ManyZoos Membership and Contribution Statement
Version 1. September 2023
Specific terms
Disclaimers
1. ManyZoos membership eligibility
Just like other ManyX initiatives, ManyZoos runs on the good faith and standing of its members. While member diversity is important, the ManyZoos Directors must have oversight and ultimate control of membership to ensure our community is safe and operates respectfully (please view our Code of Conduct for more details). Therefore, we need to restrict membership to individuals with a genuine interest in, and support for, the scientific role of modern zoos. Please get in touch if you have any membership queries or concerns.
ManyZoos membership criteria (last update September 23)
Please view our ManyZoos Data Use Statement including how we will use your membership information.
2. Types of ManyZoos membership
Currently, there are three types of ManyZoos membership: Community Member, Committee Member, and Project Member. All individuals must be Community Members, but involvement in the various committees and projects is separate and entirely optional.
2.1 ManyZoos Community Member
The ManyZoos Community refers to everyone who has registered for ManyZoos membership, has been approved by the Directors, and has signed the Code of Conduct (i.e., three mandatory steps). All Community Members can optionally attend general meetings, use the ManyZoos Slack channel and engage with ManyZoos social media channels in line with our Social Media Policy. Community membership is recommended for individuals who wish to keep themselves updated with the activities and progress of ManyZoos and connect with other members, but who cannot or do not want to make a more active contribution at this stage. Community Members are useful to ManyZoos because they serve as a global network connecting many zoos and other institutions with each other. A ManyZoos Community Member may refer to themselves as such. However, they should not refer to their involvement in ManyZoos as anything further than this; e.g., they should not imply the contribute to a Research Project (see below) or represent ManyZoos in any further capacity, or that their opinions or work have been endorsed by ManyZoos. If there is any doubt, please reach out to us. It is particularly important that Community Members abide by our Social Media Policy.
2.2 ManyZoos Committee Member
The success of ManyZoos relies on our Committees taking responsibility for operational aspects such as communications, data management and ethical review. Compared with Community Membership, Committee Membership is an active role that requires direct communication with other Committee Members (using closed channels such as Slack sub-channels, email and Zoom meetings). ManyZoos Committee Members may refer to themselves as such and their specific standing (e.g., general member, chair).
It is important to note that being a Community and/or Committee Member does not automatically make an individual a member of a specific Research Project and therefore does not automatically make an individual an author on a ManyZoos output. See Section 3.
2.3 ManyZoos Project Member
Membership of a specific research project (called ‘Project X’ hereon) requires a separate expression of interest and agreement by the Project X Lead. A Project X Member is an individual who contributes to Project X in one or more ways, including conceptualization, literature reviewing, experimental design, equipment handling, data collection, data analysis, and report writing. For more information, see Section 3.
3. Fair acknowledgement of contributions to ManyZoos
There are many ways a member can contribute to ManyZoos. Your contribution will mainly depend on the type of membership(s) you hold (Section 2), but also your expertise/qualifications/training, work or study affiliation, and access to zoo resources. We also recognise that some individuals face unfair barriers to contribution including their career stage, caring commitments, and health status. For this reason, ManyZoos recognised a wide range of important contributions. Contributions are intended to be flexible and should be appropriate for your circumstances.
In an attempt to acknowledge diversity and give members appropriate credit, we urge Project Leads to follow the CRediT Taxonomy (https://casrai.org/credit/) when defining authorship on an output (e.g. a journal article). CRediT is used by many journals to standardise how individuals are credited on group projects, thereby avoiding any ambiguity or conflict. Different projects will have different requirements, and therefore projects will need to decide their own authorship criteria, pending signoff by the ManyZoos Directors and/or a relevant Committee.
The following text is a useful starting point for defining authorship on a project output, and may be edited to suit an individual project’s requirements (based on CRediT and adapted from the ManyDogs initiative):
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“ManyZoos will be listed first, followed by all contributing authors in alphabetical order by surname (last name). The criteria for contributing authorship on ManyZoos Project X aims to be inclusive for and not discriminate on the basis of career stage or affiliation (e.g., zoo, university). Following CRediT Taxonomy (https://casrai.org/credit/), to qualify for authorship on ManyZoos Project X, an individual should significantly contribute to one or more of the criteria listed as follows”
Conceptualization
Leading and actively participating in discussions that lead to formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims.
Methodology
Development or design of methodology; creation of models. Writing/designing the pre-registration
Data Curation
Management activities to merge and maintain research data (including software code, where it is necessary for interpreting the data itself) in an online repository for initial use and later reuse. Verification and organization of data submission.
