How we talk, check and fix information together

1.1Anyone may read the community, without an account.

Reading is open to everyone.

1.2Posting, commenting and voting require a verified CitePep account. Every post shows the account it comes from, contributor, reviewer, publisher or author, and, where relevant, the poster’s topic authority.

Verified to post. Your account type is always shown.

1.3You may use each of your own accounts, but only one person may control an account, and you may not create accounts to support your own posts or votes.

One person per account. No sockpuppets.

2.1The community is for questions and discussion about published information: whether a claim is accurate, which sources support it, how to explain it, and how to review and correct it.

Checking, explaining and fixing information.

2.2It is not a place for advertising, self-promotion, political campaigning, or advice to an individual about their own health, money or legal situation.

No ads, campaigns or personal advice.

3.1State facts with a source a reader can open. Where possible, cite the original, the study, dataset or official table, rather than a summary of it.

Cite the original, not a summary.

3.2A factual claim without a source may be marked as needing one. Repeatedly posting unsourced claims as fact may lead to posts being removed.

No source, no standing.

3.3Quote accurately and in context. Do not alter a quotation or present your reading of a source as the source itself.

Quote exactly; say what is yours.

3.4If you use an AI tool to draft a post, you are responsible for every claim in it, and you must check each source yourself.

You own what you post, however it was drafted.

4.1Disclose any connection to a page, publisher or person you discuss, as set out in the conflict of interest policy. Disclosures appear on your post.

Say how you are connected.

4.2Publishers post from their publisher account, marked as official. Staff of a publisher commenting personally must say so.

Official posts are labelled as official.

4.3Paid or incentivised posting, including posting on behalf of a client without saying so, is not permitted.

No paid posting.

5.1Reviewers must never mention, quote or hint at a manuscript they have reviewed or been offered, even without names or details.

Reviewers: never a manuscript. No exceptions.

5.2Authors must never post their review or quote from it. Describe the issue in your own general words.

Authors: never your review.

5.3Do not post personal information about anyone, contact details, workplace details beyond what is on their public profile, or private messages.

No one’s private details.

5.4Anonymous author posts hide your name from everyone except moderators, who can see it only to prevent abuse.

Anonymous to members; known to moderators.

6.1Criticise claims, methods and sources, not people. Disagree as specifically as you like; do not attack the person who made the claim.

Argue with the claim, not the person.

6.2Harassment, threats, discrimination and sustained hostility are removed and may lead to suspension.

Abuse is removed.

6.3Do not name individual reviewers, editors or journals negatively. Discuss the practice, not the person.

No naming and shaming.

7.1Helpful votes and thanks decide what is shown first. They never change anyone’s reputation, which comes only from work a publisher accepted.

Votes sort; they never score.

7.2Coordinated voting, trading votes, or voting from several accounts you control is not permitted and is reversed when found.

No vote rings.

8.1Each community has named moderators, shown beside the feed. Moderators must not act on threads where they have a conflict of interest.

Named moderators, never judging their own cases.

8.3Removals are recorded with a reason. Each community’s moderation log shows how many posts were removed and why, without naming anyone.

Moderation is logged, in public.

9.1Anyone signed in can report a post as unsourced, an undisclosed conflict, discussing a manuscript, or a personal attack. A moderator reviews every report, usually within one working day.

Report it; a person looks within a day.

9.2If your post was removed or your account restricted, you can appeal under the complaints policy within 30 days. Appeals are decided by someone not involved in the original decision.

Appeal within 30 days, to someone new.

10.1Any verified member can propose a community for a field. It opens once at least five verified experts in the topic have agreed to take part, and two of them to moderate.

Five experts to open, two to moderate.

10.2A community may add its own rules. It may not relax these guidelines.

Communities can add rules, never remove them.