Annotator Code of Conduct

Thank you for being willing to participate in the Credibility Coalition’s work. We promote an open, exciting, and collaborative environment. At the same time, our larger efforts depend on the quality of data that you are expected to provide.

All annotators are expected to follow our code of conduct, and by participating in our projects, you acknowledge the risks and consent to the obligations described below.

We also expect annotators to be ethical and responsible when dealing with the Credibility Coalition’s partnerships and public image. For more information, please read our representation policy document.

During the participation of CredCo work, you pledge to:

• Follow the Credibility Coalition’s Code of Ethics and Participation;
• Provide accurate information about yourself;
• Annotate the articles in a diligent, truthful, and timely fashion;
• Perform high quality work to the best of your ability;
• Refrain from providing inaccurate information or data;
• Avoid any personal, financial or other interests that might hinder your capability or willingness to perform your duties;
• Not accept gifts or bribes for the benefit of any external or internal party;
• Respect all applicable laws and property rights, including intellectual property rights such as trademarks, trade secrets, copyrights, and patents;
• Complete your work by the deadline provided to you by CredCo personnel;
• Only verify stories, reports, or content after you sincerely believe you have discovered evidence that they are true (and vice versa); and
• Treat others with respect, as defined in our Code above.

You acknowledge that the personal information you provide us (e.g., your name, contact details, educational level, and ethnicity) may be stored by the Credibility Coalition in an anonymized and secure fashion. We follow best practices in properly protecting all personal information, including:

• Storing information related to you is in a secure fashion, through password-protected and controlled access;
• Associating forms you submit to an anonymous account ID and/or email address — there is no association to your name in the ID; and
• Distributing personal profile information only in anonymized formats and upon request to researchers whose information is kept on file.

Risks: You also understand that by publicly revealing your identity as an annotator in Credibility Coalition’s studies, you increase the risk of the deanonymization of your personal information. While all of Credibility Coalition raw data is anonymized, it has been demonstrated by a number of studies that parties with access to anonymized data may be able to determine your identity if enough information about you is publicly available.

Our Commitments: You can also expect that the members of the Credibility Coalition, and in particular researchers involved in the study your are participating in, also pledge to:

• Follow the Credibility Coalition’s Code of Ethics and Participation;
• Treat your personal information with care, such as anonymizing your identity and storing documents in password-protected locations.