Code of Conduct
ResearchDen brings together researchers from many countries, institutions, and career stages. This Code applies to everyone, in every ResearchDen space: project channels, meetings, email, shared documents, code repositories, and community social channels.
1. Expected behavior
- Be respectful. Disagree with ideas, not people. Critique work directly and generously
- Assume competence. Members come in at different levels. Someone asking a basic question is doing the right thing
- Communicate clearly across languages. Most participants are working in a second language. Write plainly and read charitably
- Follow through. If you commit to a task, do it or say early that you cannot. Silence blocks other people's work
- Give credit. Acknowledge contributions, ideas, and prior work
- Respect time zones. Do not expect immediate replies. Set async expectations
2. Unacceptable behavior
- Harassment, intimidation, or sustained disruption
- Discriminatory conduct based on nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, institution, or career stage
- Sexual attention or advances of any kind
- Personal attacks, insults, or demeaning comments about someone's ability or background
- Sharing private communications or personal information without consent
- Retaliation against anyone who reports a concern
3. Research integrity
Violations of research integrity are treated as serious misconduct:
- Fabricating or falsifying data or results
- Plagiarism, including self-plagiarism and undisclosed text reuse
- Claiming authorship without qualifying contribution, or excluding a qualifying contributor
- Sharing unpublished work outside the project team without consent
- Submitting the same work to multiple venues simultaneously
- Misrepresenting your academic status, affiliation, or publication record
Details are in the Authorship and Intellectual Property Policy.
4. Honest representation
Participants must describe their status and role accurately, inside and outside the community. Do not describe yourself as holding a degree, position, or affiliation you do not hold. Do not describe ResearchDen participation as employment.
5. Reporting
Report concerns to contact@researchden.org.
Reports are handled confidentially. Only those who need to know in order to respond will be informed. If your report concerns the Founder, you may ask that it be handled by a Research Operations Lead instead.
Include what happened, when, who was involved, and any relevant records. Reports may be submitted anonymously, though this limits what can be investigated.
6. What happens after a report
- Acknowledgment within five days
- Review, including hearing from those involved
- Decision communicated to the reporting person and the person concerned
7. Possible outcomes
Depending on severity:
- Private conversation and guidance
- Formal written warning
- Removal from a specific project
- Temporary suspension from the community
- Permanent removal and removal from the public team listing
- For research misconduct, notification to the relevant journal, conference, or institution
Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and harassment normally result in immediate permanent removal.
8. Limits
ResearchDen is a volunteer community with no legal authority. It cannot investigate like an institution, compel participation, or impose sanctions beyond community membership. Serious matters, particularly those involving safety or formal misconduct, should also be raised with the appropriate institution or authority.