EM&J Posting Rules - 5/2004

Forum Rules
For all Sciforums members

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1. General

The following rules and guidelines for posting in the EM&J forum exist to create and maintain a high standard of interesting and informative debate on the topic of EM&J, whilst abiding by relevant laws and general standards of civility and common sense. These guidelines are informed by the desire to create an atmosphere of respect for the different opinions of the many posters to this forum.

Moderation may include editing, moving, and deletion of posts or threads. Whilst moderation takes place according to these guidelines, posts and threads are treated on a case-by-case basis, in an effort to create a balance between competing points of view and to treat all posters fairly, given all the circumstances. However, in posting here you accept that the Moderators have the final say, and can moderate your posts for any reason they think fit. No arguments will be entered into regarding moderation.

In general, posters will not be informed that their posts have been moderated. However, a reason for editing or deleting a post will usually appear with the relevant post in a thread.

Specific rules and guidelines follow.

2. Personal comments

Posts which attack a person rather than his or her views will be edited to remove the unnecessary personal remarks.

Examples of acceptable posts include:

• You are wrong to say that Palestinians are the aggressors, because ...
• You obviously don't understand Israeli security needs, because ...
• Saying what you said clearly displays your ignorance of ...

Examples of unacceptable posts include:

• You are a stupid hater of Palestinians, because you say muslims are violent.
• You're just another idiot who doesn't know anything about Israel.
• Anybody who'd write what you wrote must have severe psychological problems.

3. Stereotyping and name-calling

Be careful of assigning character features to another poster because of his or her membership of a group (such as a particular religious belief system). It is acceptable to point out similarities between members of groups, but only as long as this is backed up by some kind of argument or evidence. Posts which resort to name-calling will be edited or deleted. Unacceptable posts include:

• People like you are nothing more than blind followers of authority.
• All Jews want to rid the world of the Palestinian people.
• Muslims (like you) are mindless fools who don't believe in the real God.

4. Goading, flaming and trolling

Posts which, in the moderator's opinion, serve no purpose other than to attempt to provoke an angry reaction from another poster, will be deleted.

5. Religious and ethnic hatred / Threats

Avoid posts which promote hatred among different religions, ethnic groups or nations.

All racial slurs will be deleted.

Any post threatening another poster in any way will be deleted, and an effort will be made to ban the poster from sciforums.

6. Gratuitous comments and images

Obscene, sexually-oriented or violent material will, in most cases, be removed. This is particularly applicable in the case of images.

7. Language

Cursing is tolerated. Excessive use of vulgar language will initially be edited. Posts that continue this trend will be deleted.

8. Cutting and pasting / plagiarism

a. General
Posting large verbatim extracts of text from other sites is undesirable for several reasons:

• It uses up storage space on SciForums.
• It duplicates information that is easily accessible elsewhere.
• It can disrupt the flow of a thread, because posters have to scroll through large amounts of text that they may not wish to read.
• It may breach copyright laws.

Therefore, we ask that posters abide by the following guidelines:

• All quotes from other sites must be attributed (e.g. by posting a link to the site).
• Quoted text should be restricted to a few lines or a paragraph unless the poster is quoting the text along with his or her, own detailed analysis (interspersed with the text).
• Avoid verbatim reproduction of entire posts of other posters (e.g. from earlier in a thread). If you want to dissect a post, it is fine to split it into different parts, but do not simply quote the entire post and then add a one or two line comment.

Posts which deviate from these guidelines will be edited or deleted.

b. Quoting texts

Large extracts from texts will be removed, as these are readily available on the web and elsewhere.

c. Plagiarism

Plagiarism consists of copying another person's writings and passing them off as your own. If you post something somebody else has written, you must name the author, and preferably also reference the source. Posts which include material from elsewhere that is not properly acknowledged in this way will be deleted.

9. Off-topic posts

Posts that interrupt a serious thread with inane comments that in no way, shape, or form relate to the original topic, will be deleted.

10. Repeated posts and topics

The moderators recognise that many topics in the EM&J forum are variations on a theme. That is to be expected in this kind of forum. However, topics which are mere cut-and-pastes from previous thread topics may be deleted or merged with a previous thread. Simiarly, cross-posting of the same message in multiple threads will result in the deletion of one or more of the repeated posts.

11. Interfering with moderation

Changing a moderator's edit for any reason may result in your immediate banning from sciforums.

12. Repeat offenders

The moderators here are not paid for their work, and have limited time. We do not look kindly on posters whom we have to watch continually for breaches of the forum rules. If we find that your posts are requiring continual moderation attention, you will first be warned by personal message. If the inappropriate posts continue, you will be banned.

13. Freedom of speech

You are free to post or not to post on sciforums. However, posting here is a privilege, not a right. As such, by posting you agree to abide by the forum rules. Yes, this restricts your freedom of speech to a certain extent. If you cannot accept the restrictions which are in place, our advice is to find an alternative forum which suits you better, or start your own site.

14. Feedback & response

Please be aware that you have various options for giving your feedback and perspective on Sciforums, its moderation and administration, and its rules. SciForums Open Government is available for proposed rules and procedures. Site Feedback is available for questions and issues concerning technical aspects or problems users encounter. The EM&J moderator is available via Sciforums Private Message, and also e-mail. (Note: In all honesty, Private Messages are the preferred method, and will be found and therefore given response more quickly.)

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We hope that you will enjoy your time on the EM&J forum and at Sciforums. The quality of your posts make this forum what it is.