Universal Code of Conduct/Research - Wikipedia

Universal Code of Conduct

Research methodology

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For Wikipedia

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The T&S team collated conduct policies as well as behavioural guidelines from the 98 Wikipedia projects that have separate dedicated policy pages on user conduct. We studied the policies on various projects to understand the inherent culture of communities through their practices and took note of the unique policies that some of the communities have created to make their project conduct policies more reflective of their intrinsic values.

For policies that are commonly adopted and practiced in many communities, the team did a comparison of the policies with similar policies on English Wikipedia. The reasons why we chose English Wikipedia conduct policies as a point of reference are –

- The team found the conduct policies of English Wikipedia fairly well developed and useful as a point of reference. This is not surprising, as it is one of the largest and the oldest Wiki project.

- It was observed that a number of smaller Wikipedias have adopted their policies directly from English Wikipedia.  

Following the comparison, policies of every project were given a uniqueness rating based on how elaborated they were with respect to conduct policies of English Wikipedia. A uniqueness rating of 3 means the project has developed at least one unique policy to pertinent to its community practices, a uniqueness rating of 2 means that the project has adopted conduct policies from other movement policies but have modified the content to make it more suitable to fit their cultural practices, a uniqueness rating of 1 signifies that the policies of the project are very similar to that of the policies of English Wikipedia, and lastly a uniqueness rating of 0 indicates that the very limited work has been done on the project with respect to developing conduct policies.

Wikipedia projects studied

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ABap Bulgarian Hebrew Malayalam Slovak
Afrikaans Cantonese Hindi Marathi Slovenian
Albanian Catalan Hornjoserbsce - Prawidla Upper Sorbian Mazanderani South Ajerbaijani
Amharic - African Chechen Hrvatski - Croatian Neapolitan Spanish
Arabic Czech Hungarian Nederlands Swedish
Armenian Danish Icelandic Nepali Tajik
Assamese Diné Bizaad Ingush Norsk Tamil
Azerbaijani Egyptian Arabic Interlingua Norwegian Nynorsk Tatar
Bahasa Banjar English Italian Pashto Thai
Bahasa Indonesia Esperanto Japanese Persian Turkish
Bahasa Melayu - Malay Euskara - Basque Kalaallisut Polish Udmurt
Bangla Finnish Kannada Portugese Ukrainian
Basa Sunda - Sundanese French Kazakh Romanian Urdu
Bashkir Gaeilge - Irish Korean Russian Uzbek
Baso Minangkabau Galego - Galician Kurdish Scots Vietnamese
Belarusian Georgian Kyrgyz Serbian Vlax Romani
Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography) German Low Saxon Serbo-Croatian Welsh
Bhojpuri Gilaki Luxembourgish Sicilan Yiddish
Bosnian Greek Macedonian Sindhi
Breton Han Chinese Maithili Sinhalese

Policy links, description, and uniqueness rating

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Project Name Policy Links Policy specific comments Project Uniqueness Rating Project Notes
English Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Five pillars
Civility
Clean start
Consensus
Dispute resolution
Harassment
No legal threats
No personal attacks
Ownership of content
Username policy
Vandalism
Edit warring
Hindi Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Assume good intentions
Don't disrupt Wikiwork to prove your point
Sock puppet accounts
Vandalism Translates to cruelty in hindi
Tamil Wikipedia Tamil Policy lists 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Five pillars
Concensus
No legal threats
No personal Attacks Short and 'to the point' policy. Manitains the essense of the No Personal Attacks policy of the English Wikipedia
Username Policy
Malayalam List of policies 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Five pillars
Civility
Consensus
Dispute Resolution
Edit Warring
Editing Policy
No legal threats
No personal attacks
Ownership of content
Username policy
Vandalism
Bhojpuri Five pillars 0 = No or little work done on policies
Username policy
Nepali Five Pillars Copies English Wikipedia 0 = No or little work done on policies The project lists 14 conduct policies but has a page only for Vandalism.
List of Nepali Wiki policies
Consensus Empty page
Username policy Empty page
Vandalism
Marathi Assume goodwill A three line policy description that says - assume that everybody on Wikipedia intends to make it better. However, do not keep assuming the same in case there is an evidence of disruption. 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki The project has been selective in adopting policies from English Wikipedia
No personal attacks A short 'to the point' policy that implies that no user should use derogatory or defamatory terms against any other user.
Ownership of content
Username policy
Wikipedia is not a trusted source Interesting because it doesn't exist on many Wikis.
Maithili Polices & Guidelines page All the policy pages redirect to English Wikipedia policies. 0 = No or little work done on policies No policy page in Maithili language.
Urdu Policies and guidelines page 3 = at least one unique policy The project has been a bit selective in adopting policies from English wiki. Did not come across any policy on harassment.

