update: Update page about affiliation and incubation

pages/projects/affiliation/index.md

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 # Open Science Labs Project Affiliation Program
 
-Open Science Labs (OSL) is excited to introduce the Project Affiliation Program,
-designed to support and promote projects that align with our mission of
-fostering open science, open source, and technology. This program aims to create
-a collaborative ecosystem where affiliated projects can thrive through various
-support mechanisms.
+The Open Science Labs (OSL) Project Affiliation Program is for independent
+open-source projects that align with OSL's mission and want to be connected to
+the OSL ecosystem.
 
-## Program Benefits
+Affiliation is a lightweight relationship. It gives aligned projects visibility,
+community connection, and access to OSL opportunities, while project governance,
+maintenance, technical decisions, releases, and roadmap ownership remain with
+the project's own maintainers.
 
-Affiliated projects will have access to a range of benefits, including:
+> **Affiliation is a relationship, not a transfer of ownership.**
 
-- **Participation in the OSL Internship Program:** Affiliated projects can
-  become part of our internship program, gaining access to enthusiastic interns
-  eager to contribute and learn.
+## Purpose
 
-- **Eligibility for OSL Grants:** Projects will be eligible to apply for future
-  funding opportunities through the **OSL Grants Program**, supporting further
-  development and growth.
+The purpose of affiliation is to:
 
-- **Promotion and Visibility:** OSL will actively promote affiliated projects
-  through our social media channels and at events organized by OSL, increasing
-  their visibility within the community.
+- recognize projects aligned with open science, open source, education,
+  research, public-interest technology, or related infrastructure;
+- help contributors discover healthy projects;
+- allow projects to participate in OSL opportunities when appropriate;
+- create pathways for collaboration between maintainers, contributors, mentors,
+  researchers, and partner organizations;
+- promote projects that share OSL's values of openness, inclusion, learning,
+  mentorship, and responsible maintenance.
 
-- **More Benefits to Come:** We are continuously working on adding more
-  advantages to this program and will announce new benefits as they become
-  available.
+## Benefits
+
+Affiliated projects may receive:
+
+- **Project directory listing**: inclusion in the OSL public project list.
+- **Visibility and promotion**: amplification through OSL channels, events, blog
+  posts, demos, or community updates when relevant.
+- **Program eligibility**: ability to submit project ideas for OSL internships,
+  Google Summer of Code, grants, sponsorship opportunities, or similar programs
+  when available.
+- **Community access**: connection with the OSL Discord community and related
+  contributor networks.
+- **Collaboration opportunities**: introductions to mentors, reviewers, partner
+  communities, or funding opportunities when there is a good fit.
+- **Contributor pathways**: a clearer route for newcomers to discover and
+  contribute to the project.
+
+Affiliation does not guarantee that a project will receive funding, interns,
+contributors, grants, sponsorship, or long-term maintenance support from OSL.
+
+## Google Summer of Code and Limited Programs
+
+Affiliated projects may submit ideas for Google Summer of Code (GSoC),
+internships, grants, or similar programs when OSL is participating and when the
+project is ready to mentor contributors.
+
+Participation is not guaranteed. OSL will do its best to participate in GSoC and
+similar opportunities when possible, but these programs depend on external
+selection, OSL capacity, mentor availability, project readiness, and a limited
+number of contributor slots. Even when OSL participates, not every affiliated
+project idea can be selected or funded.
+
+Projects that want to participate in GSoC or internships should provide clear
+project ideas, public issues, active mentors, communication channels, and enough
+review capacity to support contributors responsibly.
+
+## Acknowledging OSL Affiliation
+
+Affiliated projects should acknowledge their relationship with OSL in their
+`README.md` and, when applicable, in their public documentation.
+
+Suggested wording:
+
+> This project is affiliated with Open Science Labs (OSL). Affiliation means
+> that the project aligns with OSL's mission and is connected to the OSL
+> ecosystem, while governance, roadmap, maintenance, and releases remain the
+> responsibility of the project maintainers.
+
+Projects should avoid language that suggests OSL owns, governs, certifies, or
+guarantees the project unless there is a separate written agreement.
 
 ## Eligibility Criteria
 
-To become an affiliated project, applicants should:
+To become and remain affiliated with OSL, a project must:
+
+- be released under an **OSI-approved open-source license**;
+- include a public `LICENSE` file;
+- include a `CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md` or equivalent public Code of Conduct;
+- provide a maintainer contact or public communication path;
+- have at least one active or reachable maintainer;
+- use public development practices, such as a public repository, issue tracker,
+  contribution guide, project board, or documented contact process;
+- align with OSL's mission and values;
+- maintain an open and inclusive project environment.
+
+Recommended, but not always required at the time of application:
+
+- `CONTRIBUTING.md`;
+- public roadmap or project ideas;
+- issue labels for newcomers;
+- security reporting instructions;
+- basic user and developer documentation;
+- recent release notes or changelog.
+
+## Affiliation Fit Checklist
+
+Use this checklist before opening an affiliation request. A project does not
+need to be large or mature, but it should be healthy enough for OSL to list it
+publicly and direct community attention toward it.
+
+### Required for Affiliation
+
+- [ ] The project has a clear open-source, open-science, research, education,
+      public-interest, or open-technology purpose.
+- [ ] The project uses an **OSI-approved open-source license**.
+- [ ] The repository includes a public `LICENSE` file.
+- [ ] The project includes a `CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md` or equivalent public Code of
+      Conduct with a reporting path.
+- [ ] The project has at least one active or reachable maintainer.
+- [ ] The project has a public repository.
+- [ ] The project has a public issue tracker, discussion channel, project board,
+      or documented way to contact maintainers.
+- [ ] The project is not archived, closed-source, abandoned, misleading, or
+      unsafe for contributors.
+- [ ] The maintainers agree that affiliation does not transfer ownership,
+      governance, intellectual property, or maintenance responsibility to OSL.
+- [ ] If accepted, the project will acknowledge its OSL affiliation in its
+      `README.md` and, when applicable, public documentation.
+
+### Recommended for Affiliation
+
+- [ ] The repository has a `README` explaining the project, users, and current
+      status.
+- [ ] The project has contributor instructions or a `CONTRIBUTING.md`.
+- [ ] The project has basic user or developer documentation.
+- [ ] The project has a public roadmap, project ideas, or issue labels for
+      contributors.
+- [ ] The project has a `SECURITY.md` or vulnerability reporting path when
+      relevant.
+- [ ] The project has recent releases, commits, issue responses, or a documented
+      stable-maintenance status.
+- [ ] The project can explain what kind of collaboration it is seeking through
+      OSL.
+
+## Maintenance Expectations
+
+Affiliated projects can be fast-moving, mature, or stable. OSL does not require
+constant feature development. However, affiliated projects must remain
+maintained enough that contributors, users, and OSL can understand the project
+status.
+
+OSL uses the following maintenance levels:
+
+| Level                   | Meaning                                                                                                                                     |
+| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| **Active**              | The project shows regular commits, reviews, releases, issue responses, roadmap progress, or contributor support.                            |
+| **Maintained / Stable** | The project has lower activity because it is mature or stable, but maintainers remain reachable and respond to important issues.            |
+| **At Risk**             | The project has missing required files, stale public activity, unanswered maintainer pings, broken links, or repeated failed health checks. |
+| **Inactive**            | The project appears abandoned, archived, unreachable, closed-source, unsafe for contributors, or no longer aligned with OSL requirements.   |
+
+For affiliation, both **Active** and **Maintained / Stable** are acceptable
+states. A stable project should make that status clear in its documentation so
+contributors understand what to expect.
+
+## Automated Maintenance Checks
+
+OSL may use automated bots to help review affiliated projects. The goal is to
+keep the public project directory accurate and to avoid sending contributors to
+unmaintained repositories.
+
+For affiliated projects, bots may check quarterly:
 
