OSAOS Event Code of Conduct

Danielle Robinson -

A Codes of Conduct (CoC) is a necessary part of any inclusive, professional gathering.  Here, we share the CoC we developed for this event and links to the resources that helped us develop it.

Code of Conduct

This Code of Conduct outlines our expectations for all attendees, including organizers, of any Open Source Alliance for Open Scholarship (OSAOS) event, both online and in-person regarding activities in relation to events. This code also details steps for reporting unacceptable behavior. Organizers will enforce this code throughout any OSAOS events. We expect cooperation from all participants to help ensure a safe environment for everybody.

We want to create a safe, professional space for people to learn from each other, and maintaining a high standard of professional behavior at events is critical to that goal. The organizers are committed to providing a harassment-free environment for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion, or work experience. We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any professional event. Event participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the event without any pecuniary reimbursement at the discretion of the conference organizers.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • Verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion or work experience.
  • Sexual images in public spaces
  • Deliberate intimidation, stalking or following
  • Harassing photography or recording
  • Sustained disruption of talks or other events
  • Uninvited physical contact
  • Unwelcome sexual attention
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

Anything that makes someone feel uncomfortable could be deemed harassment. For more information about what constitutes harassment and examples, please refer to OpenCon’s Code of Conduct in Brief and the Gathering for Open Source Hardware’s examples of behavior.

Enforcement

Participants (including organizers) asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behavior, event organizers retain the right to take any actions to keep the event a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender or expulsion from the event without pecuniary reimbursement.

Event organizers may take action to redress anything designed to disrupt, or with the clear impact of disrupting, the event or making the environment hostile for any participants.

We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues (including online) and OSAOS-related social activities (including happy hour, dinners, and other peripheral events).

Reporting

If someone makes you or anyone else feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it as soon as possible. Harassment and other Code of Conduct violations reduce the value of our event for everyone. We want you to be happy at our event. People like you make our event a better place.

You can make a report either personally or anonymously. All reports will be handled with discretion.

Anonymous report

You can make an anonymous report here.

We can't follow up an anonymous report with you directly, but we will fully investigate it and take whatever action is necessary to prevent a recurrence.

Personal report

You can make a personal report directly in person or by email to community@codeforscience.org

Danielle Robinson and Joe Hand will both receive emails sent to this address.

The following people are the Event Safety Team. They will take the lead in receiving and acting on reports during the events:

  • Daniela Saderi, PREreview, cell: number redacted for blog post
  • Joe Hand, Code for Science & Society, cell: number redacted for blog post

Before the event, reports are being monitored by Danielle Robinson and Joe Hand, Co-Executive Directors of Code for Science & Society. Daniela Saderi and Kristen Ratan comprise the rest of the committee and will assist with enforcement of the code of conduct during the event.

When taking a personal report, organizers will ensure you are safe and cannot be overheard. They may involve other event staff to ensure your report is managed properly. Once safe, we'll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we'll handle it respectfully, and you can bring someone to support you. You won't be asked to confront anyone, you will not be left alone, and all reports will be handled with discretion.

In your report, please do your best to include:

  • Your contact information
  • Identifying information (e.g. names, nicknames, pseudonyms) of the participant who has violated the Code of Conduct
  • The behavior that was in violation
  • The approximate time of the behavior (if different than the time the report was made)
  • If possible, where the Code of Conduct violation happened
  • The circumstances surrounding the incident
  • Other people involved in the incident
  • If you believe the incident is ongoing, please let us know.
  • If there is a publicly available record (e.g. mailing list record, chat record), please include an image or link
  • Any additional helpful information

After you file a report, a representative will contact you personally to 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. We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse.

Local services

Our team will be happy to help you contact hotel/venue security, local law enforcement or local support services, to provide escorts, or otherwise assist you to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance.

Useful contact information:

  • In the event of an emergency, dial 911 for police, fire or ambulance services. Where possible, please consult with venue staff or event organizers first.
  • NYU Campus Public Safety can be reached 24/7 at 212-998-2222

Questions

For questions about codes of conduct, we recommend you check this Code of Conduct FAQ.

Acknowledgements

This Code of Conduct is based on the eLife 2018 Sprint Code of Conduct, which in turn is based on the example anti-harassment policy from the Geek Feminism wiki, created by the Ada Initiative and other volunteers (CC0) and the OpenCon 2017 Code of Conduct (CC-BY OpenCon organizers, SPARC and Right to Research Coalition).