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Acceptable Use Policy

The Company of Biologists Limited
Acceptable Use Policy; The Node, preLights, FocalPlane, Sustainable Conferencing Initiative and Mastodon instance

1. Use of the Node, preLights, FocalPlane, Sustainable Conferencing Initiative and Mastodon instance

This Acceptable Use Policy (referred to below as the “Policy”) shall apply to the use by you of the blog contained at the URL https://thenode.biologists.com (“the Node”, including “the Node Network”), https://prelights.biologists.com/ (“preLights”), https://focalplane.biologists.com (“FocalPlane”, including “the FocalPlane Network”), https://sustainability.biologists.com/ (“Sustainable Conferencing Initiative”) and posts on https://biologists.social (“the Mastodon instance”).

The Node, preLights and FocalPlane are made available to you by or on behalf of The Company of Biologists Limited of Bidder Building, Station Road, Histon, Cambridge, United Kingdom CB24 9LF (“the Company”, “we” or “us”). As community sites for the biological community they should only be used for relevant professional purposes.

This Policy should be read in conjunction with the Privacy Policy which can be read here, and the Terms and Conditions which can be viewed here, all of which shall apply to you as if set out here in full. The Mastodon instance has its own Privacy Policy and User Guidelines.

We may modify this Policy at any time at our absolute discretion and without giving individual notice to you. However, we will use reasonable endeavours to notify you of any such changes by using the email address that you have provided us with to register onto the site. You will be deemed to have accepted any modifications if you continue to use the Node, preLights, FocalPlane, Sustainable Conferencing Initiative and/or Mastodon instance after the modifications have been posted.

2. Linking

You are permitted to incorporate links to other websites in your posts or comments uploaded onto the Node, preLights, FocalPlane and Sustainable Conferencing Initiative in the following cases:

-where such links are to your own personal webpage, to your biography and appearance on social media sites;
-where such links are to other relevant websites, including a conference website, or a link to a relevant article in a journal or to a relevant blog post on the same topic;

provided that in each case you comply with the terms of use of such other third party’s website when incorporating such links.

On preLights, each post will include a link to the content contained on bioRxiv, and most posts will include a link to the journal article once the featured preprint becomes published in a journal.

On FocalPlane you may include a link to a website for advertising purposes, provided that you have purchased the right to do so, and also obtained prior permission to do so from us, through submitting a request to our marketing department at advertising@biologists.com.

3. Monitoring

The Node

We are under no obligation to oversee or moderate the Node and we do not proactively monitor or edit any comments or posts made on the Node nor do we proactively monitor or edit changes to content made by a member of the Node Network after their first upload of information on their profile. Without prejudicing any general liability provisions contained in the Terms and Conditions, to the fullest extent permissible by law we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage caused due to the use of the Node by any user in contravention of the Terms and Conditions, and the Acceptable Use Policy.

However we do respond to reports of inappropriate comments or posts in accordance with the ‘complaints & take-down policy’ set out below. In addition, we may check comments and posts to ensure they fit the aims and scope of the Node, and may remove content that is irrelevant, clearly redundant with previous posts by the same contributor, or advertising material (see Terms and Conditions section 2.3.6). In such cases we will alert the contributor to our planned actions.

In addition however, we retain sole discretion at all times to remove comments or other content expeditiously, and/or suspend or terminate user accounts, where we consider that such content is unlawful or relates to an unlawful activity or we are made aware of the same (whether or not such content is reported to us).
On the Node Network, we check all Node Network member profiles and all content included on the member profiles when they are first uploaded and before they are made available to other registered users and members of the Node Network to ensure the entry is relevant to the purposes of the site.

preLights

Only members of the preLights community can post content, which is overseen but not moderated. All comments made by users on the posts are moderated.

Without prejudicing any general liability provisions contained in the Terms and Conditions of Use, to the fullest extent permissible by law we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage caused due to the use of preLights by any user in contravention of the Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, and the Acceptable Use Policy.

However, we do respond to reports of inappropriate comments or posts in accordance with the ‘complaints & take-down policy’ set out below.