Child protection

Interesting policy. The policy says that Wikipedia cannot be used to built on/off wiki Children-adult relationships.

List of policies

Assume good intentions

Civility
Respect other's feelings
Clean start
Consensus
Dispute Resolution
Edit Warring
Editing Policy
No legal threats
No personal attacks
Ownership of content
Username policies
Vandalism
Bangla Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy
Modesty
Etiquette Lists dos and don'ts
No personal attack
Have confidence/ Assume good faith
No legal threats
Conflict resolution
Child protection Policy listed. Page does not exist
Consensus
Italian Sign your speeches in discussions 3 = at least one unique policy
No personal attacks
No legal threat
Advantage of logging in before making major changes
Appropriate username
Don't bite newcomers
Always motivate when you cancel (rollback) a change
(Edit Warring) Look for a compromise instead of aggravating a battle of changes ( edit war ) with repeated cancellations
Learn the three rollback rule ("revert wars" are harmful)
(Conflict Resolution) Solve problems with users or administrators
Use your user page appropriately
Don't damage Wikipedia to support your opinion
Kannada No separate section on behavioural polices 0 = No or little work done on policies
Don't play with the rules
Neutral point of view
Han Chinese Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy Very Comprehensive and elaborated policies|
Civility
Consensus
No personal attack
Edit Warring
Editorial guidelines
Protection Policy
Fake Signature
Harassment
Paid Editing
Etiquette
Assume goodwill
Don't hurt newbies
Be bold/ Courage to update the page
Courage to ask questions
Don't disrupt Wikipedia for explaining ideas
Signing user pages
Damage
Assamese Policy Page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki Many of the policies are not even translated. When clicked -the content appears in English.
Civility
No personal attacks
Harassment
No legal threat Empty page
Consensus
Dispute Resolution
Spanish Policy Page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Ignore all rules
Use Common Sense
Conflict of interest
Label (personal attacks)
Presume good faith
Do not bite the newbies
Do not make personal attacks
Rule of the three reversals
Do not sabotage Wikipedia to back up your arguments
Esperanto Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Be kind to newbies
Don't bother Wikipedia to prove a point
Ethics of Wikipedia
No personal attack
Vandalism
Ethical behaviour
French Policy Page 3 = at least one unique policy The project has its own Code of Conduct. However, most of the rules listed there talk about content policies.
Code of Conduct
Have the right attitude/ Wikilove
Spirit of non violence
No personal attack
Rules of Etiquette
Assume good faith
Mediation
Call for comments
Cooperation/ Consensus
Interlingua Policy Page *Didn't translate it yet 0 = No or little work done on policies
Portugese Policy Page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Standards of conduct
Do not make personal attacks
Do not spread mistrust
Do not make legal threats
Subversion of the system
Presuming good faith
Do no abuse Wikipedia to prove a point
Abuse of public space
War editions (Edit Warring)
Consensus
Do not bite the newbies
Diné Bizaad Policy page 0- No or little work done on policies
Kalaallisut Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Nederlands Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy
Courtesy
Wikiquette
Go out of goodwill
Consensus
Democratic procedures
Do not hand out templates as if they were cookies
Be ruthless
Welcome edits of anonymous
Don't bite the new ones
Article bosses
Dealing with trolls
Sock puppet
No personal attacks
Stay cool
Processing war
Wheel war
Conflict handling
Vandalism
Do no threaten with legal action
The right to leave Wikipedia
Yiddish Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Act polite
Consensus
No personal attacks
Dispute resolution
ABap Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Bashkir Policy page Didn't get a translation. Might have some behavioral policies listed 0 = No or little work done on policies
Belarusian Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Rights safety (civility)
Ethical behaviour
Assume the honesty of participants
Do not lead to the absurd
Prohibition of insults, threats, and aggression
The rule of three setbacks
War edits
Conflict resolution
Belarusian (Taraskievica orthography) Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Etiquette
Out of courtesy
Honesty of participants
War edits
Flee from personal attacks
Do not lead to the absurd
Puppet theatre
Vandalism
Consensus
Conflict Resolution
Bulgarian Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Civility
Username policy
No personal attacks
Remove personal attacks
More than three returns
Settlement of disputes
Apply the presumption of goodwill
Blocking policy
Rules of conduct in conflict
Ingush Policy page **Didn't get the translation. But it's a very elaborate page, so there must be some behaviroual policies listed 0 = No or little work done on policies
Macedonian Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy
Decency
Vandalism
Blocking principles
Editorial warfare
No personal attacks
No legal threats
Property of articles
Rule of triple return
Agitation
Puppetry
Principles of usernames
Assume good faith
Ethics
Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point
Please do not attack newcomers
Chechen Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies Didn't get a translation. But, not much on the page.
Kurdish Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies Didn't get a tranlation. Not much on the page. Still, good to look at the translated version once.
Luxembourgish Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies No behavioural policy
Hungarian Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy
Wikiquette
Rule of the three restorations
The articles have no owner
Civilized behaviour
Avoid personal attacks
Don't bite the beginner's head
Don't worry about the rules
Refrain from legal threats
Harassment
Assume benevolence
Signature policy
Trolling
Disputed Neutrality
Don't demonstrate
Vandalism
Neapolitan Policy page Didn't get a translation. Seems like policies are listed but not all have separate pages. 0 = No or little work done on policies
Low Saxon Policy page Almost an empty page. 0 = No or little work done on policies
Norsk Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Civility Redirects to English Wikipedia page
Etiquette Redirects to English Wikipedia page
No personal attacks Redirects to English Wikipedia page
Assume good faith Redirects to English Wikipedia page
Russian Policy page proposal yet to be accepted 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
List of rules

