The rules of the library
First version
These terms describe how the site works today. They are being reviewed and may be updated.
Reading guides
Guides are written by their authors, often with the help of an AI assistant. A guide marked Unreviewed has been screened by AI for appropriateness only; nobody has verified its content. Even a verified guide can contain mistakes. Guides are offered for learning, without any guarantee. Check anything you rely on against the original sources, and follow your own lab's safety rules.
Publishing a guide or a comment
When you publish, you confirm that:
- you wrote it, or have the right to share it, including every figure, table and long quotation in it;
- the references in it are real, and it says what its sources say, to the best of your knowledge;
- it contains no personal data about other people, nothing illegal, no advertising, and nothing meant to harass or mislead.
You keep the rights to your work. You publish guides here under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence, so that others can reuse them with credit to you.
Submissions are checked by an automatic screen, which may publish them, decline them, or pass them to a person. The editor may remove a guide or a comment that breaks these rules.
Reporting a problem
Use the Report this guide button on the guide's page, or write to . Say which guide, where in it the problem is, and why you think it is illegal, wrong or against these rules. Reports are read by a person.
What happens next: the editor looks at the report, usually within a few days. If the guide is removed or restricted, the author can see that through their private edit link, and can write to the contact address to object. If you left an email address, you are told the outcome.
Copyright takedown
If a guide uses your work without permission, send a report with the reason “It uses my work without permission”, or write to the contact address. Please include:
- the address of the guide, and where in it your work appears;
- what the original work is, and where it was published;
- a statement that you own the rights or act for the owner;
- an email address for a reply.
The guide is taken out of public view while the report is looked at. If the author shows they have the right to use the material, for example an open licence, it is put back. Otherwise it is deleted.