# Attribution and citations

**Draft v0.3 — 2026-10-11**

RSI4Science is a free community resource for discovering and curating scientific datasets, benchmarks, simulators and tools useful for Recursive Self-Improvement research. DUAL Lab maintains the platform; Xiongye Xiao and Yue Zhao initiated it. Volunteers can suggest resources, clarify their use, improve documentation and tools, or help with review.

## Cite the original source

Every accepted resource listing should identify the original creators, title, source URL, version or date, citation instructions, and license or access terms. Include a DOI only if it exists. Link the original paper, data and software where relevant; a platform listing does not replace their citations or licenses.

Keep original creators distinct from people who recommend, curate, document, check or adapt a resource. Sharing a link does not transfer creator credit. If a released adaptation has separate citation metadata, identify what changed and explain when to cite it alongside the original work. Users should cite the specific resources and versions their work actually uses.

## Acknowledge volunteer contributions

| Accepted work | Record |
| --- | --- |
| Resource suggestion | Acknowledge the useful suggestion, with the contributor’s agreement, while citing the original creators. |
| Curation, documentation or adaptation | Identify the actual role, accepted artifact and version; preserve original-source attribution. |
| Scientific or engineering review | Acknowledge completed review and accepted findings, including useful negative findings and corrections. |
| Software, accessibility or maintenance | Link the issue, pull request or released artifact and describe the work performed. |
| Research news and source checking | Record editorial and verification roles under the editorial policy. |

Acknowledgement follows the work actually performed and accepted. Agree the scope, reviewer and proposed attribution before substantial work. A resource suggestion does not commit its contributor to developing a full task, running experiments or maintaining someone else’s resource.

## From suggestion to listing

1. **Suggest an existing resource.** Provide a public source link, version and possible scientific use. Mark unknowns. This starts suitability and format discussion and carries no reviewed-data status.
2. **Clarify what it offers.** Document contents, scientific uses, available checks or feedback, access conditions, limitations and citation instructions. Agree any further volunteer work.
3. **Check and review.** Prepared packages pass automated checks before formal human review. Scientific validity and engineering reproducibility receive separate review; verify source authenticity, rights and access. Contributors cannot approve their own work alone.
4. **Approve the listing.** Record the exact version, review evidence, decision, permitted public materials and contributor consent. Only approved listings or packages enter the collection. An automatic pass or merged change is not publication approval.

An external-resource listing may point to the original host after its source, version, access terms and scientific relevance have been reviewed and a maintainer has approved the listing. Its entry states whether the underlying data has been checked. A checked benchmark package also requires records, scoring and reproducibility review for the agreed version. Hosting or redistributing data requires the relevant permission; linking a source does not establish redistribution rights. Resource acceptance, task validation, optional RSI experiments and public release remain separate decisions. A contribution does not need a successful RSI experiment to be useful.

## Contribution records and consent

Use the [contribution record](https://rsi4science.org/downloads/contribution-record.md) to capture the artifact, source citations, actual roles, review evidence, decision and agreed acknowledgement. Ask the contributor to confirm accuracy. Pending confirmation remains explicit.

Publish a volunteer’s name, handle or affiliation only with their agreement; an affiliation does not imply institutional endorsement. Public acknowledgement is optional. Public source citations remain necessary even when a volunteer chooses no public acknowledgement. Issues and records in the private repository remain limited to its authorized audience; public attribution requires a separate decision.

## Corrections and changes

Keep written reasons, evidence and dated amendments. Retain accurate contribution history when a resource is revised, withdrawn or no longer maintained. Valid negative findings remain useful records. Correct attribution errors with notice to affected contributors and an opportunity to respond.

Changes apply prospectively. Review any existing recorded agreement with the affected contributors rather than silently rewriting it. Disputes should receive input from someone independent of the decision; if such review is unavailable, state that it remains pending.

## Related policies

The [contribution guide](https://rsi4science.org/guidelines/) covers package checks, human review and reuse permissions. Research Briefs have their own source and editorial requirements. Original project code uses MIT; original project text uses CC BY 4.0 when shared with the required permission. Third-party resources retain their own terms.


For questions, email xxiao9@utk.edu.