r/computerscience rules, stats, and what to post

This community is for the academic side of computer science. The description says it plainly, a place to discuss the field, including research, computing theory, and the theory behind software engineering and programming, with language design given as an example. Rule 1, “Be on-topic”, repeats that the subreddit is dedicated to the academics of the field, so the people posting here care about research and theory, not day to day coding help. The rules also tell us who does not belong here, at least with certain posts. Career seekers, students with homework, people with broken computers, and folks hunting for project ideas are all pointed to other subreddits. So the room is made up of people who want to talk about ideas, papers, and the theory underneath the software we all build.

The rule that decides almost everything here is “No advertising”, which says this is not a place to advertise your product nor yourself, though it leaves one door open for new innovations submitted as an IAmA. “Sharing Research” matters if you want to post your own work, because major scientific discoveries must include a link to a peer-reviewed paper, and research generated by a language model will not be accepted. “Language model (”AI“) generated posts are not permitted.” is a hard stop, so anything drafted by a chatbot is at risk of removal. “Be on-topic” is the gatekeeper for subject matter, since the subreddit is dedicated to the academics of computer science. “No career, major, courses, or roadmaps advice.”, “No tech/programming support”, “No homework, exams, projects, etc.”, and “No asking for ideas” all fence off the most common off-topic post types. “No joke submissions” keeps memes out, and “Be civil” sets the tone for how you argue in the comments.

For a founder, the honest answer is that this community is a hard place to market in, and that is fine. The one clear path is the one the rules themselves open. If your product or project is a genuine new innovation, “No advertising” says it can be submitted in the form of an IAmA, and the policy brief notes that needs moderator approval, so you would ask the moderators first and follow their lead. If you have done real research, “Sharing Research” encourages community members sharing their own research, with the conditions that major scientific discoveries need a link to a peer-reviewed paper and language model generated research is not accepted. Outside of those two paths, the best move is to participate like a person, not a marketer. Join discussions about computing theory or language design, be civil when you disagree, and bring something interesting to talk about. If your work connects to the academic side, you can discuss the theory behind it in the comments where it fits naturally, without turning the thread into a pitch.

Do not advertise your product or yourself, that is what “No advertising” forbids. Do not post anything written by a language model, because “Language model (”AI“) generated posts are not permitted.” and the policy brief lists AI content as banned. Do not ask for career, major, course, or roadmap advice, that is “No career, major, courses, or roadmaps advice.”. Do not post homework, exams, or projects, that trips “No homework, exams, projects, etc.”. Do not ask the community for project, research, or app ideas, that is “No asking for ideas”. Do not ask for tech or programming help, that is “No tech/programming support”. Do not ask for laptop or desktop purchase advice, that is “No laptop/desktop purchase advice”. Do not post memes or joke submissions, that is “No joke submissions”. And keep disagreements civil, because “Be civil” applies to the comment section too.

What stands out to me here is rule 11, a flat ban on language model generated posts, which tells me this community is guarding hard against the flood of AI written content. I also like the small carve out in “No advertising” where a new innovation can be shared as an IAmA, because it shows the moderators are not anti builder, they are anti spam. My honest read is that this room rewards people who bring real theory and real research, and it has very little patience for anything that smells like marketing.