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We don’t want to be banning or even warning members (trust us, we don’t find it fun by any means) so please make an effort to follow these rules.
Forum Rules
1. Members should post in a way that is consistent with "normal writing". Don’t post excessive numbers of emoticons, large, small, or colored text, etc. Similarly don’t SHOUT or use excessive punctuation (e.g. ! and ?) in topic titles or posts. If you consistently abuse this you will be warned.
2. Please use an appropriate, descriptive title when posting a new topic. Examples of bad titles include; "Help me!", "Homework Help!", "PLEASE HELP!!!!", etc. Examples of good titles include; "Ascent of Water through Xylem", " What makes perennial plants so special?", etc. Once again, warnings will come your way if you don’t follow this rule.
3. Don’t double post the same topics. Members double posting a topic in different forums will receive a warning and have one or both of their topics removed.
4. Spam is not tolerated here under any circumstance. This includes posting links to commercial sites containing little or no scientific information, posting links to sites irrelevant to the discussion, and offering some sort of services or products. Recruiting for paid jobs or projects is not permitted either. If you are posting spam you will be warned or banned with your posts removed.
5. Topics are to be made in the relevant forum. It’s a lot of work for us to constantly move topics from one forum to another. Read the forum descriptions before posting. Posting to the wrong forum may result in a warning.
6. Posts are to be made relative to the topic’s discussion and be informative. Avoid posts containing only smilies, greetings, thank you, or personal messages such as “Check your PM”, “Thank You”, etc. You will be given a warning.
7. Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning or straight off ban.
8. Members are asked to not act as "back seat moderators". If members note an issue that contravenes something in this policy document, they are welcome to bring it to the attention of a member of the Biology Online Team or contact us. Do not respond to such topics yourself. Members who consistently "act" as moderators may be warned.
9. Please remember this board is aimed at a general audience. Posting pornographic or generally offensive text, images, links, etc. will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning or ban.
10. Respect the copyright of other users, sites, media, etc. Users linking to or asking for information on warez, crackz, etc., or re-printing material without permission will receive a warning and their post will be removed.
11. The Biology Online Team reserves the right to edit or remove any post at any time. The determination of what is construed as indecent, vulgar, spam, etc. as noted in these points is up to the Team and not users.
12. The above forum rules where applicable also apply to messaging. Abuse of the messaging system may lead to warnings (as above) and/or the removal of the user account.
Member Profile Policy
The member profile is your personal page. Don’t use it as a company page or for commercial purposes. We will instantly remove the account that violates this policy. Do not post spam and/or offensive updates on your profile page. That could also lead to the immediate removal of your account.
Homework Policy
We encourage members to read the textbooks or search the web first before asking homework questions. We welcome posts requesting clarification or explanation but we will not be doing your homework for you. For example, you may include in your post: “… I think the answer is … because…, am I right? OR “… but I have doubts because … ” or “I found this and that and that does not really make sense …” … The important thing is that you did your research and/or you tried answering but still would like to hear from the Forum community who could guide or help you through it.
Science Policy
We acknowledge that while science does not have all the answers, it is a guiding philosophy of this forum. Members should be aware of this while posting in the General Biology sections.
Policing
1. Biology Online operates a three strike policy. Users will be warned a maximum of three times for any and all offenses in a three-month period. If the need arises for a fourth warning a temporary ban (exceptions apply, depending on some situations users can be permanently banned) will be put in place of between 1 to 7 days.
2. Arguing with mod members after having received a warning will lead to an immediate additional warning. Should this exceed three strikes a temporary ban will be put in place as above.
3. If you feel that you have been unfairly warned you can contact the Administrator(s). The Admin decision is final. Contacting administrator(s) over warning matters should be done as a very last resort.
4. Any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban will lead to that ban being made permanent. Circumvention includes re-registering under a non-banned username, changing IP addresses to evade an IP ban, registering a new email account to evade an email ban.
5. An exception to the three-strike rule applies when users contact team members personally (via any method) and post insulting, indecent, or vulgar material. Such users may be subject to an immediate permanent ban. Spamming is another exception; spammers and spam posts will be removed immediately without any prior warning/ban.
6. Permanent bans are a last resort and thought is given before implementing them. While Biology-Online may consider lifting permanent bans from time to time this is a rare occurrence.
Thank You
Biology-Online Team
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