Project Administration
Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution within the core administration team.
Writing
Preparation, creation, and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically original writing for at least 1 section (i.e., introduction, methods, results, discussion) of manuscripts, critical review of the manuscript as a whole, commentary or revision – including pre- or post-publication stages of the entire manuscript.
Visualization
Creation of visualizations/data presentation, provided that these are included in the paper or supplementary materials.
Investigation
Conducting research and investigation processes, specifically implementing the protocol to collect and submit data that meets submission requirements, and performing reliability coding and data entry.
Supervision
Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution at local sites.
Formal Analysis
Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyse or synthesize study data, provided these analyses are included in the paper or supplementary materials.
Software
Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components.
Resources & Funding acquisition
Provision or acquisition of financial support for the project leading to this publication.
It may be necessary to further specify what ‘significantly’ means for each list item above. For example, a Project Lead may define significant contribution to data collection as a minimum number of data points, and a significant contribution to writing as a minimum number of paragraphs.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It may not be appropriate to have ManyZoos listed as first author, if another individual needs first authorship for course graduation requirements. This will be flexible; for example, in instances where a graduate student is required to be first author on their thesis publications, ManyZoos can be listed as the last author. Project teams should pre-define authorship. The Project Lead should seek support from the MZ directors if and when required.
END.
Version 1. September 2023
Specific terms
- ManyZoos ‘member’: An individual who has been approved by the Directors/Committee Leaders and who has signed the Code of Conduct (Section 1) and who has some involvement in ManyZoos (Section 2).
- ManyZoos ‘output’: A product of ManyZoos e.g., an original or combined idea arising from discussion; a report; a journal article: a conference presentation.
Disclaimers
- ManyZoos is a voluntary initiative; it has no paid employees, no membership fee, and receives no incentives from promotions, sponsors, and/or facilities. No reimbursement will be made for Community or Committee contribution (if funding is secured for a specific Research Project, it will be the responsibility of the Project Lead to use those funds to purchase equipment, consumables, salaries, etc).
- Please be advised this document is subject to amendment as ManyZoos evolves. Members will be advised on these amendments as they occur.
1. ManyZoos membership eligibility
Just like other ManyX initiatives, ManyZoos runs on the good faith and standing of its members. While member diversity is important, the ManyZoos Directors must have oversight and ultimate control of membership to ensure our community is safe and operates respectfully (please view our Code of Conduct for more details). Therefore, we need to restrict membership to individuals with a genuine interest in, and support for, the scientific role of modern zoos. Please get in touch if you have any membership queries or concerns.
ManyZoos membership criteria (last update September 23)
- You must be an individual (we currently do not allow organisations such as zoos or research groups to join ManyZoos).
- You must have a current relevant affiliation. For example:
- You are employed by or volunteer for an accredited zoo.
- You are enrolled in a relevant programme of study (such as zoology, conservation, animal behaviour) at college or university
- You are self-employed or work for a relevant company, such as an animal behaviour consultancy.
- If it is unclear why you have registered to become a ManyZoos member, we may ask for clarification or information such as a letter from your employer or supervisor, on a case-by-case basis.
- You will re-register your Membership each year at 12-month increments.
- You will sign and therefore agree to our Code of Conduct.
- If there is a substantial change in your eligibility within a 12-month period (i.e., since you last registered), you will let the Directors know.
- You will keep your contact details up to date and identify yourself fairly when using our channels of communication (i.e., no anonymous posts).
Please view our ManyZoos Data Use Statement including how we will use your membership information.
2. Types of ManyZoos membership
Currently, there are three types of ManyZoos membership: Community Member, Committee Member, and Project Member. All individuals must be Community Members, but involvement in the various committees and projects is separate and entirely optional.
2.1 ManyZoos Community Member
The ManyZoos Community refers to everyone who has registered for ManyZoos membership, has been approved by the Directors, and has signed the Code of Conduct (i.e., three mandatory steps). All Community Members can optionally attend general meetings, use the ManyZoos Slack channel and engage with ManyZoos social media channels in line with our Social Media Policy. Community membership is recommended for individuals who wish to keep themselves updated with the activities and progress of ManyZoos and connect with other members, but who cannot or do not want to make a more active contribution at this stage. Community Members are useful to ManyZoos because they serve as a global network connecting many zoos and other institutions with each other. A ManyZoos Community Member may refer to themselves as such. However, they should not refer to their involvement in ManyZoos as anything further than this; e.g., they should not imply the contribute to a Research Project (see below) or represent ManyZoos in any further capacity, or that their opinions or work have been endorsed by ManyZoos. If there is any doubt, please reach out to us. It is particularly important that Community Members abide by our Social Media Policy.
