Community Guidelines

Last updated: June 2, 2026

MethodMath is a mathematics Q&A community. The goal is not to win arguments or collect points quickly. The goal is to make mathematical thinking clearer for the next person who has the same question.

These guidelines apply to questions, answers, comments, profiles, usernames, avatars, reports, votes, follows, and other community interactions.

1. Ask Questions That Can Be Answered Well

Good questions are specific enough that another person can understand the problem and write a useful explanation.

• Put the main mathematical question in the title.
• Include the exact expression, theorem, proof step, diagram description, or context.
• Show what you tried when it helps others diagnose the issue.
• Use relevant topics instead of unrelated tags.
• Avoid posting the same question repeatedly.

It is okay to be confused. It is not okay to hide key context, copy homework without effort, or mislead people about what you need.

2. Write Answers That Teach

Strong answers explain the reasoning, not only the final result.

• Show the main idea before long algebra when possible.
• Define symbols that may be ambiguous.
• Use mathematical notation when it improves clarity.
• Point out common mistakes or edge cases.
• State assumptions clearly.
• Credit external sources if you rely on them.

Short answers can be excellent if they are precise and helpful.

3. Use Comments for Clarification

Comments should improve the question or answer.

Use comments to ask for missing information, point out a possible mistake, suggest a clearer formulation, or request a source. Do not use comments for insults, unrelated debates, repeated self-promotion, or pressure.

4. Be Honest About AI Assistance

AI tools can help draft explanations, but mathematical correctness is your responsibility.

Before posting AI-assisted content, check the proof, notation, examples, and conclusion. Do not flood the platform with generated material. Do not claim expertise, verification, or originality that is not real.

5. Vote Based on Usefulness

Votes are community signals.

Upvote content that is clear, correct, useful, or meaningfully improves the discussion. Downvote content that is misleading, incorrect, low-effort, irrelevant, or harmful.

Do not vote because of friendship, retaliation, identity, politics, payment, exchange agreements, duplicate accounts, or coordinated groups.

6. Protect MethodIQ and Reputation

MethodIQ, badges, accepted answers, and ranking signals exist to reward trust and contribution quality.

Do not attempt to inflate them through vote rings, duplicate accounts, artificial traffic, automated actions, paid engagement, or scripted behavior. Abuse may lead to score recalculation, badge removal, feature limits, or suspension.

7. Keep the Community Safe

Do not post:

• Harassment, threats, hate, or personal attacks
• Private information about another person
• Impersonation of users, teachers, moderators, platforms, or organizations
• Malware, phishing, malicious links, or exploit attempts
• Spam, unrelated promotion, scams, or affiliate abuse
• Sexual, violent, or otherwise inappropriate content unrelated to mathematics learning

8. Respect Intellectual Property

Do not copy full solutions, articles, books, paid materials, or another person's work without permission.

You may quote or reference small portions when appropriate, but add your own explanation and credit the source.

9. Use Reports Responsibly

Report content when it appears abusive, unsafe, spammy, malicious, impersonating, or seriously incorrect in a way that may mislead users.

Do not weaponize reports against users you disagree with.

10. Moderation Approach

Moderation focuses on protecting learning quality, trust, and platform stability.

Depending on the situation, MethodMath may edit formatting, reduce visibility, remove content, lock discussions, limit features, recalculate signals, suspend accounts, or block abusive traffic.

11. How to Recover From Mistakes

If someone points out an error, fix it when possible. Corrections are part of mathematics. A respectful correction improves the platform more than pretending a mistake did not happen.

12. Contact

For a moderation, safety, or account concern that cannot be handled through the report feature, use the contact form.