HamSCI Community Participation Guidelines

HamSCI is an organization that was started by people who are both hams and professional scientists with the goal of bringing both communities together. We welcome participation from technically inclined and interested amateur radio operators in partnership with the professional scientific research community, for the advancement of science and understanding of the art of radio wave propagation and radio communications.

HamSCI Google Group Participation Guidelines:

• Posts and discussions on the HamSCI google group are expected be consistent with the bullet points stated in the section below entitled “HamSCI and the Scientific Method.”
• All HamSCI activity is expected to be conducted in a respectful and considerate manner. Discussions should never consist of personal attacks or crude language.
• Members are expected to act in an ethical manner, which excludes the practices of plagiarizing, misusing, misrepresenting, or stealing data or ideas.
• Posts are expected to be of direct interest to the HamSCI community.
• Commercial endorsements, unrelated / inappropriate event advertisements, or other similar material should not be posted.

HamSCI Use of the Scientific Method:

• The scientific method is a core strategy for HamSCI activities.  This implies that research findings, especially those containing potentially unusual or novel results, should first undergo the rigors of this technique before widespread community acceptance.  Discussions may therefore potentially include direct questions and suggestions from the professional research community, along with reference comparisons to previously published material in the open refereed scientific literature.  
• HamSCI members should always be willing to engage in scientific discussions in a spirit of open curiosity and knowledge advancement.  We emphasize that such interactions may include questions on findings, and these are not a sign of disrespect but, rather, of community interest in particular observations or implications.  The scientific method’s practices are a time-tested and vital method for producing a robust finding and avoiding incorrect conclusions based on misleading or potentially biased/flawed results.
• Questions may also be posed about specific methodologies and equipment characteristics, and these are equally important to the HamSCI method and should be treated with an equally open spirit.  Investigations in this area may require follow-up data collection or coordinated measurement activities in partnership with the collective.

Members who violate the guidelines above may have their HamSCI participation privileges revoked at the discretion of the moderators, who retain final authority on interpretation.