Five Pillars

Consensus

Dispute Resolution

Do Not Threaten With Litigation=No Legal Threats

Ownership of articles

Essay

Do Not Hound Users

An evergreen policy proposal intended to mirror Harassment policy of English Wikipedia

Ethical behaviour

Inadmissibility of insults, threats & aggression
Vandalism
Puppetry

Usernames

Policy proposal. Users are, however, routinely blocked in Russian Wikipedia for blatantly offensive or promotional usernames.

Edit Warring

Serbian Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Commitment/Compassion
No personal attacks
Maltreatment
No legal threats
Consensus
Conflict Resolution
User account
New Beginning
Vandalism
Editing rules
Editing war
Owning articles
Non-discrimination rules Policy listed, but no page
Tatar Policy page NA (Policies exist, but there's no translation) No translation yet. An elaborated page worth looking.
Udmurt Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies Nothing on the page
Ukrainian Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Conflict of interest
Do not make it absurd
Do not play with the rules
Do not mess with newcomers
Discussions
Child protection
Etiquette
Assume good intentions
The war of edits
Inadmissibility of insults, threats, and aggression
Resolving conflicts
Consensus
Kazakh Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Polite
Vandalism
Consensus
Offensive
Norwegian Nynorsk Policy page No translation. But, worth translating and looking once. 0 = No or little work done on policies
Polish Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Consensus
Username
Vandalism
Election mode
Vlax Romani Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies Empty page
Romanian Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Good faith
Civilized mode
Conduct
No personal attacks
Solving disputes
The three returns rule
Block
Vandalism
Consensus
Harassment
Trolling
Spam
Scots Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies Not many behavioural policies.
Do not bite newcomers
Assume good faith
Albanian Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Child protection Redirects to English Wikipedia page
Civility Redirects to English Wikipedia page
War of edits
Harassment Redirects to English Wikipedia page
No legal threats Redirects to English Wikipedia page
No personal attacks
Ownership of content Redirects to English Wikipedia page
Multiple users
Confidentiality
Conflict of interest
Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point
Etiquette Redirects to English Wikipedia page
Gaming the system Redirects to English Wikipedia page
Please do not bite newcomers Redirects to English Wikipedia page
Sicilian Policy page No translation. Worth translating and looking 0 = No or little work done on policies
Greek Policy page Behavioural policies are called Co-operation policies 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Politeness
Edit Warring
No personal attacks
Blocking
Protection policy
Exclusion policy
Puppet
Conflict on interest
Azerbaijani Policy page Empty page. Mentions that the law is under discussion. 0 = No or little work done on policies
Bosnian Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Commitment Empty page
Consensus
Vandalism
Ignore all rules Empty page
No personal attacks
Owning articles Empty page
Editorial war
Conflict Resolution Empty page
Sock puppet
No legal threats Empty page
Protecting children Empty page
Paid Editing Empty page
Assume the best interest Empty page
Conflict of interest Empty page
Do not disrupt Wikipedia to prove your point Empty page
Bonton Empty page
Cheating system Empty page
Be good to new users
Leaving Wikipedia Empty page
Responding to threats from damage Empty page
Breton Policy page No translation 0 = No or little work done on policies
Catalan Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
General policies
Please do not bite newcomers
Consensus
Vandalism
Puppet accounts
Decision making system
Presuppose good faith
Sign your comments
Welsh Policy page Not many behavioural polices 0 = No or little work done on policies
Consensus
Vandalism
