EPrints is a community governed software solution, governed under the general principles of Minimum Viable Governance (MVG).
MVG is a GitHub approach for putting lightweight governance into free and open source projects that are run in version control systems. It provides an overall two-tier organizational governance structure for a set of free and open source projects. At the top level (called an “organization” on GitHub), there is a technical steering committee to make decisions about the overall direction and coordination between all the organization’s projects. Underneath that top level are the individual projects, with lightweight, consensus-based governance.
Documentation relating to the EPrints Organization charter, code of conduct, Steering Committee membership, and so forth are reproduced below. The full MVG documentation for EPrints is available from GitHub.
MVG is licensed under a CC-BY 4.0 License.
Charter for the EPrints Organization
This is the organizational charter for the EPrints Organization (the “Organization”). Steering Committee members agree as follows.
1. Mission
Promote and guide the continued development of the EPrints platform in providing excellence, control, and flexibility for the dissemination of all research outputs.
2. Steering Committee
2.1 Purpose. The Steering Committee will be responsible for all technical oversight, project approval and oversight, policy oversight, and trademark management for the Organisation.
2.2 Composition. The Steering Committee voting members are listed below, and in the Steering Committee file in the repository. Voting members may be added or removed by no less than 3/4 affirmative vote of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will appoint a Chair responsible for organizing Steering Committee activity.
3. Voting
3.1. Decision Making. The Steering Committee will strive for all decisions to be made by consensus. While explicit agreement of the entire Steering Committee is preferred, it is not required for consensus. Rather, the Steering Committee will determine consensus based on their good faith consideration of a number of factors, including the dominant view of the Steering Committee and nature of support and objections. The Steering Committee will document evidence of consensus in accordance with these requirements. If consensus cannot be reached, the Steering Committee will make the decision by a vote.
3.2. Voting. The Steering Committee Chair will call a vote with reasonable notice to the Steering Committee, setting out a discussion period and a separate voting period. Any discussion may be conducted in person or electronically by text, voice, or video. The discussion will be open to the public. In any vote, each voting representative will have one vote. Except as specifically noted elsewhere in this Charter, decisions by vote require a simple majority vote of all voting members.
4. Termination of Membership
In addition to the method set out in section 2.2, the membership of a Steering Committee member will terminate if any of the following occur:
4.1 Resignation. Written notice of resignation to the Steering Committee.
4.2 Unreachable Member. If a member is unresponsive at its listed handle for more than three months the Steering Committee may vote to remove the member.
5. Trademarks
Any names, trademarks, service marks, logos, mascots, or similar indicators of source or origin and the goodwill associated with them arising out of the Organization’s activities or Organization projects’ activities (the “Marks”), are controlled by the Organization. Steering Committee members may only use the Marks in accordance with the Organization’s trademark policy. If a Steering Committee member is terminated or removed from the Steering Committee, any rights the Steering Committee member may have in the Marks revert to the Organization.
6. Antitrust Policy
The Steering Committee is bound by the Organization’s antitrust policy.
7. No Confidentiality
Information disclosed in connection with any of the Organization’s activities, including but not limited to meetings, Contributions, and submissions, is not confidential, regardless of any markings or statements to the contrary.
8. Project Criteria
In order to be eligible an Organization project must:
- Be approved by the Steering Committee.
- Agree to follow the guidance and direction of the Steering Committee.
- Use only the following outbound licenses or agreements unless otherwise approved:
- For code, a license on the Open Source Initiative’s list of Popular Licenses.
- For data, a license on the Open Knowledge Foundation’s list of Recommended Conformant Licenses.
- For specifications, a community developed and maintained specification agreement, such the Open Web Foundation Agreements or Community Specification Agreement.
- Include and adhere to the Organization’s policies, including the trademark policy, the antitrust policy, and the code of conduct.
9. Amendments
Amendments to this charter, the antitrust policy, the trademark policy, or the code of conduct may only be made with at least a 3/4 affirmative vote of the Steering Committee.