In addition however, we retain sole discretion at all times to remove comments or other content expeditiously, and/or suspend or terminate user accounts, where we consider that such content is unlawful or relates to an unlawful activity or we are made aware of the same (whether or not such content is reported to us).

FocalPlane

We are under no obligation to oversee or moderate FocalPlane but all member accounts on FocalPlane are reviewed and need to be approved by us before they become live. We review advertising content before it is posted. However, we do not proactively monitor or edit any other comments or posts made on FocalPlane nor do we proactively monitor or edit changes to content made by a member of the FocalPlane Network after their first upload of information on their profile. Without prejudicing any general liability provisions contained in the Terms and Conditions, to the fullest extent permissible by law we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage caused due to the use of FocalPlane by any user in contravention of the Terms and Conditions, and the Acceptable Use Policy.

However, we do respond to reports of inappropriate comments or posts in accordance with the ‘Complaints and Take-down Policy’ set out below. In addition, we may check comments and posts to ensure they fit the aims and scope of the FocalPlane, and may remove content that is irrelevant, clearly redundant with previous posts by the same contributor, or advertising material (see Terms and Conditions section 2.3.6). In such cases we will alert the contributor to our planned actions.

In addition, however, we retain sole discretion at all times to remove comments or other content expeditiously, and/or suspend or terminate user accounts, where we consider that such content is unlawful or relates to an unlawful activity or we are made aware of the same (whether or not such content is reported to us).

On the FocalPlane Network, we check all FocalPlane Network member profiles and all content included on the member profiles when they are first uploaded and before they are made available to other users and members of the FocalPlane Network to ensure the entry is relevant to the purposes of the site.

Sustainable Conferencing Initiative

We are under no obligation to oversee or moderate the Sustainable Conferencing Initiative and its discussion forum, and we do not proactively monitor or edit any comments or posts made on the Sustainable Conferencing Initiative and its discussion forum nor do we proactively monitor or edit changes to content made by a member of the Sustainable Conferencing Initiative’s discussion forum after their first upload of information on their profile. Without prejudicing any general liability provisions contained in the Terms and Conditions, to the fullest extent permissible by law we expressly exclude our liability for any loss or damage caused due to the use of the Sustainable Conferencing Initiative and its discussion forum by any user in contravention of the Terms and Conditions, and the Acceptable Use Policy.

In addition, however, we retain sole discretion at all times to remove comments or other content expeditiously, and/or suspend or terminate user accounts, where we consider that such content is unlawful or relates to an unlawful activity or we are made aware of the same (whether or not such content is reported to us).

The Mastodon instance

Any messages that are posted on the Mastodon instance are the responsibility of the posting individual, and not of The Company of Biologists. However, we do respond to reports of inappropriate comments or posts in accordance with the ‘Complaints and take-down policy’ set out below. In addition, we may check comments and posts to ensure they fit the aims and scope of the Mastodon instance and may remove content that is not in accordance with the user guidelines as set out on the instance. In such cases we will alert the contributor to our planned actions.

4. Complaints and take-down policy

All published posts on the Node and FocalPlane contain a “Report post” link and all posts on preLights contain a “Report Content” link.
Both unregistered and registered users of any site can report any inappropriate content or posts on the sites by the following methods:

• On the Node by filling in the form at the above link or emailing us at thenode@biologists.com

• On preLights by filling in the form found at the above link or emailing us at preLights@biologists.com

• On FocalPlane by filling in a form found at the above link, or emailing us at focalplane@biologists.com

• On Sustainable Conferencing Initiative by emailing us at sustainability@biologists.com

Users of the Mastodon instance can report inappropriate content by emailing us at mastodon@biologists.com.

