Archive Authorship and Review

Sets out who may write each kind of file in the Foundation Archive, who reviews it, who approves it and who decides its clearance, under Article VII of the Foundation Charter. The Archive grows with every file personnel write; this directive keeps it accurate, consistent and safe to read.

1. Roles

Nobody reviews or approves their own file.

2. File types and chain of command

1. Anomaly files are numbered from SCP-002, in the order they are published. SCP-001 is reserved: its file survived the Blackout and is held sealed at Site-01, beyond every clearance.
2. A member may write a file of a type their department or level does not allow if a member who may write it is named as co-author and takes responsibility for it.
3. Members below the writing level may submit notes and drafts to someone who can write the file.
4. The Chaos Insurgency keeps its own records in the Ledger. Nothing in this directive applies to them.

3. From draft to published

1. Every file starts as a draft. The author sends it for review when it is complete.
2. A reviewer answers within 7 days, either passing it or listing what must change. A file may go through review more than once.
3. The approver approves, sends it back, or declines it, and sets the clearance needed to read it. An approver may set a higher clearance than the author suggested, never a lower one than the content needs.
4. Publishing gives the file its number and posts it to #archive-feed.

3A. Posts

Posts are short entries personnel publish themselves: research notes, field updates, observations, announcements within a department. They keep the Archive alive between formal files.

1. Any member at Level 1 or above may post. A post is published at once, without review, in the author's department or site.
2. A post is read at the author's clearance or lower; the author picks the level, never above their own.
3. A post is the author's own account, not an official record. Anything that should be on record (an incident, a test result) is filed as its proper type; a post may link to it.
4. Department leads and Site Directors may hide a post that breaks this directive or the Archive Style Guide, with a reason. Hidden posts are kept, not deleted, and Archivists can see them.
5. Posts follow the Community Rules and the Archive Style Guide's limits like every other file.

3B. Test transcripts

1. A test transcript is the word-for-word record of a test: what was said and done, with times, as it happened. It belongs to an experiment log and carries that log's number with a T.
2. It is written by a researcher who ran or watched the test, at Level 2 or above, by the end of the session.
3. Where a test is run in a Roblox place, the game may record the session and hand the researcher a draft transcript. The researcher checks and completes it before it goes to review; nothing recorded is published without them.
4. A transcript is reviewed and approved with its experiment log, or on its own if the log already exists.

4. Clearance of a file

1. A file's clearance is the lowest level allowed to read all of it.
2. Parts that need a higher level are redacted, each redaction marked with the level that may read it. Readers below that level see the mark, not the text.
3. Nobody may write content above their own clearance. Content above the author's clearance is added by a co-author who holds it.

5. Changing a published file

1. A correction (spelling, a broken link) is made by an Archivist and noted in the file's history.
2. Any change to meaning is a new revision. It goes through review and approval again; the earlier revision stays in the history.
3. A file is withdrawn only by its approver or a higher authority, with the reason recorded. Withdrawn files are kept, not deleted.

6. Duty to report

1. Incidents are reported within one day by the senior member present, on an Incident Report.
2. Experiments and interviews are logged by the end of the session in which they took place.
3. Failing to report, or reporting falsely, is a matter for the department lead in character. Breaking the Roleplay Rules while doing so is a matter for staff.

Revisions