PFN recognizes two types of Participants – Member-Participants and Collaborator-Participants. (Generally referred to as Members and Collaborators.) The term “Participants” includes both Members and Collaborators. This document generally describes the processes to become PFN Members and PFN Collaborators. See the Related Content section below for more information about this topic.
Members
PFN Members may be either Basic Members or Network Group Members:
- A Basic Member has access to general content and comment features relating to a wide range of policy topics on the PFN website, well beyond the content and features available to non-member users.
- A Network Group Member is a Basic Member who is approved for Network Group membership and thus has more access and opportunities to participate, discuss, collaborate, and develop content and policy solutions within the Network Group’s Domain. Because each Network Group is distinct from every other Network Group based on their distinct Domains, each Network Group has its own group of Members. Because only experts who are Basic Members are eligible to be Network Group Members, all Network Group Members are also Basic Members.
PFN may consider applying membership fees to Basic Members and Network Group Members at some point beginning in late 2027 or 2028. For example, the fee may be $5 per month for a Basic Member and $5 per month for a Network Group Member ($5 for each Network Group). PFN will announce the actual charges at least 30 days in advance of when they would go into effect.
Members are free to cancel their PFN Memberships at their discretion. If the PFN does decide in the future to apply membership charges, cancellations would go into effect at the end of the Membership periods for which charges have already been applied, which means that PFN will not refund charges already paid.
Finally, Basic Members and Network Group Members do not have ownership, management, or similar rights relating to Policy Futures Network LLC and are not legal members of the LLC. Click here [URL] for more about PFN Basics.
All experts interested in becoming a PFN Member should follow the Participant Application process described below.
Collaborators
Instead of PFN Membership, an expert may be interested in being a PFN Collaborator for a specific project or activity, including one that the expert has designed. In general, PFN Collaborators have access and opportunities to content, discussions, and solutions similar to the Members in the Network Group that is focused on the Domain that covers the Collaborator’s specific project or activity. The access and opportunities will continue for the duration of the specific project or activity.
All experts interested in becoming a PFN Collaborator should follow the Participant Application process described below. Also, in some cases, the PFN Leader may reach out to an expert about becoming a PFN Collaborator on a specific project or activity, such as a PFN Solution Report.
Application Process
An expert who wants to be a PFN Member or Collaborator should submit the PFN Participant Application, which is available in both hardcopy and online formats. Click here [URL] for the hardcopy format and here for the online format.
The hardcopy version should be sent as an attachment to an email to policy.futures@policyfutures.net, along with any other application-relevant files or documents.
An expert who prefers the online format should be aware that the PFN website does not currently enable a user to save a partially completed online Application and then retrieve it later for completion and submission. In this situation, the expert can use the hardcopy version to draft the Application responses offline (some responses may take time and a few redrafts), and then the applicant can transfer and submit the final responses via the online Application.
All submitted Applications go to the PFN Leader for consideration and decisions, and the PFN Leader expects to make initial contact with each applicant no more than a week after receiving the Application and then to decide on the Participation request as soon as possible after that. The review and consideration process for an applicant may include follow-up questions, interviews or discussions, and communications with the applicant’s references or other PFN Participants, so the process may take several weeks.
In addition to the applicant’s knowledge, experience, and interests, the PFN Leader will pay special attention to whether applicants are likely to be effective not only at explaining their own views and preferred policy solutions, but also at steelmanning (i.e., explaining and suggesting improvements to) the views and solutions of those who see things differently. And whether applicants are likely to exhibit mindsets that support high levels of intellectual rigor, as well as constructive collaboration and teamwork. Click here [URL] for more on PFN’s constructive collaboration policies.
In addition, as part of the application process, experts are expected to acknowledge and agree to the PFN Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, AI Policy, and Code of Conduct, which is aimed at assuring mutual respect, professionalism, openness to others, independence, the absence of conflicts, and other behaviors. The Chatham House Rule is a key component of the Code of Conduct. Click here for the PFN Code of Conduct. [HARRY]
Finally, the PFN Leader may approve some applicants’ requests on a trial basis, with a final decision coming after a specified period.
If you’d like more information about PFN Participation or about completing and submitting the Application, send an email to PFN at policy.futures@policyfutures.net.
Related Content
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Acknowledgements
[Appears after the Endnotes section. Included by default on Beta Content and Shared Content. It may also appear on Exploratory Content posted to a Network-Group-restricted page, where relevant.
Contributors. [Each peer reviewer is mentioned as a Contributor, along with the scope of their role and review. Where there are no peer reviewers to credit, for instance on Exploratory Content, these lines are omitted.] [EXAMPLE:] [Name] reviewed this page’s factual claims and analysis as a peer reviewer. [Name] reviewed this page, including its viewpoints and values, as a peer reviewer.
[The following two sentences are default template language, included on every page and removable during customization.] [EXAMPLE:] Responsibility for the content rests with the Participants listed as authors or co-authors. This content does not represent an institutional position of Policy Futures Network. It also does not necessarily reflect the views of every Participant who contributed to it, including those listed as authors or co-authors.
Disclosures. [Included when there is at least one item to disclose.] [EXAMPLE:] This content was prepared with support from [funding source]. Generative AI was used in preparing this page under Tier [1/2/3] of PFN’s Policy on Using Generative AI, for [drafting/editing/research assistance]. [Name], a [Participant/Member] who contributed to this content, discloses [an employment relationship/a financial interest] with [organization], relevant to the subject matter of this content item.
PFN Content Type. [Default template language, included on every content item and removable during customization. Three EXAMPLES, one of which applies:] [1] This is Shared Content under PFN’s General Content Policy. Its factual claims and citations have been verified against primary sources, and it has received peer review. [2] This is Beta Content under PFN’s General Content Policy, designated by [Leader name], for the purpose of [purpose]. The existence of sources cited has been verified; full citation verification has not been completed. [3] This is Exploratory Content under PFN’s General Content Policy, shared only with Participants of the [Domain] Network Group for purposes of discussion and development. It has not been peer reviewed or verified and should not be treated as a factual claim or analysis checked against PFN’s peer review standards.
Version History
[Include on Beta Content and Shared Content, and may also be included on Network-Group-restricted Exploratory Content where useful. A new version should be recognized as an Update if there is more than a de minimis change to the substance of the page. Corrections of typographical, formatting, or similarly minor errors are not treated as updates.]
Most Recent Update. [Date] [Brief description of what the update did] [URL]
Update. [Date] [Brief description of what the update did] [URL]
Update. [Date] [Brief description of what the update did] [URL]
Initial Version. [Date] [URL]