Contributor Covenant: write expectations people can use

Contributor Covenant is a code-of-conduct resource for digital communities. It helps projects communicate expectations about behavior and participation. It is useful when an archive begins accepting corrections, submissions or contributions from people who do not already know one another and cannot rely on informal shared assumptions. Read the current text and adoption guidance, then decide how it fits the actual spaces your project operates. Make reporting information easy to find and identify the people responsible for handling reports. Explain the scope of the policy and connect it with your contribution instructions so participants know both how to help and what conduct is expected. Publishing a document does not create an effective moderation process by itself. A small team should make commitments it can actually carry out, including timely acknowledgement and consistent handling. Review the process as participation changes. Use the covenant as a foundation for clear community responsibilities rather than as a badge that claims every conflict has already been solved.

Editorial review: 2026-09-23. New evidence may change this account.

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