CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md

Code of Conduct

As a community we welcome everyone, and encourage a friendly and positive environment.

This code of conduct outlines our expectations for participants, members, contributors, and leaders within the community, as well as steps to reporting unacceptable behaviour. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inspiring community for all and expect our code of conduct to be honored. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be banned from the community.

Our Pledge

We pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, social and economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.

Our open community strives to:

• Be friendly and patient.

• Be welcoming: We strive to be a community that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, colour, immigration status, social and economic class, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.

• Be considerate: Your work may be used by other people, and you, in turn, may depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions. One should focus on what is best not just for them as individuals, but for the overall community. Remember that we’re a bilingual community, so you might not be communicating in someone else’s primary language.

• Be respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences: Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behaviour and poor manners. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one. It is important to demonstrate empathy and kindness toward other people.

• Be careful in the words that we choose: We are a community of professionals, and we conduct ourselves professionally. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Public or private harassment and other exclusionary behaviour aren’t acceptable. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Violent threats or language directed against another person,
  • Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
  • Discriminatory jokes and language,
  • The use of sexualized or violent language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind,
  • Posting (or threatening to post) other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”),
  • Personal insults, especially those using racist or sexist terms,
  • Unwelcome sexual attention,
  • Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting,
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour,
  • Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop.

• Try to understand why we disagree: Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time. It is important that we resolve disagreements and differing views constructively by giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback. Remember that we’re different. Diversity contributes to the strength of our community, which is composed of people from a wide range of backgrounds. Different people have different perspectives on issues. Being unable to understand why someone holds a viewpoint doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. Don’t forget that it is human to err and blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Instead, focus on helping to resolve issues and learning from mistakes.

Diversity Statement

We encourage everyone to participate and are committed to building a community for all. Although we will fail at times, we seek to treat everyone both as fairly and equally as possible. Whenever a participant has made a mistake, we expect them to take responsibility for it. If someone has been harmed or offended, it is important to apologize to those affected by our mistakes. By listening carefully and respectfully, and do our best to right the wrong, one is expected to learn from the experience.

Although this list cannot be exhaustive, we explicitly honor diversity in age, gender, gender identity or expression, culture, ethnicity, language, national origin, political beliefs, profession, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and technical ability. We will not tolerate discrimination based on any of the protected characteristics above, including participants with disabilities.

Enforcement Responsibilities

Community leaders are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behaviour and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behaviour that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, physical and virtual, and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.

Reporting Issues

If you experience or witness unacceptable behaviour, or have any other concerns, please report it by contacting the community leaders 📧 [email protected]. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly. All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.

All reports will be handled with discretion. In your report please include:

• Your contact information.
• Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there are additional witnesses, please include them as well.
• Your account of what occurred, and if you believe the incident is ongoing.
• If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a mailing list archive), please include a link.
• Any additional information that may be helpful.

After filing a report, a representative will contact you personally, review the incident, follow up with any additional questions, and make a decision as to how to respond. If the person who is harassing you is part of the response team, they will recuse themselves from handling your incident. If the complaint originates from a member of the response team, it will be handled by a different member of the response team. We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse.

When necessary, a community leader will assist the person who filed a report to go to the Bureau d’intervention en matière de harcèlement (BIMH), the single point of contact for complaints at the University of Montreal since August 2019. Complaints can be filed, without limitation periods, for any violence of a sexual nature that has occurred in the course of university activities, whether on or off-campus. If one feels more comfortable to report an issue directly to the BIMH, they can visit their website (https://harcelement.umontreal.ca) or contact them directly (:phone: 514 343-7020; :e-mail: [email protected]).

Attribution & Acknowledgements

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Open Life Science and Contribuor Covenant Code of Conducts.