Code of Conduct for deRSE

If you have a question about the code of conduct or wish to report misconduct, please email vorstand@de-rse.org.

Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down others. Behave professionally. Remember that harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary jokes are not appropriate for our community.

All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate.

The deRSE Association is dedicated to providing a harassment-free community for everyone, regardless of sex, age, ability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and parenthood, race, religion or belief (or lack thereof), gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, technical choices, experience level or any other dimension of diversity. We do not tolerate harassment of community members in any form.

Thank you for helping make this a welcoming, friendly community for all.

Expected behaviour

All participants in our events and communications are expected to show respect and courtesy to others and all interactions should be professional, both online and in-person.

The following kinds of behaviours in all deRSE events and communication channels are encouraged:

• Focus on what is best for the community
• Show courtesy and respect towards every member of the community
• Be respectful of different viewpoints and experiences
• Gracefully accept constructive criticism
• Use welcoming and inclusive language
• Adhere to the Code of Conduct and report incidents promptly
• Be direct, but professional
• Ask for consent and respect people’s boundaries
• Be aware of the dynamics of power and privilege (be mindful of how much time and space you are taking up)

Unacceptable behaviour

Examples of unacceptable behaviour include:

• Publication of private communication without consent
• Excessive Swearing
• Improper gestures
• Use of stereotypes
• Incitement to violence, suicide or self-harm
• Sustained disruptions of talks, workshops events or communications
• The display of violent images
• Causing someone to fear for their safety through stalking, following, intimidation, or threatening
• Unwelcome and repeated flirtations, propositions, advances, or other sexual attention – including gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour
• Non-consensual or unwelcome physical contact
• Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or exclusionary jokes
• Continuing to initiate interaction with someone after being explicitly asked to stop
• Offensive, insulting, derogatory, or degrading remarks
• Demands for sexual favours in exchange for favourable or preferential treatment
• Advocating for, or encouraging any of the above behaviours

Consequences of Unacceptable Behaviour

Participants who are asked to stop any inappropriate behaviour are expected to comply immediately. This applies to any event or communication channel, either online or in-person. If an event participant engages in behaviour that violates this Code of Conduct, the organisers may warn the offender or ask them to leave the event (without refund) or communication channel.

Corporate engagement

The online community is not an appropriate place for recruiters, marketing professionals or sales executives. It is fine to advertise jobs from your own employer or projects that you are part of, that are relevant to the community, via the appropriate communication channels.

Our members have expressed this preference and we ask you to respect this. Please do not be offended if your request for access directs you to this section of the code of conduct to confirm you have understood how to engage with the community.

If you are joining as an industrial member we ask that you abide by the following rules and etiquette.

1. Do not use the community communication channels to advertise products or services associated with your organisation. This means, do not use the communication channels for sales.
2. Do not directly approach members about products or services unless invited by a member to discuss them.
3. Sharing of events and training opportunities is encouraged, however any events should be promoted in the #events room and should be of specific interest to the RSE community (ideally organised with RSE involvement).
4. Do not advertise corporate led communities and or certification schemes.

It is considered good practice to introduce yourself in the #introductions room. This way our community will know to tag you in conversations where you can assist the community in a mutually beneficial way.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the individuals, communities, and projects whose work served as a basis or inspired this Code of Conduct:

• Society of Research Software Engineering, UK
• Mozilla participation guidelines, the Carpentries code of conduct and the OpenCon 2018 Code of Conduct which served as an inspiration
• Our section outlining our processes for responding to Code of Conduct violations were greatly inspired or derived from the PyCon 2019 code of conduct, the Geek Feminism Wiki created by the Ada Initiative, particularly their Conference anti-harassment section, and the Django project.
• Additional wording was inspired by the Rust Code of conduct

All under a CC-BY licence.