The Node
On the Node complaints about site content are handled in the following ways:

• When a post is reported, e-mails are sent to certain individuals including the Node Community Manager, the Executive Editor and Senior Editor of Development (collectively referred to below as “Moderators”);
• As soon as Moderators receive notification of a reported (or “flagged”) post or comment (whether by e-mail or through the site’s administration system), they will read the content that is being reported, and decide how to proceed, as follows:
• If the flagged content is obviously spam, it will be removed. User accounts created for the sole purpose of adding spam will be removed as well. If a user contributes regularly, and only posts spam once, they receive a warning. Repeat offenders lose the ability to write posts.
• If a comment or post is reported because it contains explicit and offensive language, threats, or other breaches of this policy or the Terms and Conditions, the Moderators may choose to remove the offending post or comment or parts of the post or comment and notify the author, or ask the author to rewrite a particular section.

• On the Node, there are some situations where flagged content may not be as straightforward to remove. These situations include (but are not limited to):
a) If removing flagged content would affect an ongoing discussion (For example: a post may have a lot of comments, and be linked from other sites, before someone flags it);
b) If Moderators do not reach a consensus on whether something needs to be removed or not; or
c) If the flagged content concerns a matter of scientific debate.
In such cases, the Moderators will contact the Node’s curators for advice, who will make the final decision on any contentious content when this decision cannot be made by the moderators alone. This process is described below.

• In some situations, the Moderators may request the help of curators to decide whether to remove content that has been reported as contentious, in accordance with the following policy considerations:

• For any given decision, the curators involved will be three, or at a minimum two, people from the following group: The Company of Biologists’ Publisher, Executive Editor of Development or Executive Editor of the Journal of Cell Science, Development Editor in Chief, a Development Editor or a Director of the Company of Biologists who is a member of the Development Advisory Group;
• No individual can be both a Moderator and curator in the same decision, and if the post or comment reported concerns a matter of scientific debate or research, at least one of the curators involved should be a working scientist;
• The time it takes to make a final decision on whether to remove content varies depending on the content and the people involved in the decision process, as follows:
a. Spam is removed as soon as possible;
b. Most other inappropriate content is dealt with within 24 hours of receiving the report if no curators are involved;
c. If curators are involved, a decision will be reached in 2 days if the matter is not one of scientific content, or up to one week if an academic expert needs to be consulted.

• In all situations described above, the Moderators may choose on a case by case basis to hide the reported content or have it remain visible for the duration of the decision period.

preLights
On preLights, complaints about site content are handled in the following ways:

• When a post is reported, e-mails are sent to certain individuals including the preLights Community Manager
• As soon as Moderators receive notification of a reported (or “flagged”) post or comment (whether by e-mail or through the site’s administration system), they will read the content that is being reported, and decide how to proceed, as follows:

• If a comment or post is reported because it contains explicit and offensive language, threats, or other breaches of this policy or the Terms and Conditions, the Moderators may choose to remove the offending post or comment or parts of the post or comment and notify the author, or ask the author to rewrite a particular section.

• On preLights, there are some situations where flagged content may not be as straightforward to remove. These situations include (but are not limited to):

a) If removing flagged content would affect an ongoing discussion (for example: a post may have a lot of comments, and be linked to from other sites, before someone flags it); or

b) If Moderators do not reach a consensus on whether something needs to be removed.

In such cases, the Moderators will contact preLights’ Curators for advice, who will make the final decision on any contentious content when this decision cannot be made by the Moderators alone. This process is described below.

In some situations, the Moderators may request the help of Curators to decide whether to remove content that has been reported as contentious, in accordance with the following policy considerations:

• For any given decision, the Curators involved will be three, or at a minimum two, people from the following group: The Company of Biologists’ Publisher, Executive Editor of Journal of Cell Science or Executive Editor of Development, or a Director of The Company of Biologists who is a member of the preLights Advisory Group;
• No individual can be both a Moderator and Curator in the same decision, and if the post or comment reported concerns a matter of scientific debate or research, at least one of the Curators involved should be a working scientist;

• The time it takes to make a final decision on whether to remove content varies depending on the content and the people involved in the decision process, as follows:

a) Most inappropriate content is dealt with within 24 hours of receiving the report if no Curators are involved;
b) If Curators are involved, a decision will be reached in two days if the matter is not one of scientific content, or up to one week if an academic expert needs to be consulted.

• In all situations described above, the Moderators may choose, on a case-by-case basis, to hide the reported content or have it remain visible for the duration of the decision period.