-- Be aligned with the mission and values of open science, open source, and
-  technology.
-- Have a demonstrable track record of active development and community
-  engagement.
-- Commit to maintaining an open and inclusive project environment.
+- whether the repository is public and reachable;
+- whether the repository has an OSI-approved `LICENSE`;
+- whether the repository has a `CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md`;
+- whether the project is archived;
+- whether the listed website, documentation, and community links are reachable;
+- whether there has been recent public activity or a documented stable status;
+- whether maintainers are still listed and reachable;
+- whether important issues or pull requests have gone unanswered for a long
+  period;
+- whether project metadata in the OSL website remains accurate.
+
+Bots should support human review. A bot warning does not automatically mean a
+project is abandoned. Maintainers may explain that the project is stable,
+low-maintenance, between maintainers, or temporarily paused.
+
+## Review and Removal Workflow
+
+When an affiliated project appears to be unmaintained or out of compliance, OSL
+may follow this workflow:
+
+| Time   | Action                                                                                                                                                                |
+| ------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| Day 0  | The bot detects a concern, such as missing license, missing Code of Conduct, broken project URL, archived repository, no public activity, or unreachable maintainers. |
+| Day 1  | The bot opens a maintenance review issue or a pull request against the OSL website and pings the listed maintainers.                                                  |
+| Day 30 | If there is no response or fix, the project may be marked **At Risk**.                                                                                                |
+| Day 60 | If the issue remains unresolved, the bot may open or update a pull request removing the project from the OSL public list. Maintainers are pinged in the pull request. |
+| Day 90 | If there is still no response, OSL may merge the removal pull request after human review.                                                                             |
+
+Projects can avoid removal by:
+
+- restoring the required license or Code of Conduct;
+- updating broken links;
+- responding to the maintenance review;
+- identifying a new maintainer;
+- documenting that the project is stable and maintained with lower activity;
+- publishing a realistic maintenance plan;
+- asking OSL to pause the listing temporarily while maintainership is being
+  resolved.
+
+Removal from the OSL list is not permanent. A project may request affiliation
+again after it restores the baseline requirements and maintenance status.
+
+## Limits and Responsibilities
+
+Affiliated projects remain independent. OSL does not:
+
+- own the project or its intellectual property;
+- control the roadmap, releases, governance, or technical decisions;
+- guarantee funding, contributors, interns, mentors, reviews, or adoption;
+- guarantee participation in Google Summer of Code, internships, grants, or
+  sponsorship opportunities;
+- guarantee a Google Summer of Code contributor slot, even when OSL
+  participates;
+- provide legal, security, medical, or financial certification;
+- endorse every technical choice or public statement made by the project.
+
+Maintainers are responsible for:
+
+- keeping the project open-source and properly licensed;
+- maintaining the Code of Conduct and responding to community concerns;
+- reviewing issues and pull requests when they invite contributions;
+- keeping project links and OSL metadata accurate;
+- keeping the OSL affiliation acknowledgement accurate in the project's
+  `README.md` and public documentation;
+- communicating major changes in ownership, scope, license, governance, or
+  maintenance status;
+- protecting contributors from unsafe or hostile community behavior.
+
+OSL may pause, remove, or decline affiliation if a project becomes inactive,
+closed-source, unsafe, misleading, hostile, or misaligned with OSL values.
 
 ## How to Apply
 
-Interested projects can apply for affiliation by submitting a detailed proposal
-outlining their project's goals, current status, and how they align with OSL’s
-mission. Proposals should be sent to `team@opensciencelabs.org`.
+Interested projects should request affiliation through the OSL affiliation
+requests repository:
 
-## Review Process
+[https://github.com/OpenScienceLabs/affiliation-requests](https://github.com/OpenScienceLabs/affiliation-requests)
+
+An affiliation request should include links to evidence, not only written
+statements. Useful evidence includes:
 
-All applications will undergo a thorough review by the OSL team to ensure
-alignment with our values and goals. Successful applicants will be notified and
-onboarded into the program.
+- project name and repository URL;
+- project website or documentation URL, if available;
+- maintainer names and contact information;
+- license link;
+- Code of Conduct link;
+- short project description;
+- current maintenance status;
+- public communication channel or contact path;
+- contribution instructions, roadmap, project ideas, or starter issues when
+  available;
+- security reporting path when relevant;
+- why the project aligns with OSL;
+- what kind of collaboration or visibility the project is seeking;
+- whether the project wants to submit ideas for internships, Google Summer of
+  Code, grants, or other OSL opportunities.
 
