Editors may be early adopters of technologies that serve our professional agendas, but on the whole we’re fairly suspicious of social media, apps and other technologies that collect personal data. Many of us tend to avoid getting involved until we’re absolutely sure that we won’t be personally compromised by doing so. Prudent, yes. Adventurous, no.
So it’s been interesting over the past few years to observe editors increasingly collecting or seeking to collect data online about their customers and potential customers, and even their colleagues. Some of this is forthrightly for market research, whereby people are looking to gather information that can help them find more clients or give them an edge in a highly competitive market.
Sometimes editors want to collect information they believe will help their colleagues and the profession, and those of us on the receiving end of these requests are rightly concerned to ensure that this is ‘above board’. We wonder to ourselves, can they even do that? What are the ethics behind collecting data from and about editors?
In this three-part essay I examine some of the different ways editors may wish to collect data from and about editors, editing and the profession as whole, and the types of research or activities they may be undertaking. I explore some of the ethical issues associated in doing so and how we might go about ensuring best practice. I also provide some pointers and questions to consider if you are approached by someone collecting information.
Editors and social media
Over the past 3–5 years, I’ve seen even the most risk-averse editors succumbing to pressure from their peers and from society in general to become more involved in social media. I’ll go out on a limb here and hazard a guess that today most professional editors are active on social media – at least on the professional pages of Facebook and related apps such as LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram. Secret Editors Business (SEB), a closed group for members of the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd), has close to 850 members, most of them Australian, while the EAE Backroom, an offshoot of Editors Association of the Earth, has more than 4000 members worldwide.
Of course, many editors have been at the forefront of online activity for at least a decade, if not two, and not only because they’re employed by or provide services to clients in the knowledge economy. Many editors love using new technologies, and a great many now use online channels to market themselves. These trailblazers often have their own websites, blogs, pages and what-not – and marketing strategies to boot.
What data do editors collect online?
Formal and informal methods of data collection
Like other businesses, consultant or freelance editors have learned, or are learning, how to collect valuable marketing information through their online channels. They use tools like Google Analytics to collect and analyse data from the ‘back end’ of their websites; social media platforms also offer tools to collect and analyse data from business profiles.
Editing businesses harness this data to direct their marketing efforts, whether that’s outward to attract new or potential clients, or within their professional circles to build their profile or brand. Let’s refer to this method of data collection as ‘formal’ – they usually have a defined purpose, method and timeframe, and are used in making business decisions.
Sometimes editors post quick polls on social media to help them make editorial decisions when formal references are ambiguous, outdated or simply lacking. Or they post about problems or dilemmas they face in their everyday work; the responses are often swift, detailed and generous (and sometimes even frivolous). These are ‘informal’ methods of data collection – if you were working in an office environment you’d be asking for this kind of advice from a colleague at the next desk, around the water cooler or in the coffee queue.
To ‘give back’, or to make a difference
Many editors are also turning their creative energies to more altruistic endeavours, such as contributing to our collective knowledge of the editing profession and industry.
As convenor of the IPEd national editors conference held in Melbourne in May 2019, I saw evidence of this in the topics of abstracts submitted for presentation. For me, as a researcher it’s been heartening to see that we’re increasingly interested and expecting to learn more about ourselves and our profession, and so I applaud this development.
Topics of interest included:
- professional development
- the editor as writer/creator
- creating work–life balance
- maintaining health and wellbeing
- workplace ergonomics
- developing business skills
- learning about new and emerging technologies.
While editors interested in collecting data on these and other topics attempt to do so via the aforementioned social media platforms, their methods are difficult to classify, because they’re not conducting market/social research or formal research under the aegis of an institution; they’re seeking input that goes deeper than the informal water-cooler response; and they’re looking to publish that data in some form or another.
Is this research or journalism – or something else? Some of the editors collecting data have formal research/journalism qualifications and/or experience, others have no actual experience but have edited works by researchers or journalists, and yet others have no experience in research or journalism, or in editing either of those. Let’s call this method of data collection ‘quasi-formal’.
Is that even ethical?
Ethical conduct involves doing the right thing and doing it in the spirit of respect and concern for others.
All human interaction, including the interaction
NHMRC et al., 2007, p. 3
involved in human research, has ethical dimensions.
Ethical conduct in informal data collection
As a condition of membership to the editors’ groups and pages online, people must agree to the stated rules, and these groups are usually strongly regulated by members themselves – with vigilant moderators to adjudicate when necessary. These groups provide a good model for editors wishing to collect data informally. For example, SEB rules ask that members treat each other with respect and keep discussions confidential.
Treat information shared with you online in the same way that you would a colleague advising you in person: avoid communicating or otherwise publicising or broadcasting it without the express written permission of the individual who posted it.
Ethical conduct in market research (formal)
Market and social research are covered by laws and regulations including the Trade Practices Act and the Privacy Act – for example, it is illegal to pretend you are conducting market or social research when in fact you are selling something. The industry is self-regulated through two peak bodies: the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS) and the Association of Market and Social Research Organisations.
AMSRS has published a Code of Professional Behaviour (August 2017) to guide the conduct of market and social research. In particular, the Code covers:
- General rules of professional behaviour
- Distinguishing research from other activities
- Disclosure of identifiable research information
- Proposals, commissioning and design
- Data collection and handling
- Informed consent
- Children, young people and other vulnerable groups
- Observation and recording
- Re-contacting participants
- Data provision and reporting
- Data storage and security
- Cross-border disclosure of identifiable research information
- Responsibility to carry out research in accordance with the Code
- Implementation of the Code.
Editors who collect data for the purposes of market or social research would do well to familiarise themselves with this Code and other best-practice guidelines provided by the industry.
If you have a website that collects any data at all about visitors, especially if you also sell services or products online, consider whether you need to publish a privacy policy. It is not a requirement for small businesses like ours (e.g. less than $3 million turnover per year) to have a privacy policy, but it is good practice to follow Australian Privacy Principle No. 1, which is about open and transparent management of personal information. See the Privacy Policy on my website as an example.
Ethical conduct in scientific and academic research (formal)
For a discussion about ethics and scientific and academic research, see Part 2: Research by, for and about editors (posted 26 September 2019).
Ethical conduct in quasi-formal data collection
If you’re collecting data for purposes other than the formal and informal purposes described above, you may be collecting this information to provide the foundation for an article, blog, book, presentation or other purpose. What might constitute good ethical practice in this context?
- Publishing a blog or an article (print or online) – consult the MEAA’s Journalist Code of Ethics.
- Submitting an abstract for a conference presentation, a report or paper for publication in a journal, conducting training or publishing a book, see Part 2: Research by, for and about editors (posted 26 September 2019).
Conclusion
In this part of the essay I’ve given a brief overview of the types of data editors typically collect from and about their colleagues, and I’ve touched on their purposes for collecting data and how they might ensure they do this ethically, in a manner that respects their colleagues. In Part 2: Research by, for and about editors (posted 26 September 2019) I provide an overview of what research is, different types of research, what constitutes ethical conduct in research and what doesn’t. Part 3: Considerations in providing your personal data (posted 4 October 2019) offers tips and questions to consider if you are asked to provide your information.
If you’d like to comment on this essay, if you’d like some advice or coaching to guide your own work, or even if you spot an errant typo, please do get in touch.
Reference
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Research Council and Universities Australia. (2007). National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (updated 2018). Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.
Suggested citation:
Otmar, R. (2019). Researching and collecting data for and about editors. Part 1: A question of ethics, online essay. Viewed at https://reneeotmar.com.au/index.php/blog/.
