User:Howard C. Berkowitz/C2

Mission statement
The Citizendium is a collaborative expert-guided effort to collect, structure, and update knowledge and to render it conveniently accessible to the public for free. It is created by volunteers called Citizens, who contribute under their real names and agree to a social covenant.

Fundamental policies
if we do decide on a covenant or other agreement, it would go here

Elements of the covenant

 * The Citizendium encourages contributions by any Citizen to article drafts at any time.


 * To establish trust, contributors register under their real name and are required to participate in a civil manner.


 * The Citizendium seeks to be a trusted resource, and, for that reason, it commits to respect expertise and the use of expert guidance for quality control.


 * Citizendium content will be presented in context, and not as advocacy of any position.
 * All entries at Citizendium should engage their subjects comprehensively, neutrally, and objectively to the greatest degree possible. This entails providing full explanations of the facets of an article's subject that experts judge significant, as well as highlighting important connections to other topics.


 * While the basic content provided at the Citizendium is intended for an audience with completed secondary education, more specialized content is welcome.


 * Integration of the Citizendium with teaching and research is encouraged, as long as these activities do not diminish the user experience of non-experts using non-specialized content.


 * As far as possible, special needs of visually or otherwise impaired users and of machines will be taken into account.

Membership

 * Citizendium membership is open to anyone. We believe that everyone has knowledge to share, regardless of educational attainment, professional experience, or any other factor.


 * All members register and contribute to the project under their real names.
 * This energizes the creation of a vibrant community and encourages professional behavior.


 * The Citizendium community recognizes the special role that subject matter experts play in assuring that the site’s contents meet these standards.
 * We recognize two important types of expertise: broad knowledge and deep knowledge. Experts with broad knowledge of one or more domains of knowledge help us ensure that the topics of our articles are presented in the scientific, philosophical, cultural and methodological contexts in which professionals discuss them.  Experts with deep knowledge of specific topics help us make sure that we have all of the relevant facts and that we present them correctly.  Many people have both types of knowledge.  Official recognition of expertise shall be based on guidelines established by the Editorial Council.


 * Contributors must act responsibly and professionally.
 * Derogatory or offensive commentary is impermissible: inappropriate material shall be removed at the discretion of the constabulary.

Style

 * All entries at Citizendium should engage their subjects comprehensively, neutrally and objectively to the greatest degree possible.
 * Comprehensiveness entails providing full explanations of all facets of a subject that experts judge significant. Furthermore, each topic should be represented as a complex whole rather than a simple conglomeration of its parts: a good Citizendium entry will illustrate how different aspects of its topic fit together and highlight applications and connections to other topics. It will also be neutral, which means it will not align with any one position if there is controversy amongst experts concerning some aspect of its topic. Instead, it will remain objective, describing each relevant position without skewing the presentation toward the personal beliefs or positions of the author(s). In short, entries should present the big picture, including all relevant perspectives, and should be carefully crafted and bias-free. Citizendium is not a place for advocacy or for advertisement.


 * Unnecessarily complicated presentation should be avoided.
 * Citizendium material is intended for the general public and should be constructed so as to maximize accessibility. The basic content provided at the Citizendium is intended for an audience with completed secondary education. More specialized material is welcome but it should be presented without unnecessary jargon and should be contextualized through prominent links to entries that explain background information and related non-specialist material.


 * As far as possible, special needs of visually or otherwise impaired users and of machines will be taken into account.

Content development

 * Citizendium is a multimedial collaborative project, open to constructive contributions by any Citizen to any of its content at any time.
 * We trust members of the Citizendium community to act in good faith and we encourage them to be bold in contributing to the project but we also require professional behavior. This entails acceptance of guidance from experts and from the wider Citizendium community as well as the obligation to remain civil and constructive even in cases of dispute.


 * The collaborative environment in which we develop our articles is an important part of the Citizendium community.
 * Just like other user-generated websites, we rely on the contributions of many different people spread out around the world, working at different times and in different ways. Some of these contributions are very small while others are quite extensive. Some reflect many years of professional experience while others are made by people who are just beginning to learn about a topic. All are important for the project. Cooperation and sensitivity to others are therefore very important and disruptive behavior is not tolerated.


 * Citizendium encourages all members to submit constructive criticism on all of its material.
 * Where appropriate, we encourage members to simply fix any mistakes they find as they browse the site but we insist that potentially controversial changes (such as the deletion of a large block of text or the reorientation of text describing a contentious topic) be discussed ahead of time with any other contributors who are also at work on the article and, if possible, with an appropriate editor. If a dispute arises, we defer to expertise.


 * Experts guide the development of Citizendium entries in a transparent manner.
 * Authors are encouraged to seek out the guidance of subject matter experts and experts are encouraged to offer advice whenever they are comfortable doing so. Experts and non-experts should work together as partners in the development of balanced articles; overbearing behavior by either party is unconstructive and unacceptable.


 * Integration of the Citizendium with teaching and research is encouraged as long as it adheres to the principles of this charter.