Guidelines

ScienceForums.net reserves to right to enforce this policy as we see fit so that people may not use the letter of the rule to defeat the spirit of the rule.

Section 1: Purpose Statement
ScienceForums.net is dedicated to providing a forum for the discussion of all things scientific with the highest degree of integrity and respectability. We aim to provide all individuals, regardless of their education level, a forum to express their ideas and love of science.

Section 2: Posting
To maintain civility in discussions on SFN, the following rules are enforced:

1. Be civil.
   • No flaming. Refrain from insulting or attacking users in a discussion.
   • Avoid the use of vulgar language.
   • Slurs or prejudice against any group of people (or person) are prohibited.
   • Please refer to SFN's etiquette guide before posting.
2. Plagiarism/copyright violation is unacceptable. Paraphrasing is acceptable, but direct copying and passing others' work off as your own thoughts is not. Furthermore, changing what others have written for the purpose of misquotation is equally unacceptable.
3. Keep posts legal.
   • References to the personal commitment of an illegal activity are forbidden, with the following qualifications:
     • References to drug use are not permissible unless the references are scientific or otherwise useful as part of a discussion.
     • References involving felonies are not acceptable and will be removed.
     • Discussion of methods to circumvent restrictions made at any level, including school Internet filtering or parental controls, is prohibited.
   • Descriptions of the construction or synthesis of illegal or hazardous devices or chemicals are subject to removal at the discretion of the staff. Remember that many SFN readers do not have the scientific background to know the appropriate precautions and safety procedures; all posts should contain a warning of the potential hazards and safety considerations of any dangerous procedure.
4. The use of logical fallacies to prove a point is prohibited. The use of fallacies undermines an argument, and the constant use of them is simply irritating.
5. Stay on topic. Posts should be relevant to the discussion at hand. This means that you shouldn't use scientific threads to advertise your own personal theory, or post only to incite a hostile argument.
6. Posting pornography or other sexually explicit material intentionally (or linking directly to a site containing such material, either on the site itself or popups launched by that page) will result in a permanent ban from the site.
7. Advertising and spam is prohibited. We don't mind if you put a link to your noncommercial site (e.g. a blog) in your signature and/or profile, but don't go around making threads to advertise it. Links, pictures and videos in posts should be relevant to the discussion, and members should be able to participate in the discussion without clicking any links or watching any videos. Videos and pictures should be accompanied by enough text to set the tone for the discussion, and should not be posted alone. Users advertising commercial sites will be banned. Attached documents should be for support material only; material for discussion must be posted. Documents must also be accompanied by a summary, at minimum. Owing to security concerns, documents must be in a format not as vulnerable to security issues (PDF yes, microsoft word or rich text format, no).
8. Preaching and "soap-boxing" (making topics or posts without inviting, or even rejecting, open discussion) are not allowed. This is a discussion forum, not your personal lecture hall. Discuss points, don't just repeat them.
9. Registering more than one account to yourself is not permitted without administrative approval. "Sockpuppet" accounts (those registered with the intent of using them to spread the original member's ideas, or for other malicious purposes) will be banned on sight, as well as those registered to evade a ban.
10. Keep alternative science and your own personal conjecture to the appropriate forum (Speculations). Threads in the ordinary science forums should be answered with ordinary science, not your own personal hypothesis. Posting pet "theories" in mainstream science forums is considered thread hijacking.
11. Solicitations requiring non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements, or insisting that discussions must take place privately, are not permitted. We are here to discuss science, in the open (and "I have an idea, can someone do the math for me" typically woefully underestimates the amount of effort this involves).
12. We expect arguments to be made in good faith. Honest discussions, backed up by evidence when necessary. Example of tactics that are not in good faith include misrepresentation, arguments based on distraction, attempts to omit or ignore information, advancing an ideology or agenda at the expense of the science being discussed, general appeals to science being flawed or dogmatic, conspiracies, and trolling.
13.  

Please note that the above rules apply to all sections of the forum, including private messages.

Section 3: Rule Violations
Violations of the rules will be dealt with as follows:

1. Removal of post, if necessary, and personal message or post from staff giving a warning.
2. When an offense is committed despite repeated warnings, the user can be suspended from SFN for several days.
3. Further repeat offenses may result in a permanent ban from SFN.

Section 4: Contacting Staff
If you would like to report a forum policy violation, make use of the Report button under it. This will alert forum staff of the problem.

If you would like to report a copyright violation, or you need to speak with forum administrators for legal reasons, use the following address:

staff [at] scienceforums [dot] net

Section 5: Disclaimer and Copyright
ScienceForums.net staff will not be held liable for any damages, be they indirect, incidental, consequential, special, or exemplary that you may incur by using this site or information contained within. Opinions expressed by users do not always represent the opinions of ScienceForums.net staff. ScienceForums.net cannot verify the validity of all statements made and is not responsible for the accuracy or correctness of information contained in any threads, posts, private messages, or comments.

Unless otherwise specified, all content is copyrighted by its respective author, including all private messages, posts, and comments. By posting content on ScienceForums.net, you agree to grant ScienceForums.net usage rights to that content within the confines of the site, and other members the right to quote and respond to that content. Reposting or disseminating content from ScienceForums.net to other websites or through other media is not permissible without permission of the author. ScienceForums.net staff may be required to edit, move, or delete certain content to comply with forum rules or applicable law, but will not delete posts or accounts on request except to comply with rules or law. Flying monkeys are the responsibilities of their respective owners.

ScienceForums.net is based in the United Kingdom, and all posts must conform to the laws established there. Posts that violate United Kingdom law will be referred to the proper authority, regardless of the legal status of the post in the user's country if different from the United Kingdom.

Section 6: Privacy Policy
To facilitate normal operation and administration of the forum, ScienceForums.net keeps the IP addresses and email addresses used by forum members, as well as whatever personal information they choose to enter in their member profile. Member profiles are public and are not protected by this policy.

ScienceForums.net staff will neither release email or IP addresses, nor read or make public private messages, unless one or more of the following conditions applies:

• ScienceForums.net is ordered to do so by a court of law or required to do so by law
• Explicit consent is given by the users in question
• The data is necessary to protect ScienceForums.net or its staff from legal action
• The data is necessary to aid legal or administrative action wherein the user has violated ScienceForums.net policy, the policy of their Internet Service Provider, or applicable law.

ScienceForums.net will never release or sell private information to other companies or organizations except in the above cases.