Last updated: Feb 2021

OME is a community of technology developers, imaging scientists and experimentalists dedicated towards building and using imaging data for discovery and insight. OME uses a variety of electronic forums and media (GitHub, Slack, Zoom, Trello, Image.sc and others) to mediate communication among its developers and its global user community. By using OME’s Slack, posting on OME’s GitHub repositories, participating in Zoom calls hosted by OME, attending meetings and workshops either organised by OME or in which you participate as an OME team member, you agree to abide by the following Code of Conduct and the University of Dundee’s policies on “Dignity at Work and Study” and “Equality and Diversity”.

OME reserves the right to update this code of conduct at any time. When updates do occur (as pull requests against https://github.com/ome/.github), a message will be posted to the image.sc forum to notify OME developers and users.

This code of conduct applies to all spaces managed by OME and its collaborators. Violations of this code outside these spaces may affect a person's ability to participate within the OME-managed spaces.

At OME we do not have pages of policies or procedures. Instead we have short, guiding statements of our values and principles.

Always try to do the best work you can do, for you, for OME, and for our users.

Nothing is perfect. Be self-aware and always be respectful of others.

Act with compassion and respect for colleagues and users.

Be curious, and always be ready to change. There is always more to learn.

Be open and honest with others and most importantly, yourself.

The University of Dundee’s Dignity at Work and Study details the principles we work by, types of behaviours we won’t tolerate, and the mechanisms we will use for addressing any issues. For emphasis, we are relisting a few below:

Threats of violence towards another user is not acceptable. This includes encouraging violence towards a user(s) or posting/threatening to post other peoples personally identifying information (known as “Doxxing”).

There will always be times when two parties will have a difference of opinion. While this can be frustrating, this should never turn into a personal attack on someone. Attacking people for their opinions, personal beliefs, ideas, or suggestions is not acceptable. Please be professional and respectful at all times.

Harmful language towards a user’s:

• Background
• Family
• Gender Identity or Expression
• Sexual Orientation
• Race/Ethnicity
• Age
• Native Language
• Abilities
• National Origin
• Location
• Religion or culture / cultural beliefs
• Political affiliation and/or views
• Other personal attributes

is not acceptable.

If you see a Code of Conduct violation, follow these steps:

• Let the person know that what they did is not appropriate and ask them to stop and/or edit their message(s).
• That person should immediately stop the behavior and correct the issue.
• If this doesn’t happen, or if you’re uncomfortable speaking up, email codeofconduct@openmicroscopy.org. If your issue is with a member of OME’s senior management team, contact HR-Life-Sci@dundee.ac.uk.
• As soon as available, an admin will join, identify themselves, and take further action (see below).
• When reporting, please include any relevant details, links, screenshots, context, or other information that may be used to better understand and resolve the situation.

We will use the established University policies and procedures to handle all Code of Conduct violations.

Many OME team members are employees or contractors of the University of Dundee, and therefore bound by the University’s policies and procedures. OME will use the same policies for addressing any issues that arise with non-OME developers or users. OME may, according to these policies block usage, access to its developers, or participation in OME’s community resources. These decisions are final.

Slack and Zoom provide the ability for users to use Voice/Video Calling with the added ability to have screen sharing. Our rules for Expected and Unacceptable Behaviour apply in these and all the communication media we use. When using these features be mindful and respectful of others. Use good judgement when sharing your screen and be mindful of other windows that may be open on your computer containing sensitive or personal information.

OME is a grant funded project and thus the community support it offers is always “best effort”. OME aims to respond to all requests for information and support on public forums within 24 working hours. While OME developers are happy to assist where they can, please refrain from contacting OME staff on personal emails or messaging OME employees with direct questions. If you have a question about using OME’s work, understanding OME’s tools or directions, or just want to connect, please use a public forum like image.sc.

This Code of Conduct was forked from the policy from the Python Software Foundation Code of Conduct under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, with additional text from:

• Citizen Code of Conduct, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
• Contributor Covenant version 1.4, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
• Django Project Code of Conduct, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
• LGBTQ in Tech Slack Code of Conduct, licensed under a Creative Commons Zero License.