Danish Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Do not disturb Wikipedia for pointing
No personal attacks
Bots
Norms for user page
Policy for blocking or banning
Policy for discussion pages
Edit wars
Sign posts on discussions
Sock puppet
Wikiquette
Vandalism
Assume good faith
Consensus
German Wikiquette 3 = at least one unique policy
No personal attacks
Assume good faith
Always keep a cool head
Criticism Recommendations
Conflicts
Behaviour towards newcomers
Wikilove
No Discrimination
Ignore all rules
Slovak Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
No personal attack
No legal threats
Puppet account
Courtesy
Assume good intentions
Wikiquette
Do not violate Wikipedia to illustrate a claim
Be relentless
Be kind to newcomers
Request for comment
Slovenian Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Courtesy
No personal attacks
No legal threats
Puppetry
Vandalism
Label
Assume good faith Empty page
Serbo- Croatian Policy page No translation. Worth translating and looking. 0 = No or little work done on policies
Finnish Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
No personal attacks
Edit warring
Don't bother to present your position
Username policy
Many usernames
User page
Behaviour help page
Assume goodwill
Don't bother newcomers
Swedish Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Label
Assume others have good intentions
Consensus
Do not act demonstratively
User account
Discussion pages
Conflicts of interest
Puppet accounts
Sign discussion posts
Be kind to beginners
Edit wars
Turkish Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Courtesy
Legal threats are prohibited
Comment on content, not participant
Don't interrupt Wikipedia to explain your views
Three return rules
Dispute resolution
Assume goodwill
Please do not bite new users
Etiquette
Playing with the system
Icelandic Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Change controversy
Asset Analysis
No lawsuits
No personal attacks
Grim games/Sock
Users
Vandalism
Bots
Assume good faith
Czech Be kind to newcomers 3 = at least one unique policy
Consensus
Mediation
Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a claim
Assume goodwill
Biasing female surnames
Dispute resolution
No personal attack
Courtesy
Wikiquette
Vandalism
Avoid evasive words
Request for action
Request for comment
Euskara - Basque Policy page No behavioural policy 0 = No or little work done on policies
Vandalism
Gaeilge - Irish Policy page Lists the following as good behaviours - Respect for others, don't be biased.No separate pages . 0 = No or little work done on policies
Galego - Galician Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy
Civism
Assume good faith
Puppets
Edit warring
Sign your talk pages
Content ownership
Teaching centres
Consensus
Proslytism
Hornjoserbsce - Prawidla Upper Sorbian Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Hrvatski - Croatian Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
No personal attacks
Consensus
Solving Controversy
Assume good intentions
Harassment
Do not interfere with Wikipedia's work to prove something
Cheating system
Armenian Policy page Very less behavioural guidelines 0 = No or little work done on policies
Editorial warfare
Consent
Vandalism
No personal offense
Georgian Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Child protection
Ethics norms
Courtesy Empty page
Edit Warring
Harassment Empty page
No legal threat Empty page
No personal attack
Ownership Rights in Content Empty page
Paid editing Empty page
Assume good faith Empty page
Conflict of Interests Empty page
Etiquette
Newcomer biting
Hebrew Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Rules of conduct Not an elaborated page.
Culture and discussion
Mechanisms of conflict resolution
Editorial war
Gilaki Policy page No translation available. 0 = No or little work done on policies
Egyptian Arabic Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Mazanderani Policy page No translation available. 0 = No or little work done on policies
Persian Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy
Good faith
Conflict of interest
Don't try to prove your point
Etiquette
Playing with system
