QNFO's ultimate aim is to advance scientific understanding and catalyze positive, systemic global change for the collective benefit of all.
This Code of Conduct defines the values and standards that govern all QNFO spaces — repositories, discussions, publications, collaborations, and communications. By participating in any QNFO space, you agree to uphold these standards. This Code complements and reinforces the QNFO Content License Agreement.
All work within QNFO spaces must serve the collective benefit of all humanity. Research, code, publications, and discussions should advance knowledge and contribute to solving systemic global challenges. Work that primarily serves private commercial interests, deepens inequity, or concentrates power is incompatible with this standard.
We are committed to transparency, reproducibility, and shared access. Research methods, data, and findings should be openly available whenever possible. Closed, proprietary, or intentionally obscured work undermines the scientific enterprise and the mission of collective benefit. Attribution is mandatory — credit those whose work you build upon.
All contributions and interactions must respect human dignity and the broader ecosystem. Prohibited uses include — but are not limited to — work that:
- Violates applicable laws or infringes on the rights of others
- Promotes discrimination, violence, or harassment
- Involves exploitative practices or harms ecosystems
- Is broadly considered unethical within scientific and humanitarian communities
No contribution may be used to develop weapons, surveillance systems targeting vulnerable populations, or technologies designed primarily for coercion or control.
We value evidence, logical consistency, and intellectual honesty. Claims should be falsifiable and supported by reasoning or data. Speculation is welcome when clearly labeled as such. Bad-faith argumentation, deliberate misrepresentation, and fabrication of evidence are prohibited.
QNFO operates at the intersection of physics, information theory, philosophy of science, artificial intelligence, and computer science. We value insights from all domains and recognize that transformative ideas often emerge at disciplinary boundaries. Dismissiveness toward entire fields of inquiry is incompatible with this standard.
We assume good faith in all interactions. Focus on ideas, not identities. Critique should be specific, evidence-based, and aimed at improving the work — not the person. Harassment, personal attacks, and ad hominem argumentation have no place in QNFO spaces.
Cite sources. Credit prior art. Acknowledge collaborators. The LICENSE requires attribution for content use — this Code extends that principle to all interactions. Plagiarism and uncredited appropriation of others' work are violations.
QNFO is the research identity of Empowering Change, a U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit. Research is conducted for public good, not private profit. All content is governed by the QNFO Content License Agreement, which permits non-commercial use only. Commercial exploitation of QNFO work without a separate agreement is both a license violation and a breach of this Code.
We embrace AI as a collaborative tool for knowledge synthesis, hypothesis generation, and accelerated discovery. However, human judgment remains the final authority. AI-generated content must be reviewed, validated, and clearly identified as such. Misrepresenting AI output as human-authored research is prohibited.
Strive to communicate in ways that are accessible across disciplines, languages, and backgrounds. Define specialized terms. Provide translations or summaries where feasible. Avoid jargon when plain language suffices.
This Code applies to all QNFO spaces including but not limited to:
- GitHub repositories, issues, pull requests, discussions, and wikis
- Publications, preprints, and datasets
- Official communication channels and social media accounts
- Collaborations and partnerships conducted under the QNFO name
- Conferences, workshops, and presentations representing QNFO work
Violations of this Code should be reported to the Principal Investigator at rowan.quni@qnfo.org. Reports will be treated confidentially to the extent permitted by law.
Violations may result in:
- Warning and request for corrective action
- Removal of contributions or content
- Temporary or permanent exclusion from QNFO spaces
- Revocation of license grants under the QNFO Content License Agreement
Actions taken will be proportionate to the severity and pattern of the violation, with priority given to restorative resolution where feasible.
Good-faith reports of Code violations are protected. Retaliation against anyone who reports a concern in good faith is itself a violation of this Code.
This Code of Conduct and the QNFO Content License Agreement are complementary. The LICENSE governs legal use of content. This Code governs conduct within QNFO spaces. Breach of either may constitute breach of both. In case of conflict between the letter of this Code and the LICENSE, the LICENSE prevails on legal matters and this Code prevails on matters of community conduct.
This Code draws from the values articulated in the QNFO README and About QNFO documents, from established open-source community standards, and from the mission of Empowering Change (501c3).
QNFO — advancing scientific understanding for the collective benefit of all. Everything open. Everything accountable. Everything for the good.