EPrints Organization Steering Committee
This section lists the members of the Organization’s Steering Committee. Voting members may be added once approved by the Steering Committee as described in the charter. Steering Committee members agree to abide by all Organization polices, including the charter, the code of conduct, the trademark policy, and the antitrust policy. If you are serving on the Steering Committee because of your affiliation with another organization (designated below), you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these policies.
| NAME | Handle | ORCID | Affiliated Organization | ROR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rory McNicholl | @cziaarm | https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7918-6597 | CoSector, University of London | https://ror.org/04cw6st05 |
| Prof. Justin Bradley | @jb4 | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3639-6962 | EPrints Services, University of Southampton | https://ror.org/01ryk1543 |
| George Macgregor | @geo-mac | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8482-3973 | University of Glasgow | https://ror.org/00vtgdb53 |
| Tomasz Neugebauer | @photomedia | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9743-5910 | Concordia University | https://ror.org/0420zvk78 |
| Kate Petherbridge | https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5880-5053 | White Rose Libraries | ||
| John Salter | @jesusbagpuss | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8611-8266 | White Rose Libraries / University of Leeds | https://ror.org/024mrxd33 |
Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct
Our Pledge
We as members, contributors, and leaders pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.
Our Standards
Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:
- Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people
- Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
- Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback
- Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes, and learning from the experience
- Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the overall community
Examples of unacceptable behavior include:
- The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind
- Trolling, insulting or derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
- Public or private harassment
- Publishing others’ private information, such as a physical or email address, without their explicit permission
- Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting
Enforcement Responsibilities
Community leaders are responsible for clarifying and enforcing our standards of acceptable behavior and will take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any behavior that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.
Community leaders have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, and will communicate reasons for moderation decisions when appropriate.
Scope
This Code of Conduct applies within all community spaces, and also applies when an individual is officially representing the community in public spaces. Examples of representing our community include using an official e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event.
Enforcement
Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported to the community leaders responsible for enforcement. These leaders currently comprise members of the EPrints Organization Steering Committee. Complaints can be raised with any of the following members:
- Justin Bradley
- George Macgregor (Interim Steering Group Chair)
- Rory McNicholl
- Tomasz Neugebauer
- Kate Petherbridge
- John Salter
All complaints will be reviewed and investigated promptly and fairly.
All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of the reporter of any incident.
Enforcement Guidelines
Community leaders will follow these Community Impact Guidelines in determining the consequences for any action they deem in violation of this Code of Conduct:
1. Correction
Community Impact: Use of inappropriate language or other behavior deemed unprofessional or unwelcome in the community.
Consequence: A private, written warning from community leaders, providing clarity around the nature of the violation and an explanation of why the behavior was inappropriate. A public apology may be requested.
2. Warning
Community Impact: A violation through a single incident or series of actions.
Consequence: A warning with consequences for continued behavior. No interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, for a specified period of time. This includes avoiding interactions in community spaces as well as external channels like social media. Violating these terms may lead to a temporary or permanent ban.
3. Temporary Ban
Community Impact: A serious violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior.
Consequence: A temporary ban from any sort of interaction or public communication with the community for a specified period of time. No public or private interaction with the people involved, including unsolicited interaction with those enforcing the Code of Conduct, is allowed during this period. Violating these terms may lead to a permanent ban.
4. Permanent Ban
Community Impact: Demonstrating a pattern of violation of community standards, including sustained inappropriate behavior, harassment of an individual, or aggression toward or disparagement of classes of individuals.
Consequence: A permanent ban from any sort of public interaction within the community.
Attribution
This Code of Conduct is adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 2.1, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/2/1/code_of_conduct.html.
Community Impact Guidelines were inspired by Mozilla’s code of conduct enforcement ladder.
For answers to common questions about this code of conduct, see the FAQ at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/faq. Translations are available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/translations.