NSF Discussion Forum Policies and Practices
The U.S. National Science Foundation welcomes your participation in this discussion forum hosted on WordPress. Please read the following statement carefully before submitting any comments.
Purpose and Uses
This discussion forum is intended for the informal exchange of ideas, and not as a means to survey visitors or solicit official information or comments. Statements made in this discussion forum, either by you (the user) or by us (the U.S. National Science Foundation), will in no way constitute a legal or official notice from, or comment to, the U.S. National Science Foundation or any official or employee of the U.S. National Science Foundation for any purpose.
When appropriate, opportunities to provide responses to official information requests occurring external to this discussion forum (such as Federal Register notices and OMB-approved surveys) may be hyperlinked from this discussion forum. Information responding to such official requests will not be collected through this discussion forum.
In order to participate in this discussion forum, you (the user) are not required to provide your full name, nor any other personally identifying information such as an email address or phone number. WordPress may, however, collect IP addresses, browser information, and similar data as part of regular server logs and website visitation analysis as described under their Terms of Service and Private User Data policy. If so, NSF may use the information only in aggregate form, and will not link such information to specific comments or discussion forum participants.
Any references made by the U.S. National Science Foundation to commercial entities, products, services, or other nongovernmental organizations or individuals, is solely for the information of persons using this discussion forum. Such references are not an official or personal endorsement of any product, person, or service, and may not be quoted or reproduced for the purpose of stating or implying the endorsement or approval of any product, person, or service by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Reporters should send any and all questions to the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs through their normal channels, and should not submit any questions through this forum.
Comment Policy
This is a monitored and moderated discussion forum. The U.S. National Science Foundation will review all comments before posting, and will not post comments that are not in compliance with this discussion forum policy.
The U.S. National Science Foundation’s responses to comments posted on this discussion forum are constrained by personnel availability, business hours, and accessibility of information needed for a response. Regular review of all comments will occur, but participants should not expect rapid or direct responses to comments. In addition, not all questions and comments received from discussion forum participants will receive responses in the discussion forum format.
This discussion forum is open to a variety of perspectives. However, comments will not be posted that contain:
- vulgar, offensive, threatening, or harassing language;
- threats against the U.S. Government, its employees, or other citizens;
- content that violates the privacy of another individual;
- comments that are spam or are clearly off topic;
- promotions of commercial products or services;
- comments that discuss specifics of individual grants or applications; or
- copyrighted material unless proper permissions have been obtained from the copyright holder.
This discussion forum will operate during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., U.S. Eastern Standard Time; however, all users are welcome to submit comments at any time. Comments submitted after hours, on weekends, holidays, or during office closures will be reviewed and posted as early as possible when business resumes. U.S. National Science Foundation staff will review submissions before posting them on the site; however, participants should not expect responses from the agency on their comments.
Be advised that discussion forum content becomes part of the public domain when it is posted. Participants may submit comments anonymously. In addition, participants are requested to protect the privacy of others. Do not provide any information in your comments that you do not want to share with all discussion forum visitors.
Reporter questions will not be posted or answered.
Privacy
This discussion forum does not independently gather information about you, other than information automatically collected and stored by WordPress (see above) when you visit their website. The U.S. National Science Foundation will not share or sell any personal information obtained from users with any other organization or government agency, except as required by law.
Linking Policy and Disclaimer of Endorsement
This discussion forum may include hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations and individual discussion forums. Where applicable, this discussion forum may provide these links and pointers solely for informational purposes.
When you select a link to an external website, you are leaving this discussion forum and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners and/or sponsors of the external website.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and this discussion forum do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained on a linked website.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and this discussion forum do not endorse any organizations sponsoring linked websites, and does not endorse the views expressed or the products and/or services offered therein.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and this discussion forum cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website. Those who provide comments are responsible for the copyright of the text they provide.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and this discussion forum are not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and this discussion forum do not guarantee that external websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and this discussion forum do not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or completeness of information contained in posted comments.
Any views and posted comments do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. National Science Foundation or the federal government.
Discussion forum Policy Changes
This policy statement may be amended or modified at any time to ensure that its continued use is consistent with the discussion forum’s intended purpose as a limited forum.
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