Civic X Syllabus Submission Criteria

Purpose

The purpose of the Civic X Syllabus submission criteria is twofold: (1) to which resources to include or exclude from the platform, and (2) to inform prospective submitters about the types and quality of contributions we seek.

Criteria Rubric

Content	Excellent Fit	Good Fit	Unfit
Subject Alignment	Content addresses the needs of two or more key audiences, such as civic professionals, policymakers, public policy professionals, students, professors, or civic innovation enthusiasts.	Content addresses the needs of one key audience, with some relevance to others.	Content fails to address the needs of any key audience or lacks clear applicability.
Timeliness -or- Timelessness	Content is timely, addressing developments or issues within the last two years, or includes enduring insights that maintain long-term relevance.	Content is somewhat timely, addressing issues from the past 3 to 5 years, with some enduring relevance.	Content is outdated (older than five years without timeless applicability) or overly specific to a past moment.
Legitimacy	Content is sourced from credible and verifiable references/sources.	Content is from a somewhat verifiable source.	Content is from an unreliable, unverifiable source.
Accessibility	Content is visually appealing, clean, and well-organized, with an intuitive layout, clear structure, and minimum technical jargon that enhances user engagement and navigation.	Content is accessible with some effort, such as minor formatting or language challenges - it is clear and reasonably well-organized but could improve in visual appeal and/or usability.	The design is cluttered, difficult to navigate, or visually unappealing, hindering the user's ability to engage with the content.
Openness	Content is open access, not hidden behind paywalls, and requires no signup.	Content is hidden behind a paywall but has a free trial option or requires a free option.	Content is not open access. It is hidden behind a paywall and does not offer a free trial option.