FocalPlane
On FocalPlane, complaints about site content are handled in the following ways:

• When a post is reported, e-mails are sent to certain individuals including the FocalPlane Community Manager, the Executive Editor and Senior Editor of Journal of Cell Science (collectively referred to below as “Moderators”);

• As soon as Moderators receive notification of a reported (or “flagged”) post or comment (whether by e-mail or through the site’s administration system), they will read the content that is being reported, and decide how to proceed, as follows:

• If the flagged content is obviously spam, it will be removed. User accounts created for the sole purpose of adding spam will be removed as well. If a user contributes regularly, and only posts spam once, they receive a warning. Repeat offenders lose the ability to write posts.
• If a comment or post is reported because it contains explicit and offensive language, threats, or other breaches of this policy or the Terms and Conditions, the Moderators may choose to remove the offending post or comment or parts of the post or comment and notify the author, or ask the author to rewrite a particular section.

• On FocalPlane, there are some situations where flagged content may not be as straightforward to remove. These situations include (but are not limited to):

a) If removing flagged content would affect an ongoing discussion (for example: a post may have a lot of comments, and be linked to from other sites, before someone flags it);
b) If Moderators do not reach a consensus on whether something needs to be removed; or
c) If the flagged content concerns a matter of scientific debate.
In such cases, the Moderators will contact FocalPlane’s Curators for advice, who will make the final decision on any contentious content when this decision cannot be made by the Moderators alone. This process is described below.

• In some situations, the Moderators may request the help of Curators to decide whether to remove content that has been reported as contentious, in accordance with the following policy considerations:

• For any given decision, the Curators involved will be three, or at a minimum two, people from the following group: The Company of Biologists’ Publisher, Executive Editor of Journal of Cell Science or Executive Editor of Development, Journal of Cell Science Editor-in-Chief, a Journal of Cell Science Editor or a Director of The Company of Biologists who is a member of the Journal of Cell Science Advisory Group;
• No individual can be both a Moderator and Curator in the same decision, and if the post or comment reported concerns a matter of scientific debate or research, at least one of the Curators involved should be a working scientist;
• The time it takes to make a final decision on whether to remove content varies depending on the content and the people involved in the decision process, as follows:

a) Spam is removed as soon as possible;
b) Most other inappropriate content is dealt with within 24 hours of receiving the report if no Curators are involved;
c) If Curators are involved, a decision will be reached in two days if the matter is not one of scientific content, or up to one week if an academic expert needs to be consulted.

• In all situations described above, the Moderators may choose, on a case-by-case basis, to hide the reported content or have it remain visible for the duration of the decision period.

Sustainable Conferencing Initiative

When a post or comment is reported (“Reported Content”), in the Sustainable Conferencing Initiative’s discussion forum, an e-mail is sent to the Sustainable Conferencing Officer. As soon as the Sustainable Conferencing Officer receives notification (whether by e-mail or through the site’s administration system) of Reported Content, they will acknowledge receipt of the notice relating to Reported Content, and they will review the Reported Content, and decide how to proceed, as follows:

  • If the flagged content is obviously spam, it will be removed. User accounts created for the sole purpose of adding spam will be removed as well. If a user contributes regularly, and only posts spam once, they receive a warning. Repeat offenders lose the ability to write posts and comments in the discussion forum.
  • If the Reported Content contains explicit or offensive language, threats, or other breaches of this policy or the Terms and Conditions, the Moderators may choose to remove the Reported Content or parts of it and notify the author, or remove the Reported Content and ask the author to rewrite a particular section.
  • There are some situations where flagged Reported Content may not be as straightforward to remove. These situations include (but are not limited to):
  1. a) If removing Reported Content would affect an ongoing discussion (for example a post may have a lot of comments, and be linked to from other sites, before someone flags it); or
  2. b) If, after consideration of the Reported Content, the Sustainable Conferencing Officer cannot make a decision on whether it should be removed.

