There are three post flairs available for important or serious posts on this community.
1. News
News posts are defined as those with the intention to report on a recent, developing event. News posts should focus on shark-related developments regarding conservation efforts, shark professionals, scientific discoveries, or unfortunate events. The OP must clearly cite where they obtained the information in the comments, typically as a direct link to the source.
An example of a news post can be a video about newly implemented shark conservation laws or efforts, the discovery of a new species of shark, or similar newsworthy events. News posts should NOT focus on shark attacks or cruelty towards sharks unless they are the subject of a large event.
2. Educational
Educational posts are defined as those with the intention to educate others. On r/sharks, these posts may teach others about shark behavior, identification, conservation, as well as a variety of other topics relating to sharks. Educational posts REQUIRE that the OP comments their sources for the information they talk about. Educational posts promote healthy discussion and should emphasize spreading awareness about topics surrounding sharks.
An example of a proper educational post is a video where a professional talks about how to redirect a shark when in the water. For this post, OP cites the source they got the educational media from and states the professional's name in the comments. This is to ensure that only good quality information is being provided to the members of our community.
3. Research
Research posts are the most complex posts to make, as it is our intention to promote proper research on r/sharks.
If you are promoting your own research
Researchers who wish to promote their studies or obtain data via the subreddit must modmail the moderators first. In order to be approved to post, you must explain in your modmail the purpose of your research as well as the intentions of your post. You must also provide an IRB number in order for the mods to verify your research. Upon approval, you can post your research using the Research flair, and you do not need to cite any further sources in the comments.
For anyone else who posts about research in general
OP must provide a link to the research or the DOI of the paper in their post in the comments. Research posts promote healthy discussion while also allowing scientists to have a place to share ideas about shark research.
