Editorial Policy
The research blog typically publishes articles written by the team members of the Participatory IT Design (PIT) department of the University of Kassel, as well as guests and affiliated researchers. We also welcome contributions (up to 1000 words) relating to the gender and diversity aspects of contemporary information systems. Contributions to the blog are neither academic papers nor bureaucratic publications. The posts are also not necessarily mere descriptions of particular issue (unless they are purely informational). The posts we seek to publish should include the following elements:
- Social/Academic relevance
- Research – A new piece of research evidence, or reference to an academic debate or theory that is relevant to current processes or debates
- Relaxed style – Blogs tend to be direct and informal in order to be accessible to a wider audience.
- Reading further – Abundant links to additional sources and useful evidence.
We welcome contributions that discuss current issues that are relevant to the field of information systems technology and design as well as how developments in these fields pertain to and relate with social and cultural processes. Occasionally we may request that authors rewrite articles to provide additional research or a novel evidence based conclusion. Posts that cover events should focus on what key points, findings or arguments are most useful to take away from the event. The goal of covering events is to share with a wider audience how an event contributed to or moved forward a relevant debate, rather than to just report that an event happened.
In most cases articles will be reviewed by members of the PIT team who may edit the piece to enhance readability by a wider audience. Edits may include shortening or summarising of text and will always be double-checked with the authors before posting. For posts from those who are not among our staff contributors we add a short introduction that includes the post’s author with affiliation, the main research interests, along with a thumbnail photo of the author (optional).
As part of our editorial process, the PIT blog editors will refer the following types of articles to the PIT Team (which may cause your blog’s publication to be delayed):
- Articles that are potentially libellous or defamatory
- Articles where the blog team has concerns about author’s potential conflicts of interest
- Articles that are insufficiently evidence based or lacking in academic rigour
- Any other articles that may impact on the reputation of the author, Kassel University, or the members of the PIT team
Creative Commons and article sharing policy
All of our articles are also published under the Creative Commons licence, (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) – other blogs and publications are free to use them, with attribution. The blog might also share content with the other Kassel University institutions. If you do not wish for your article to be republished anywhere else, please let us know. Otherwise, we will assume your permission is granted for re-posting.
Please email editor@enginesofdifference.org, editors of the blog, if you would like to pitch an idea for a blog post and check out our submission guidelines.
Commenting Etiquette
Please keep the following etiquette guidelines in mind when commenting on posts. The comments are moderated, so if your comment breaches the etiquette, it might be deleted from the blog.
- Focus on contribution: add something relevant to the conversation that moves it forward. A simple expression of like or dislike is fine as well, but always ground your opinion.
- