Open Repositories (OR) is dedicated to providing a welcoming and positive experience for everyone, whether they are in a formal session or a social setting, are taking part in activities online or in person, or are conference staff or hosts. OR participants come from all over the world and bring with them a wide variety of professional, personal and social backgrounds; whatever these may be, we treat colleagues with dignity and respect. We all represent the OR community. OR does not tolerate harassment and discrimination in any form.

We the OR community:

  • Encourage discussions that focus on the work, not the person.
  • Practice active listening and engagement.
  • Assume good intentions, but own negative effects.
  • Give credit where credit is due.
  • Value openness and transparency.
  • Support one another’s work and welcome support for our own.
  • Strive to express ourselves simply and clearly.

International Participation

OR participants communicate primarily in English, though for many of us this is not our native language. We therefore strive to express ourselves simply and clearly, remembering that unnecessary use of jargon, acronyms, country specific terminology, and slang will be a barrier to understanding for many of our colleagues. We are sensitive to the fact that the international nature of OR means that we span many different social norms around language and behaviour and we strive to conduct ourselves in ways that are unlikely to cause offence.

Behaviours not tolerated

Discrimination and harassment are not tolerated in any form. Discrimination and harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • offensive verbal comments related to sex, gender, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, age, race, religion;
  • sexual or discriminatory images, video, or text;
  • deliberate intimidation;
  • deliberate misgendering;
  • stalking;
  • harassing photography or recording;
  • sustained disruption of talks or other events;
  • inappropriate physical and online contact; and, 
  • unwelcome sexual attention.

Use of Generative AI

OR is a forum for open discussion between humans. Therefore, generative artificial intelligence tools are not allowed in any online or hybrid conference sessions, whether to participate in the debate or to take notes. This protects participants who may not wish their comments to be added into the data training pools of these tools. OR also expects authors and presenters to follow academic best practice standards for transparency, including not to present completely or largely AI generated content as their own and to cite the use of AI clearly.

How to report a violation of the code of conduct

If you witness or experience a Code of Conduct violation, please report it as soon as possible using any of the methods below.

Report to session chairs

If the issue occurs during a conference session, report it to the session chairs (labeled as “Hosts and Panelists” in webinars and “Host and co-hosts” in meetings) via a private chat message. Depending on the situation, session chairs may remove and/or report the incident to the OR Code of Conduct committee.

Report via Zoom Events

Any attendee can report a Code of Conduct incident from within the Zoom Events platform at any time during the conference. To report a Code of Conduct violation from within Zoom Events:

  • In the upper right corner of the Lobby, click the 3 lines menu icon in the upper right and choose Report Incident.
  • Complete the incident form to the best of your ability. Include this information if possible:
    • In the “Who do you want to report?” field, enter the user’s screen name as it appeared in the session or chat interaction.
    • In the “Please add detail…” field, include where the interaction occurred (ex, within a live session, chat, email etc) and as much detail as possible.
    • Attach screenshot(s) of the offensive content, if available.

Incident reports will be reviewed by the OR code of conduct committee and the chair/vice-chair. The attendee will be removed from the event if needed.

Report via email

If you are not able to use one of the methods above, email the code of conduct committee at
open-repositories-code-of-conduct@googlegroups.com