Code of Conduct

A diverse and inclusive community is essential to achieving our shared scientific goals. Our community members bring with them a wide variety of professional, personal, and social perspectives; whatever these may be, we strive to treat colleagues with dignity and respect.

HPRC is committed to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone regardless of physical appearance, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, (dis)ability, age, race, religion, or national origin.

This CoC is our governing policy, reflecting HPRC’s culture and ethical principles of integrity, care, transparency, and accountability.

How to Support the Code

Expected behavior

We expect all members and contributors to maintain a professional environment and treat colleagues courteously and respectfully.

The following kinds of behaviors in all HPRC platforms and events are encouraged:

• Showing courtesy towards every member of the community
• Being respectful of different viewpoints and experiences
• Being transparent about conflicts of interests
• Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
• Using welcoming and inclusive language
• Being direct but professional
• Respecting people’s boundaries
• Being sensitive to language differences
• Being aware of the dynamics of power and privilege, especially of how much time and space you are taking up
• Respect confidentiality, especially during closed meeting settings
• Accommodating needs for physical distance and other precautions

Unacceptable behavior

The following will not be tolerated:

• Bullying
• Discrimination
• Disrespectful behavior
• Harassment
• Intimidation
• Marginalization of individuals, their ideas, or their contributions
• Plagiarism
• Sexual harassment
• Violence

Reporting Options

Remember that, in many cases, issues are best resolved at the source. Raising an issue with a relevant group member or senior colleague with the most context is the best and first place to work toward a resolution.

Reports can also be made to any HPRC SC Member, or Sarah Cody and Lucinda Fulton at the Coordination Center.

Aside from HPRC Leadership and the Coordinating Center, these links provide alternative reporting options from the NIH for those who want to report incidents of harassment:

• https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/harassment/find-help.htm
• https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/harassment/notify.htm

While not technically a reporting option, an ombudsperson can help someone determine the right office to contact about an incident.

You may contact the NIH Office of the Ombudsman, which will not involve HPRC leadership. The ombudsperson can be contacted directly via phone or email (see below).

NIH Office of the Ombudsman (301-594-7231, ombudsman@od.nih.gov, or visit ombudsman.nih.gov)

Anyone asked to stop inappropriate behavior is expected to comply immediately. This applies to any HPRC events and platforms, either online or in-person. If a participant engages in behavior that violates this code of conduct, the organizers may warn the offender and ask them to leave the event or platform. HPRC leadership will investigate all Code of Conduct violations and impose appropriate sanctions

References

This CoC adapts language and principles from the following CoC of other projects.

• Atlas of Variant Effects (AVE)
• Bioconductor Project
• Gregor Consortium
• GA4GH
• NILib, which draws from Carpentries
• NIH_CIVIL
• IGVF

Resource list

• Ten simple rules to host an inclusive conference
• NCI Collaboration And Team Science: A Field Guide
• GA4GH Work Stream Best Practices
• Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work" by Ruchika Tulshyan