-## Conclusion
+If GitHub is not accessible to an applicant, they may contact
+`team@opensciencelabs.org` and ask for support opening the request.
+
+## Affiliation Request Workflow
+
+OSL uses a lightweight, transparent workflow for affiliation requests:
+
+1. **Request opened**: maintainers open an issue in the affiliation requests
+   repository with the requested information and evidence links.
+2. **Completeness check**: OSL checks that required information is present,
+   including license, Code of Conduct, maintainer contact, repository link, and
+   project description.
+3. **Eligibility review**: OSL reviews mission alignment, openness, maintenance
+   status, community safety, and whether the project is appropriate for OSL's
+   public project list.
+4. **Maintainer follow-up**: OSL may ask questions, request missing links, or
+   suggest changes before approval.
+5. **Decision**: the request is approved, declined, or marked as needing
+   changes. Declined or incomplete projects may apply again after addressing the
+   feedback.
+6. **Listing update**: if approved, OSL opens or merges a website update adding
+   the project to the public project list.
+7. **Onboarding**: OSL confirms the listed metadata, preferred communication
+   channel, maintainer contact, and whether the project wants to participate in
+   any eligible OSL opportunities.
+8. **Periodic review**: the project remains subject to automated and human
+   maintenance checks while it is listed by OSL.
+
+Affiliation requests are not first-come, first-served. OSL may prioritize
+requests based on completeness, mission fit, community safety, available review
+capacity, and whether the project is seeking participation in time-sensitive
+programs.
+
+## Review Criteria
+
+OSL reviews affiliation requests using these criteria:
+
+- **Mission fit**: the project contributes to open science, open source,
+  research, education, public-interest technology, or useful open
+  infrastructure.
+- **Openness**: the project is publicly developed and uses an OSI-approved
+  license.
+- **Community safety**: the project has a Code of Conduct and does not create a
+  hostile or unsafe environment for contributors.
+- **Maintenance status**: maintainers are reachable and the project is active or
+  clearly documented as stable.
+- **Contributor readiness**: contributors have a way to ask questions, open
+  issues, or understand how to participate.
+- **Metadata quality**: the project provides enough accurate information for OSL
+  to list and periodically review it.
+- **Program readiness**: if the project wants internships, Google Summer of
+  Code, grants, or similar opportunities, it has enough maintainer capacity and
+  project ideas to support contributors responsibly.
+
+## Boundaries of Affiliation
+
+Affiliation creates a public relationship between OSL and an independent
+project. It does not make the project an OSL-governed or OSL-owned project.
+
+Affiliation does **not** mean:
+
+- OSL owns the repository, name, logo, code, data, intellectual property, or
+  governance of the project;
+- OSL is responsible for maintaining the project;
+- OSL certifies the technical, scientific, security, legal, medical, financial,
+  or ethical correctness of the project;
+- OSL endorses every decision, release, public statement, dependency, or
+  integration made by the project;
+- the project is guaranteed funding, contributors, interns, mentors, grants,
+  sponsorship, fiscal hosting, promotion, or event participation;
+- the project may imply that OSL controls or guarantees its work;
+- the project may use OSL branding in a way that suggests ownership,
+  certification, or formal sponsorship without written permission.
+
+Affiliated projects may describe themselves as an "OSL affiliated project" only
+while they are listed by OSL and remain in good standing. If affiliation is
+paused or removed, the project should stop presenting itself as currently
+affiliated with OSL.
+
+## Review Process
 
-The Project Affiliation Program is a testament to our commitment to nurturing
-and promoting open science and technology projects. We look forward to welcoming
-new projects into the OSL family and working together towards a future of open
-and collaborative innovation.
+OSL reviews affiliation requests for mission alignment, openness, maintenance
+status, community safety, and readiness for contributors. If approved, the
+project is added to the OSL project list and may participate in relevant OSL
+programs according to each program's requirements and capacity.
 
-For more information or inquiries, please contact us at
-`team@opensciencelabs.org`.
+For more information or inquiries, contact `team@opensciencelabs.org`.