Code of conduct for participants of the ILAE Wikipedia Project

The project endeavors to develop a team of epilepsy professionals contributing to Wikipedia. This calls for an organized team effort but in a partially decentralized manner. 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 the participants are strongly urged to abide by the following Code of Conduct. If you have any questions or concerns, please write to ilaewikipedia@ilae.org or discuss it on the discussion page.

Positive behaviors to strive for

1. 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.

2. Engage in collegial, constructive dialogue

We expect you to 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?

3. Respect confidentiality

The details of the project are to be as open and transparent as possible. However, in case reviewers or other members wish to remain anonymous, their wishes would be respected and we must respect and maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information that contributors might share in confidence. This may include personal information, information about community members or the general public.

4. Behave ethically

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

The participants need to respect the project's property (physical or information), and not expose it to loss, damage, misuse or theft. The project's properties should be used solely for legitimate purposes and not for personal benefit.

5. Be an Ambassador for the project

The participants of the ILAE Wikipedia Project are basically a community of epilepsy professionals reflecting the values of both the ILAE and the Wikimedia community. Our words and actions should reflect well on the ILAE as well as on the Wikimedia projects and the image of the community as a whole.

Negative behaviors that are unacceptable

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

race, color, 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 excluding people from participating based on the above distinctions. Discrimination 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 behaviors discussed above in any ILAE Wikipedia Project space, please notify ilaewikipedia@ilae.org. Please specify if you want your communications and/or your identity to be treated as confidential (this is important because we wish to keep things as transparent as possible).

In case your grievance is against the Editor-in-Chief and/or the Deputy Editor, please write to Priscilla Shisler at pshisler@ilae.org and she would direct the issues to members from both the ILAE and board members of Wikimedia Medicine (possibly in association with the WMF Trust and Safety Team) who would jointly decide about how to deal with the scenario. 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

Action process

The Editor-in-Chief and the Deputy Editor would jointly evaluate such issues on a priority basis and will try to address the issues neutrally. If the grievance is against them, the executive committee members of ILAE and the board members of Wikimedia Medicine would jointly address the issues. Both the complainant as well as the person facing the allegation are likely to be contacted for an in-depth understanding of the issue. Action will comprise of two broad actions.

Remedial

If the action seems to correctable, and if the person facing the allegation seems willing to address the issue, every attempt will be taken to ensure remedial action.

Punitive

If the person facing the allegation seems reluctant to address the issue or take corrective action, punitive action would be taken as per the joint decision of the committee.