Community Guidelines

OpenNotes is built around students, educators, and contributors helping one another. These guidelines help keep the platform useful and respectful.

Last updated: August 2026

Be Respectful

Treat other students, contributors, educators, and administrators respectfully.
Do not harass, threaten, bully, or target other users.
Disagreements are welcome, but personal attacks are not.

Keep Contributions Educational

Focus shared materials on legitimate educational purposes.
Avoid unrelated promotional or commercial content.
Do not use OpenNotes primarily for advertising.

Do Not Mislead Others

Do not intentionally upload incorrect information as fact.
Do not misrepresent yourself as another contributor, educator, institution, or organization.
Use accurate titles, descriptions, subjects, and educational levels.

Respect Copyright

Sharing educational material does not automatically mean that you have permission to redistribute it. Respect copyright, licenses, institutional policies, and the rights of content creators.

Protect Personal Information

Do not share another person's private information.
Do not publish private conversations or confidential documents.
Do not use the platform to collect personal information about other users.

Spam and Abuse

Do not repeatedly submit duplicate content.
Do not attempt to manipulate view or download counts.
Do not use automated systems to abuse platform functionality.
Do not upload malicious files or attempt to compromise the platform.

Moderation

OpenNotes administrators may review reports and take action when content or behavior violates these guidelines. Actions may include removing content, rejecting contributions, limiting features, or suspending accounts depending on the severity and frequency of the violation.

Report a Problem

If you encounter copyright violations, abusive behavior, inappropriate content, spam, or other serious problems, report the issue through the available OpenNotes contact or reporting mechanism.