People

Documenting people is essential for collaboration. The Turing Way highlights stakeholders, contributor pathways, and visible credit as part of a healthy project.

Why document people?

• Contributors need to know who maintains the project, who reviews changes, and who can answer specific questions.
• Clear role descriptions reduce the risk that important knowledge lives with only one person.
• Visible credit makes contributions citable, acknowledged, and easier to sustain over time.

What should be documented?

• Key stakeholders, target users, and contributor groups.
• Maintainers, decision makers, and the responsibilities attached to each role.
• Authorship, acknowledgements, and contribution types in places such as README.md, CITATION.cff, and the Git history.
• Contact points for conduct, security, or domain-specific questions.

How should you document it?

1. Keep a short, current list of roles and responsibilities in the repository rather than in private documents.
2. Distinguish between authorship, maintainership, review responsibility, and occasional contributions.
3. Update contributor information when people join, leave, or change roles.
4. Link people documentation to participation guidance so newcomers can see how to get involved.
5. Review this page at milestones to make sure ownership and contact details still match reality.

Relevant Turing Way chapters: Stakeholders, Personas and Pathways, and Authorship and Contributions on Academic Articles.