In order to provide the best possible experience for everyone, we’ve established a few sensible guidelines. For those who are familiar with discussion forums, these guidelines may be second nature. For those new to the architecture of academic community member forums, these simple conventions will accelerate your onboarding.

• Use mindful and inclusive language. Be respectful of others’ ethnic, gender, religious, or political stances, and stay on the topic at hand.
• Your posts should encourage new perspectives through civil and productive dialog. Remember that text written in ALL CAPS is the online equivalent of yelling, and is considered impolite.
• Be mindful of the contact information shared in public spaces. Be sure that the contact information you put for yourself or on your data is one that you are comfortable with anyone seeing. We encourage this type of information to be shared in more private conversation, but it is ultimately your decision.
• When replying, only include the relevant sections of the original post in your reply. This makes following a thread easier and less repetitious.
• It’s a good idea to read an entire topic thread before replying. This way you will avoid repeating what another forum participant has already expressed.
• When your comments incorporate the intellectual property of others (data sets, articles, scholarly papers etc.) –online or in print –please include proper attribution.
• You can advance ideas and stimulate thinking by providing supporting evidence or examples for your perspectives.
• Review your comments thoroughly before you post to ensure they reflect the message you are trying to communicate.