In such cases, after making an initial assessment, the Sustainable Conferencing Officer will contact Sustainable Conferencing Initiative Curators for advice.  This process is described below:

  • A minimum of three Curators (two from the Sustainable Conferencing Committee and the Company Secretary), shall review the Reported Content.
  • The Sustainable Conferencing Officer cannot be a Curator.
  • If the Reported Content concerns a matter of scientific debate or research, at least one of the Curators involved should be a working scientist.
  • Once referred to them for advice, the Curators will make the final decision on the Reported Content and communicate this decision to the Sustainable Conferencing Officer to take the necessary action, as above.

The time it takes to make a final decision on whether to remove Reported Content varies depending on the content and the people involved in the decision process, as follows:

  1. a) The most high-risk content will be dealt with within 24 hours of receiving the report if no Curators are involved; and
    b) If Curators are involved, a decision will be reached in two days if the matter is not one of scientific content, or up to one week if an academic expert needs to be consulted.

In all situations described above, the Sustainable Conferencing Officer may choose, on a case-by-case basis, to hide the Reported Content or have it remain visible for the duration of the decision period.

The user who made the post or comment containing the Reported Content will be notified of the decision via email and will have 3 working days to appeal the decision by sending an email to sustainability@biologists.com with a relevant explanation to support the appeal. Any appeal will follow the same review process by the Curators as the initial decision making and will be considered by different Curators from the Sustainable Conferencing Committee to those involved in making the initial decision. The Sustainable Conferencing Officer will then review the decision following the appeal and take the necessary steps.

The Mastodon instance

Any user of the Mastodon instance can report a post or comment by email. When this happens, the Moderator will acknowledge receipt of the notice relating to Reported Content, they will review the Reported Content, and decide how to proceed, as follows:

  • If the flagged content is obviously spam, it will be removed. User accounts created for the sole purpose of adding spam will be removed as well. If a user contributes regularly, and only posts spam once, they receive a warning. Repeat offenders’ accounts will be removed.
  • If the Reported Content contains explicit or offensive language, threats, or other breaches of this policy or the Terms and Conditions, the Moderators may choose to remove the Reported Content or parts of it and notify the author, or remove the Reported Content and ask the author to rewrite a particular section.
  • There are some situations where flagged Reported Content may not be as straightforward to remove. These situations include (but are not limited to):

a) If removing Reported Content would affect an ongoing discussion (for example a post may have a lot of comments, and be linked to from other sites, before someone flags it); or
b) If, after consideration of the Reported Content, the Moderator cannot make a decision on whether it should be removed.

In such cases, after making an initial assessment, the Moderator will contact Mastodon Curators for advice. This process is described below:

  • For any given decision, the Curators involved will be three , or at a minimum two, people from the following group: The Company of Biologists’ Publisher, a Managing Editor/Executive Editor of one of the Company’s journals, the Company Secretary or a Director of The Company of Biologists.
  • The Mastodon Moderator cannot be a Curator.
  • If the Reported Content concerns a matter of scientific debate or research, at least one of the Curators involved should be a working scientist.
  • Once referred to them for advice, the Curators will make the final decision on the Reported Content and communicate this decision to the Moderator to take the necessary action, as above.

The time it takes to make a final decision on whether to remove Reported Content varies depending on the content and the people involved in the decision process, as follows:

a) The most high-risk content will be dealt with within one business day of receiving the report if no Curators are involved; and
b) If Curators are involved, a decision will be reached in two business days if the matter is not one of scientific content, or up to one week if an academic expert needs to be consulted.

In all situations described above, the Moderator may choose, on a case-by-case basis, to hide the Reported Content or have it remain visible for the duration of the decision period.

The user who made the post or comment containing the Reported Content will be notified of the decision via email and will have three working days to appeal the decision by sending an email to mastodon@biologists.com with a relevant explanation to support the appeal. Any appeal will follow the same review process by the Curators as the initial decision making and will be considered by different Curators to those involved in making the initial decision. The Moderator will then review the decision following the appeal and take the necessary steps.

5. Use of the Node Network

Use by Registered Users of the Node Network is contingent on compliance with the provisions below.

