CZ:Professionalism

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Citizendium differs from other online communities in its commitment to professional behavior—and its low tolerance for incivility and disruption. For there to be efficient content output and motivated contributors it is crucial that we treat each other "professionally," and each other's work respectfully.

The importance of professional behavior to the success of this project is such that uncivil and disruptive behavior can result in banning. See Constabulary Blocking Procedures. This page does not, lay out the standards and procedures for banning, but acts as a general guide to civil behavior for the use of contributors.

What behaviors are unprofessional?

There are some obvious cases. Consider some "Offenses that will result in an immediate ban" in our Constabulary Blocking Procedures:

• Extremely offensive insults or personal attacks; direct and harsh attacks on the moral character, or personal or professional credibility, of a project member; or any application of particularly crude and vulgar epithets ("four letter words") to project members. It does not matter whether these attacks are made using Citizendium resources or other resources.
• Threats, either of physical harm or of other egregious aggression, whether against an individual or a group of individuals.

Other examples are "Offenses that will result in a warning first, then a ban":

• Insults or personal attacks, on talk pages or other open forums, that are relatively mild, but that are still objectionable on the grounds that they aggressively impugn the moral character, or personal or professional credibility, of a project member. It does not matter whether these attacks are made using Citizendium resources or other resources.
• Disrespectful characterization of others' work on talk pages or other open forums. Note, mere criticism of a position or a forceful reply does not necessarily qualify as disrespectful; objectionable language has an implication of personal criticism, or can be reasonably taken to have such an implication.
• Talking to someone with disdain or disrespect, including ignoring the social norms of conversation when talking to them. For example, referring to someone by their surname rather than their first name as is the norm in conversation on Citizendium.

In general, professionalism involves refraining from remarks that are needlessly inflammatory and are unlikely to lead to any constructive outcome. The Constabulary considers remarks needlessly inflammatory if any reasonable person would know that the remarks might provoke an acrimonious and unhelpful (e.g., off-topic) controversy—in other words, a pointless "flame war."

Reversion and deletion as unprofessional behaviors

To "revert" a page is simply to undo all the edits that someone else has made. Doing so without warning or explanation is unprofessional because it demonstrates contempt for the person whose work was undone. If I spend ten minutes working on a page, and you simply undo my changes, you render my time spent pointless--which is tantamount to the claim that I spend significant time doing pointless things, and that your judgment is so superior to mine that you need not offer an explanation. Therefore, if you're tempted simply to revert what someone else has done, discussion on the talk page is warranted. Indeed, sometimes the polite way is to let the other person undo his or her own work, once a mistake is pointed out.

Of course, vandalism and egregious abuse can be instantly reverted (without explanation) by anyone. Explanation is preferred even in such cases, however.

If you find yourself the "victim" of an unexplained reversion, the best way forward is not to revert back, but to e-mail constables@citizendium.org--and let the constables do it. This will not only solve the problem, it will help ensure that the offending behavior is not repeated.

Similarly, deletion of others' work without explanation is clearly unprofessional, and deletion of more than 50 words can result in a warning, followed by a ban. Again, for you to delete, without a careful explanation, a paragraph--or article--that I have carefully crafted is essentially to assert that my work was wholly worthless, and that your judgment is so much more refined than mine that I am not owed an explanation. Your aggressive act places me into a defensive and hurt posture.

That just isn't professional behavior--something you don't have to be a professional to recognize.

Templates the Constabulary uses and what they mean

{{civil}} template

The victims of rudeness or personal attacks do not have to tolerate this behavior. This is not behavior we would tolerate from our fellows in a face-to-face situation; we will not tolerate it on the Citizendium, either. We wish to nip incivility in the bud, before it escalates. Therefore, it is essential that, rather than worsening the situation, you report a difficult user, or problematic action, to the constabulary (a mail to constables@citizendium.org will do the trick). Generally, constables may replace uncivil remarks with the {{civil}} template, which reads:

Text here was removed by the Constabulary on grounds of civility. (The author may replace this template with an edited version of the original remarks.)

{{nocomplaints}} template

If you must respond to poor behavior, please do so professionally. Please do not "take the law into your own hands" by criticizing others for their poor behavior. Complaints, even perfectly justifiable complaints, may be replaced by constables with the {{nocomplaints}} template, which reads:

A comment here was deleted by The Constabulary on grounds of making complaints about fellow Citizens. If you have a complaint about the behavior of another Citizen, e-mail constables@citizendium.org. It is contrary to Citizendium policy to air your complaints on the wiki. See also CZ:Professionalism.

{{inflammatory}} template

Additionally, poor behavior can be avoided in the first place if we avoid saying things that are needlessly inflammatory. Such "flame bait," as it has been called elsewhere on the Internet, may be replaced by constables with the {{inflammatory}} template, which reads:

Text here was removed by the Constabulary on grounds that it is needlessly inflammatory. (The author may replace this template with an edited version of the original remarks.)

{{freshstart}} template

Finally, conversations that are broadly violative of the professionalism policy may be replaced with {{freshstart}}, which reads:

The Constabulary has removed a conversation here that either in whole or in part did not meet Citizendium's Professionalism policy. Feel free to remove this template and take up the conversation with a fresh start.

Occasionally, innocent comments will be deleted in a "freshstart." We're sorry if this happens, but it's better than being choosy about what to delete and then having to defend the fairness of the choice. It's a fresh start, and that means a clean slate. You can make the same points again (politely, of course), if you feel it's necessary.

How to criticize work without being rude

Some might balk at the guidelines here, saying that it is unreasonable to ask people to treat really bad work respectfully. Won't justifiable criticism of bad work necessarily sound rude?

Not necessarily. It is possible to explain what is wrong with appallingly bad text in strictly objective terms. That is, after all, what professionals do. There is no particular reason to characterize a position as "nonsense" or "ill-informed"--that is disrespectful. It is much more preferable to couch criticisms in a way that is less likely to provoke a defensive reaction, such as "I have to disagree" or "I've never heard that claim before" or "With respect, I don't think you will find any X-ologists agreeing with you."

Most important, a rational criticism of the unacceptable work must be made, and an alternative offered--either in finished text or in an outlined plan.

Finally, if you take the view that some text should simply be removed, do not become abusive. Please take it up with an editor or constable (see Article Deletion Policy to determine which).

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