Please do not jump with new friends
Jarring
Honesty
Permanent Quit
Anger
Disruptive Editing
Do not worry about system productivity
South Ajerbaijani Policy page No translation. Worth translating and looking 0 = No or little work done on policies
Arabic Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Child protection policy
Courtesy
Edit Warring
Harassment
No personal attacks
No legal threats
Ownership of articles
Sock doll
Playing with the system
Discussion rules
Do not block Wikipedia to prove your point
Conflict of interest
Suppose good faith
Voting behaviour
Please do not torment newcomers
Sign your discussions
Amharic - African Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy
Unwanted comments
Resolving disputes
Abuse policy about "illegal sex" which includes homosexuality
Afrikaans Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Courtesy
Dispute Resolution
Vandalism
Neutral Position
Sindhi Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Sock puppet
Username policy Empty page
No personal attack Empty page
No legal threats Empty page
Consensus
Pashto Policy page Empty 0 = No or little work done on policies
Thai Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Do not say bad to others
Assuming others' honesty
Civility
Editing policy
Harassment
Edit War
Article ownership
Dispute Resolution
Sock puppets
Abstain from prosecution
Conflict of interest
Etiquette
Please do not bite newcomers
Sinhalese Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Consensus
Dispute Resolution
Introduction to policies & guidelines
Japanese Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Do not forget courtesy
Signature
Etiquette
Do not threaten with legal action
No personal attack
Take good intentions
Accountability
Do not try to solve with arms
Treat newcomers kindly
Multiple accounts
Article ownership
Notes page guidelines
Three revert rule
Consensus building
Solving Controversy
Cantonese Policy page 0 = No or little work done on policies
Content & conduct policies
Korean Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Dispute resolution
Consensus
Bot
Restrictions policy
Do not attack
Protection policy
No legal threats
Conflict of interest
Edit dispute
Be cool, when the discussion is heated
Kyrgyz Policy page No behavioural policy 0 = No or little work done on policies
Tajik Policy page No translation. Worth translating and looking 0 = No or little work done on policies
Bahasa Banjar Policy page No translation. Worth translating. The page lists policies but many of the policies do not have dedicated pages 0 = No or little work done on policies
Bahasa Indonesia Policy page 3 = at least one unique policy
Courtesy
Ethics
No personal attacks
Settlement of disputes
Sign your comments on discussion pages
Avoid obscene things
Don't bite new users
Vanity - self promotion
Conflict of interest
Don't make legal threats
Harassment
User stealth - Sock puppet
War of edits
Child protection
Assume good intentions
Don't screw up for proofs
Content ownership
Consensus
Bahasa Melayu - Malay Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Courtesy
Consensus/approval
Prohibition of personal attacks
Settlement of disputes
No legal threats Empty page
Think of good faith
Sign your messages
Username policy
Do not block new users
Ethics
Basa Sunda - Sundanese Policy page No behavioural policy 0 = No or little work done on policies
Baso Minangkabau Policy page No translation 0 = No or little work done on policies
Uzbek Policy page 1 = very similar policy names and content to en.wiki
Look for good intent
Contradiction of interests
Consensus
Vandalism
Protection rules
Vietnamese Policy page 2 = a combination of original and translated policies
Civilized attitude
No personal attacks
Harassment
No legal threats
Consensus/Agreement
Resolving Conflicts
Username policy
Vandalism
Edit warring/Pen battle
Owning the article
Non-discrimination
Signature policy
Don't bite newcomers
Personal promotion
Code of conduct
Do not mess with Wikipedia to prove a point
Child protection policy
Puppet accounts
Keep up the goodwill
Playing vicious games with the system
Conflict of interest