2.2 ManyZoos Committee Member
The success of ManyZoos relies on our Committees taking responsibility for operational aspects such as communications, data management and ethical review. Compared with Community Membership, Committee Membership is an active role that requires direct communication with other Committee Members (using closed channels such as Slack sub-channels, email and Zoom meetings). ManyZoos Committee Members may refer to themselves as such and their specific standing (e.g., general member, chair).
It is important to note that being a Community and/or Committee Member does not automatically make an individual a member of a specific Research Project and therefore does not automatically make an individual an author on a ManyZoos output. See Section 3.
2.3 ManyZoos Project Member
Membership of a specific research project (called ‘Project X’ hereon) requires a separate expression of interest and agreement by the Project X Lead. A Project X Member is an individual who contributes to Project X in one or more ways, including conceptualization, literature reviewing, experimental design, equipment handling, data collection, data analysis, and report writing. For more information, see Section 3.
3. Fair acknowledgement of contributions to ManyZoos
There are many ways a member can contribute to ManyZoos. Your contribution will mainly depend on the type of membership(s) you hold (Section 2), but also your expertise/qualifications/training, work or study affiliation, and access to zoo resources. We also recognise that some individuals face unfair barriers to contribution including their career stage, caring commitments, and health status. For this reason, ManyZoos recognised a wide range of important contributions. Contributions are intended to be flexible and should be appropriate for your circumstances.
In an attempt to acknowledge diversity and give members appropriate credit, we urge Project Leads to follow the CRediT Taxonomy (https://casrai.org/credit/) when defining authorship on an output (e.g. a journal article). CRediT is used by many journals to standardise how individuals are credited on group projects, thereby avoiding any ambiguity or conflict. Different projects will have different requirements, and therefore projects will need to decide their own authorship criteria, pending signoff by the ManyZoos Directors and/or a relevant Committee.
The following text is a useful starting point for defining authorship on a project output, and may be edited to suit an individual project’s requirements (based on CRediT and adapted from the ManyDogs initiative):
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“ManyZoos will be listed first, followed by all contributing authors in alphabetical order by surname (last name). The criteria for contributing authorship on ManyZoos Project X aims to be inclusive for and not discriminate on the basis of career stage or affiliation (e.g., zoo, university). Following CRediT Taxonomy (https://casrai.org/credit/), to qualify for authorship on ManyZoos Project X, an individual should significantly contribute to one or more of the criteria listed as follows”
Conceptualization
Leading and actively participating in discussions that lead to formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims.
Methodology
Development or design of methodology; creation of models. Writing/designing the pre-registration
Data Curation
Management activities to merge and maintain research data (including software code, where it is necessary for interpreting the data itself) in an online repository for initial use and later reuse. Verification and organization of data submission.
Project Administration
Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution within the core administration team.
Writing
Preparation, creation, and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically original writing for at least 1 section (i.e., introduction, methods, results, discussion) of manuscripts, critical review of the manuscript as a whole, commentary or revision – including pre- or post-publication stages of the entire manuscript.
Visualization
Creation of visualizations/data presentation, provided that these are included in the paper or supplementary materials.
Investigation
Conducting research and investigation processes, specifically implementing the protocol to collect and submit data that meets submission requirements, and performing reliability coding and data entry.
Supervision
Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution at local sites.
Formal Analysis
Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyse or synthesize study data, provided these analyses are included in the paper or supplementary materials.
Software
Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components.
Resources & Funding acquisition
Provision or acquisition of financial support for the project leading to this publication.
It may be necessary to further specify what ‘significantly’ means for each list item above. For example, a Project Lead may define significant contribution to data collection as a minimum number of data points, and a significant contribution to writing as a minimum number of paragraphs.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It may not be appropriate to have ManyZoos listed as first author, if another individual needs first authorship for course graduation requirements. This will be flexible; for example, in instances where a graduate student is required to be first author on their thesis publications, ManyZoos can be listed as the last author. Project teams should pre-define authorship. The Project Lead should seek support from the MZ directors if and when required.
END.
MANYZOOS PROJECT
2023 ManyZoos Project. All rights reserved.
2023 ManyZoos Project. All rights reserved.