Epiverse is a dynamic and inclusive initiative that brings together diverse stakeholders—including epidemiologists, data scientists, software developers, public health professionals and policymakers—to co-create a suite of open-source tools for epidemic preparedness and response. By integrating data analytics, collaborative software development, and capacity-building efforts, Epiverse fosters a thriving community that promotes inclusivity, knowledge sharing, and cross-disciplinary integration within the public health and data science ecosystem.
Our community is our greatest strength, and we prioritize a welcoming environment that celebrates diversity, encourages collaboration, and ensures safety and respect for all participants.
This Code of Conduct outlines our shared values, expected behaviors, and enforcement mechanisms to maintain a safe and enriching space for everyone and applies to:
- All participants in Epiverse spaces, including staff, collaborators, and leadership.
- All spaces under the Epiverse umbrella, including GitHub, Slack, mailing lists, online forums, social media, events, and conferences.
- Both in-person and virtual interactions associated with Epiverse.
We are dedicated to providing a harassment-free, inclusive, and welcoming environment for all participants, regardless of gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion (or lack thereof), socioeconomic status, or education level. We prioritize the safety and well-being of marginalized individuals and communities over the comfort of those in positions of privilege. Maintaining the integrity and inclusiveness of our community is a shared responsibility.
We respect the identities and lived experiences of our members and are committed to making our spaces accessible, inclusive, and welcoming. Our goal is to foster an environment where everyone feels encouraged to contribute, ask questions, and engage without fear of judgment or disrespect. We take action against unacceptable behaviors, reinforcing that no one’s reputation is more important than the safety of our community.
We recognize that power imbalances exist in all group spaces, including our own. We actively work to acknowledge and minimize their harmful effects.
We know that we will not always get everything right, and we encourage community members to reach out when we fall short. We are committed to learning, adapting, and growing together.
To create a positive and respectful environment, all community members are expected to:
- Be considerate in speech and actions, acknowledging and respecting boundaries.
- Remember that people's experiences and challenges may span outside the community. Practicing empathy, kindness and respect, always.
- Engage constructively while asking questions or discussing differing viewpoints.
- Respect consent in all interactions, including physical and virtual communications.
- Resolve disagreements and differing views constructively by focusing on the issue at hand while learning from mistakes.
- Support one another by alerting moderators or the Code of Conduct Committee to violations, unsafe situations, or individuals in distress.
Examples of positive behavior include:
- Actively listening to others and valuing their perspectives.
- Offering constructive feedback in discussions or collaborations.
- Being mindful of diverse cultural practices and communication styles.
- Expressing gratitude where we have been supported by the actions, expertise or resources of others.
- Accepting responsibility for our mistakes, apologising to those affected, learning from the experience and adjusting our behaviour accordingly.
We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Adherence to our Code of Conduct requires refraining from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech, including but not limited to: excluding individuals based on protected characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, or nationality.
Harassment and/or discrimination:
- Offensive comments or actions related to gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, appearance, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, or technology choices.
- Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ names.
- Use of sexual or discriminatory imagery, comments, or jokes.
- Unwanted sexual attention or repeated, inappropriate requests for contact.
Abuse, intimidation and threats:
- Stalking, persistent unwanted communication, or tracking online activity.
- Threats of violence, self-harm encouragement, or incitement to harm others.
- Disrupting discussions, events, or online conversations.
- Non-consensual sharing of private messages or recordings.
Unwanted contact and privacy violations:
- Unwanted photography, recording, or personal information sharing.
- Inappropriate physical or simulated contact (e.g., non-consensual touching, emojis).
- Pressuring or assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy.
Our priorities in enforcement
Our primary commitment is to ensure the safety and inclusion of marginalized individuals. We recognize that discussions about equity and inclusion can sometimes feel uncomfortable, but we will not prioritize the comfort of those in privileged positions over the well-being of those facing discrimination or exclusion.
This means that we will not take action on complaints that:
- Claim so-called "reverse" discrimination (e.g., “reverse racism” or “reverse sexism”), as systemic inequalities do not operate in reverse.
- Object to reasonable personal boundaries set by community members, such as requests to end a conversation or disengage.
- Focus on the tone of someone’s communication rather than the substance of their message.
- Criticize or challenge someone for speaking up about discrimination, exclusion, or oppressive behavior.
The Epiverse Code of Conduct Committee includes Diana Fajardo Pulido (Epiverse Community Engagement and Involvement Manager), Karim Mané (Epiverse Research Software Engineer), Sebastian Funk (Epiverse lead at LSHTM) and Cormekki Whitley (External Committee Member, Chief Operating Officer, data.org).
If you experience or witness behavior that violates this Code of Conduct, or if you have concerns about someone’s safety, you can report it through:
Email: Send a report to conduct@epiverse.org
In-person Events: Contact any member of the Code of Conduct Committee or designated event moderators.
Online Form: Submit a confidential report link to form.
Reports can be submitted anonymously or with identifying details. All reports will be treated confidentially and with care for the reporter’s safety. Upon submitting your report, you will receive a copy of your responses via email. You should receive a separate acknowledgement of receipt via email from the Code of Conduct Committee within 48 hours on weekdays, or within 72 hours for an event that takes place on a weekend.
The Code of Conduct Committee will review the report and, if necessary, recuse members with conflicts of interest. The committee will investigate the incident promptly, considering all perspectives and evidence.
Possible actions include:
- Verbal or written warnings.
- Temporary or permanent bans from specific spaces or events.
- If any violations are found on social media, online forums, or Github repositories, the relevant information will be removed.
- Quickly implement resolutions while maintaining transparency and fairness.
If you anticipate concerns about attending an event or joining a community space, we can take steps to ensure your safety, including:
- Preparing moderators or event staff to address potential conflicts.
- Restricting attendance of specific individuals.
- Providing escorts or onsite contacts for immediate assistance.
We conduct an annual review of this Code of Conduct with input from all members of Epiverse and external advisors to ensure its relevance and effectiveness. Updates to the Code of Conduct will be announced publicly and archived for community reference. To uphold accountability while protecting privacy, we publish anonymized summaries of reported incidents and resolutions in a brief annual report. We welcome suggestions from other stakeholders for improving this Code of Conduct. Please email conduct@epiverse.org to share your feedback.
This Code of Conduct builds upon the foundations of the previous version, incorporating valuable insights from our community. It has been reviewed and refined through a collaborative process involving Epiverse team members Hugo Gruson, Chris Hartgerink, Karim Mane, Joshua Lambert, Andree Valle-Campos, James Mba Azam, and Diana Fajardo Pulido and external reviewer Paul Korir, Director of Data Science, data.org to ensure it remains inclusive, clear, and effective.
This Code of Conduct was also inspired by policies from rOpenSci and NHS-R Community which have been adapted from many sources including the Open Source and Feelings talk by Audrey Eschright, the R Consortium R Community Diversity and Inclusion Working Group’s draft Code of Conduct, the Geek Feminism anti-harassment policy, the useR! 2021 Code of Conduct, the ropenSci Community Call: How do I create a Code of Conduct for my event/lab/codebase? and The Turing Way Code of Conduct. Some parts have been added from the Code of Conduct that was originally listed on the Epiverse-TRACE website and had acknowledgements: RECON and CSCCE. We thank these communities for their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusivity. The ease of producing this comprehensive Code of Conduct is because of the acknowledged work being published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 CA).