Registered Users accessing the Node Network agree to use the content only for scientific/professional purposes and must not copy, download or store some or all of any records contained in the Node Network, or otherwise create their own records of any of the personal data that is available on the Node Network. Registered Users may contact Members of the Node Network via an email contact form or otherwise, and should in all cases refer to the Member’s current profile on the Node Network immediately prior to making contact. Registered Users may only contact Members on the basis of the current information contained in such Members profile, and may not refer back to other information that was previously contained in such Member’s profile which has since been removed or changed.

Registered Users may not incorporate links to their own or any other Member’s profile on the Node Network in any other web-page. However, Registered Users and Members may include links to their own personal webpage, to their biographies and appearance on social media sites in their profile, but no other website links may be included on the Node or Node Network.
Registered Users may only contact Members listed on the Node Network for professional and scientific purposes only.

Registered Users should be aware that some personal data that they are permitted to access on the Node Network comprises a special category of data (or sensitive data) and so in all cases must be used appropriately and for scientific and professional purposes only.

Please note that any emails that are sent by one Registered User to a Member of the Node Network via the website form on the Node Network site will not be monitored by The Company of Biologists, but will be stored by The Company of Biologists in case of any reported issues for a maximum of 3 months. The email will be deleted from The Company of Biologists’ systems after 3 months.

Any person not adhering to these terms and our other policies may be withdrawn from being able to access the Node Network, will be contacted, and where necessary details may be passed on to the relevant authorities. All Registered Users should only provide personal data relating to themselves and should not provide any personal data relating to any third party.

6. Use of the FocalPlane Network

Use by users and members of the FocalPlane Network is contingent on compliance with the provisions below.

Registered users and members accessing the FocalPlane Network agree to use the content only for scientific/professional purposes and must not copy, download or store some or all of any records contained in the FocalPlane Network, or otherwise create their own records of any of the personal data that is available on the FocalPlane Network. Users and members may contact members of the FocalPlane Network via an email contact form or otherwise, and should in all cases refer to the member’s current profile on the FocalPlane Network immediately prior to making contact. Users and members may only contact members on the basis of the current information contained in such member’s profile, and may not refer back to other information that was previously contained in such member’s profile which has since been removed or changed.

Users and members may not incorporate links to their own or any other member’s profile on the FocalPlane Network in any other web-page. However, users and members may include links to their own personal webpage, to their biographies and appearance on social media sites in their profile, but no other website links may be included on FocalPlane or the FocalPlane Network. Users and members may only contact members listed on the FocalPlane Network for professional and scientific purposes; marketing is not permitted.

Users and members should be aware that some personal data that they are permitted to access on the FocalPlane Network comprises a special category of data (or sensitive data) and so in all cases must be used appropriately and for scientific and professional purposes only.

Please note that any emails that are sent by one user or member to a member of the FocalPlane Network via the website form on the FocalPlane Network site will not be monitored by The Company of Biologists, but will be stored by The Company of Biologists in case of any reported issues for a maximum of 3 months. The email will be deleted from The Company of Biologists’ systems after 3 months.

Any person not adhering to these terms and our other policies may be withdrawn from being able to access the FocalPlane Network, will be contacted, and where necessary details may be passed on to the relevant authorities. All members should only provide personal data relating to themselves and should not provide any personal data relating to any third party.

7. Suspension and termination rights

Without prejudice to our rights of termination or suspension under the Terms and Conditions of Use, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate your user account, and your right to use the Node, preLights, FocalPlane, Sustainable Conferencing Initiative and/or the Mastodon instance, where in our discretion you have failed to comply with this Policy. This right does not preclude us from exercising any other right or remedy available to us at law.
We may also choose to limit or increase a user’s access to the site’s functionality, for example through disallowing posting to the front page of the Node, preLights, FocalPlane and/or Sustainable Conferencing Initiative while letting the user keep their account. This decision can be reverted at any time at the discretion of the Moderators.
If we deem that someone has been using the Node Network and/or the FocalPlane Network for inappropriate uses, we reserve the right to remove their user access or member profile from the site.

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