Hero-Bg

Code of Conduct

Purpose and Scope

The Institute for Open Science Practices (IOSP) is dedicated to fostering an environment that enables innovative, collaborative, and community-driven advancements in open science. This event is a unique opportunity to bring together researchers, technologists, and leaders from diverse backgrounds to collectively explore and build the infrastructure and culture necessary for a more open, frictionless, and accessible research ecosystem.


The purpose of this Code of Conduct is to:

  1. Ensure Inclusivity and Equity: Create an environment where all participants—regardless of background, identity, or experience—feel welcome, valued, and able to contribute meaningfully. Actively promote equity in voice by encouraging participation from historically underrepresented groups and ensuring that diverse perspectives are respected and included in all discussions.

  2. Promote Collaboration: Encourage respectful engagement and curiosity, recognizing that multiple approaches to solving shared challenges enrich our collective understanding. Support participants in building forward relationships and fostering ongoing collaborations that extend beyond the event itself.

  3. Foster Safety and Community Accountability: Establish a space where all participants share responsibility for maintaining a positive, inclusive environment. Encourage mutual respect, trust, and constructive interactions to ensure that everyone feels safe and supported throughout the event.


The scope of this Code of Conduct extends to:

  • All participants, including attendees, speakers, organizers, volunteers, and sponsors.

  • All event-related spaces, whether physical or virtual, including conference venues, social gatherings, online discussions, and communication channels such as email or Slack.

Encouraged Behavior

All participants in the IOSP are encouraged to

  1. Protect:

    • Commit to creating a space where all participants feel safe and valued.

    • Take responsibility for ensuring that personal and community behaviors align with the values of IOSP.

  2. Respect:

    • Approach discussions with curiosity, patience, and an open mind.

    • Assume good intent while recognizing the impact of words and actions.

  3. Include:

    • Welcome and respect diverse perspectives, experiences, and identities.

    • Actively encourage and support participation from individuals across different backgrounds, particularly those from underrepresented groups.

  4. Construct:

    • Contribute to building forward relationships and collaborations that extend beyond the event.

    • Share knowledge and insights in ways that promote mutual learning and progress.

Unacceptable Behavior

The following behaviors are considered unacceptable at IOSP and its related spaces:

  1. Harassment and Discrimination:

    • Harassment in any form, including but not limited to verbal, physical, sexual, or online harassment.

    • Discrimination or exclusion based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or any other aspect of identity.

  2. Disrespectful Conduct:

    • Dismissing or belittling the contributions of others.

    • Engaging in hostile or aggressive behavior that undermines constructive dialogue.

    • Intentionally disrupting presentations, workshops, or discussions.

  3. Unwelcome Advances or Contact:

    • Making inappropriate or unwelcome personal advances, whether verbal or physical.

    • Violating personal boundaries or failing to respect requests to disengage.

  4. Harmful Actions Toward Community Goals:

    • Misusing shared spaces or resources in ways that detract from the event’s purpose.

    • Deliberately spreading misinformation or undermining collaborative efforts.

  5. Retaliation or Dismissiveness:

    • Retaliating against individuals who raise concerns about conduct.

    • Dismissing reports of inappropriate behavior or failing to address them in good faith.

Reporting Mechanisms

If you observe or experience any behaviors that represent a code of conduct violation, or a violation of your safety in the space please report it either to in person staff, or to our anonymous reporting form. We will handle all reports with as much discretion as possible.


Unsafe spaces ruin it for everyone. We will have specific staff focused on maintaining this safe space, however we invite the entirety of the community to remind others of our standards when necessary. It’s trite, but if you see something say something :)

Any written reports will be stored only for the purpose of enforcing the Code of Conduct and will not be shared outside of the safety team.


You can report any violations via this form, contact@scios.tech, or to staff at the event.

Consequences of Violations

Actions our Team may take include and are not limited to:

  • Asking anyone to stop a behavior; the person asked is expected to comply immediately

  • Asking anyone to leave the event and online spaces either temporarily, for the remainder of the event, or permanently

  • Removing anyone’s access to the event spaces that we manage either temporarily, for the reminder of the event, or permanently

  • Communicating to all participants to reinforce our expectations for conduct and remind what is unacceptable behavior; this may be public for practical reasons

  • Communicating to all participants that an incident has taken place and how we will act or have acted– this may be for the purpose of letting event participants know we are aware and are dealing with the incident; this communication may include naming any person who has been asked to stop or leave– this would be for the purpose of enabling us to enforce the action

  • Banning anyone from participating in SciOS-managed spaces, future events and activities, either temporarily or permanently.

  • No action


Please note that there are spaces and platforms on which the our has no way to control access. These include but are not limited to:

  • Social media platforms, e.g. Twitter, Facebook

  • Public GitHub repositories


In these venues, in addition to some of the other actions we can take above, we can:

  • Be the ones who/support participants to report issues to the venue

  • Support and encourage participants to block people

Appeals

Please contact contact@scios.tech if you would like to appeal a decision.

Acknowledgments and Updates

  • the eLife code of conduct

  • Anti-harassment policy from the Geek Feminism wiki

  • Whatever Chat GPT ate long before I asked it to make this more specific for our needs :)