Policies of the Research Wing.

CollabCircle is founded by one Founder (President) and five Co-Founders. Everyone actively involved in research is treated as a Researcher. New Researchers are admitted at the President's discretion through a probationary process: they are assigned to a conference or journal project under supervision, evaluated after the project outcome, and may receive an offer only after successful review and signing the official Researcher Agreement. All members are engaged as independent contractors, must follow research, confidentiality, and professionalism expectations, and are expected to meet a yearly publication minimum of two conference papers or one journal paper.

The President serves as the strategic head and final decision-maker of CollabCircle, including defining the research agenda, initiating projects, forming teams, approving papers before submission, and representing the organization externally. Co-Founders and other Researchers are responsible for hands-on technical work, analysis, experimentation, and writing. For specific projects, the President may assign a temporary Team Lead who coordinates researchers, tracks progress, and reports directly to the President. A typical project team includes three CollabCircle Researchers and one external faculty member or supervisor, although the President may change this structure based on project needs.

Research projects may come from the President's vision or from Co-Founder proposals, but final approval rests with the President. Once approved, the project lead is expected to define objectives, scope, team responsibilities, milestones, and a strategy for data, experiments, and analysis. Researchers are required to communicate openly, participate in meetings, share progress and problems transparently, and use designated internal communication channels. Code must be maintained under version control, documentation of code and experiments is mandatory, research data must be stored securely and consistently, and any new resource needs must be submitted for approval.

Every project is expected to work toward a publishable manuscript. Authorship is based on significant intellectual contribution, including areas such as project conception, data acquisition or analysis, drafting or revising the manuscript, final approval, and accountability for the work. Author order is decided by the project team together with the President, with disagreements settled by the President before submission. Manuscripts must go through internal review before submission, and the President has the final say on the target venue and whether the paper is ready to submit. The policy also requires originality, forbids fabrication or falsification of data, requires enough transparency for reproducibility, and requires disclosure of conflicts of interest.

Research papers, models, code, datasets, methods, and inventions created during CollabCircle projects belong to CollabCircle. Individual contributors still receive recognition through authorship under the publication policy, but use or distribution of CollabCircle IP outside official publication requires written permission from the President. Pre-existing intellectual property brought in by a member remains that member's property, but it must be disclosed before use in a project. Decisions about open-sourcing are made project by project by the President.

Project teams are expected to use designated digital channels such as Messenger, WhatsApp, or Discord for day-to-day discussion, while organization-level announcements are communicated through a central channel. Team Leads are responsible for regular meetings. Any official external communication, including public statements, formal collaboration outreach, or media interaction, must be approved by or routed through the President.

Members may have access to unpublished findings, proprietary data, internal strategies, and other confidential materials. They are required to protect that information from unauthorized disclosure during and after their involvement with CollabCircle. Where research involves sensitive or personal data, members must follow relevant privacy and data-protection rules, store information securely, and immediately report any suspected confidentiality or security breach. Unless explicitly authorized by the President, confidential CollabCircle information must not be discussed outside the organization.

CollabCircle states that it must remain a respectful, inclusive, and professional environment. Discrimination, harassment, and bullying are not tolerated. Members are expected to act with integrity, accountability, cooperation, and professional behavior, and to resolve conflicts through constructive dialogue. They must also comply with applicable laws and regulations. Serious violations, especially around ethics, confidentiality, or conduct, can lead to disciplinary action or termination at the President's discretion.

The organization policy is to be reviewed at least once each year by the President and Co-Founders. The document specifically states that the first review should be completed by June 15, 2026. Amendments or modifications may only be made by the President, in consultation with the Co-Founders.

The President holds final authority over financial matters. Funding may be pursued through grants, sponsorships, or donations, but funding proposals and applications must be approved by the President. Significant expenditures also require prior approval, and financial records are to be maintained transparently. Resources are meant to support the core mission, including compute, licenses, data access, and conference costs. The policy also states that CollabCircle currently operates as a non-profit, non-equity organization, and that any future for-profit transition would require a separate agreement. Founder, Co-Founders, and full Researchers are required to contribute to shared tool and service costs, while probationary candidates are exempt.

CollabCircle says it is committed to the continuous learning and professional development of its members. This may include internal knowledge sharing, mentorship, access to learning resources, and support for conference participation. At the same time, the policy makes clear that each member remains individually responsible for their own professional growth.

The policy supports open science where appropriate. It encourages pre-print submission, including on platforms such as arXiv, as long as the same internal review and approval process is followed. It also strongly encourages code and trained model release for published papers, and seeks to make datasets publicly available when legal, ethical, privacy, or confidentiality restrictions do not prevent it. Members are also expected to make sure that open release does not expose confidential or sensitive information.

A conflict of interest is defined as a situation where a member's personal interests could influence, or appear to influence, their professional judgment. Members are required to disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts to the President as soon as they become aware of them. After disclosure, the President decides how the conflict will be managed, which may include recusal, role changes, or a formal management plan.

Members who plan to leave CollabCircle are expected to provide reasonable advance notice, such as 30 to 60 days, to help with transition planning. Before departure, they must document ongoing work properly, transfer knowledge, and return CollabCircle documents, data, and access credentials. Confidentiality obligations continue after departure. The policy also states that departing members should still be acknowledged in ongoing or future publications that come from work they contributed to.

The document states that official external communication must be managed by the President and lists the approved public channels for CollabCircle. These include the primary email address `collabcircle.official@gmail.com`, the official LinkedIn page, Facebook page, Instagram profile, and YouTube channel.