiki software, or other similar verifiable means. Proxy voting shall not be allowed.
Section 10. Records
Email correspondence to an internal email list of Administrative Board Members serves as primary records of discussions of the Administrative Board. Important decisions and events related to WikiJournal shall also be made public at, or linked from, the main Discuss page of WikiJournal.
Section 11. End of Term
The end of term of an Administrative Board Member is set forth in ARTICLE VIII.
ARTICLE VI - CHAIR
Section 1. General Powers
(a) The Chair has full powers to carry out operations and policies, either directly or through a written delegation of authority. This also applies to Individual WikiJournals unless these are in conflict with the consensus of journal participants.
(b) The Chair may sign and execute any deeds, mortgages, bonds, contracts, or other instruments which the Administrative Board has authorized to be executed, except in cases where the signing and execution thereof shall be expressly delegated by the Administrative Board or by these Bylaws to some other officer or agent of WikiJournal, or shall be required by law to be otherwise signed or executed.
Section 2. Responsibilities
(a) The Chair shall see that the resolutions and directives of the Administrative Board are carried into effect except in those instances in which responsibility is assigned to some other person by the Administrative Board.
(b) The Chair shall have general supervision of the affairs of WikiJournal and shall make reports to the Administrative Board to keep its members informed of organization activities.
(c) The Chair ensures that each new Administrative Board Members receives emails to the internal email list of the Administrative Board.
Section 3. Appointment
The Chair is appointed by consensus in the Administrative Board.
Section 4. Expenses
The Chair may not be compensated for the corresponding efforts. The Chair may be allowed expenses, by resolution of the Administrative Board, for attending meetings, if necessary. A public notice must be made at least 10 days at the main talk page of WikiJournal before such resolution.
Section 5. End of Term
The end of term of the Chair is set forth in ARTICLE VIII.
ARTICLE VII - VICE-CHAIR
Section 1. General Powers
The Vice-chair will act in place of the Chair on the event of his or her resignation or incapacity. The Vice-chair shall have the General powers and responsibilities of the Chair when the Chair is absent or unable to perform the corresponding duties.
Section 2. Appointment
The Vice-chair is appointed by consensus in the Administrative Board.
Section 3. Expenses
The Vice-chair may not be compensated for the corresponding efforts. The Vice-chair may be allowed expenses, by resolution of the Administrative Board, for attending meetings, if necessary. A public notice must be made at least 10 days at the talk page of the main page of WikiJournal before such resolution.
Section 4. End of Term
The end of term of the Vice-chair is set forth in ARTICLE VIII.
ARTICLE VIII - END OF TERM
Bylaws concerning end of term applies equally, unless specifically noted, to Administrative Board Members, Chair and Vice-chair, 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 Administrative 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 Administrative Board.
Section 3. Removal
An Official may be removed by a voting procedure as specified in ARTICLE IV following a written notice of a removal request at the editor appointment discussion page, by any eligible voting member as specified in ARTICLE IV.
ARTICLE IX - FINANCIAL
Section 1. Dedication of Assets
The property of WikiJournal is irrevocably dedicated to charitable purposes and no part of the net income or assets of this WikiJournal shall ever inure to the benefit of any Administrative 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 WikiJournal, its assets remaining after payment, or provision for payment, of all debts and liabilities of the WikiJournal shall be distributed to The Wikimedia Foundation or another mission-aligned organization.
Section 3. Loans
No loans shall be contracted on behalf of the WikiJournal and no evidence of indebtedness shall be issued in its name unless authorized by a resolution of the Administrative Board.
Section 4. Treasurer
- The Treasurer is appointed by consensus in the Administrative Board.
- The Treasurer is a position which can be held by an Administrative Board Member.
The Treasurer shall have the following responsibilities:
- have charge and custody of and be responsible for all funds and securities of WikiJournal.
- receive and give receipts for monies due and payable to WikiJournal from any source whatsoever
- review the financial operations of WikiJournal and make financial reports to the Administrative 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 WikiJournal shall be January 1 - December 31 of each year.
ARTICLE X - AMENDMENT
These Bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed and new Bylaws may be adopted by a vote procedure as specified in ARTICLE IV, and is initiated after a written notice has been given to all the following forums with intention to alter, amend or repeal or to adopt new Bylaws:
- The internal email list of the Administrative Board: admboard
googlegroups.com - The main public email list of WikiJournal: wikijournal-enlists.wikimedia.org
- The main online Discussion page of WikiJournal: Talk:WikiJournal User Group
Proposed alterations can be drafted on the "Proposed changes" subpage.