It's now 2016. So as you may or may not be aware, some new rules were being drafted.

https://voat.co/v/science/comments/672522

I am not yet satisfied with the outcome of these discussions (it kind of died out) and I'm sure there are some users who aren't either. We will be putting into place these rules for one month, until February for a trial period. You can actively send us feedback in the comments below, during and after the trial period. (Be not afraid -- we have no power to ban you as it turns out, we can ban you. I maintain the stance that we will not ban for criticism, although I cannot speak on behalf of the other moderators I expect that they won't either).

These rules are being put in place because I promised we would have rules starting 2016, and I'm not particularly keen on breaking my promises. To compromise for rules that aren't yet ready in my opinion, I have decided that a trial period will be most effective at still working things out while implementing rules. This is also good because it lets us all see what will actually happen, rather than just speculate.

Global Policy

• [1] All Voat rules apply.
• [2] Using loopholes for these rules are forbidden and we reserve the right to remove submissions and comments that attempt to find ways around the rules. Please report any loopholes you may find and ask if you are unsure.

Submission Policy

• [1] We will be removing articles that are misleading, editorialised, or not science.
• [2] Titles should try to summarise what is in the article.
• [3] Science memes or jokes are not suitable content for this subverse, and will be removed.
• [4] Pseudoscience is not allowed.†

† From Wikipedia:

Pseudoscience is a claim, belief or practice presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to the scientific method. A field, practice, or body of knowledge can reasonably be called pseudoscientific when it is presented as consistent with the norms of scientific research, but it demonstrably fails to meet these norms. Pseudoscience is often characterized by the following: contradictory, exaggerated or unprovable claims; over-reliance on confirmation rather than rigorous attempts at refutation; lack of openness to evaluation by other experts in the field; and absence of systematic practices when rationally developing theories.

Comment Policy

• [1] Spamming is prohibited. This includes advertising, or simply posting nonsense.
• [2] Self-promotion must be strictly relevant to the topic of the submission, or strictly relevant to the comment thread and also somewhat relevant to the submission.
• [3] Self promotion must be clearly labeled as self promotion.
• [4] All comments should be somewhat relevant to the topic at hand. This is aimed at stopping spam, and is specified to make clear that offtopic comments are included in our definition of spam.
• [5] With the exception of excessive spam waves†† (see also: Amalek, robots, etc.), you will be informed if your comment is removed and which rule(s) it breaks.

†† Spam waves:

If you make excessive Amalek-style posts (multiple short replies to one comment/thread or just generally low substance posts all over the place), are obviously advertising/astroturfing/etc., or repeatedly break the exact same rule in a short timeframe.

Thank you, and have a great year.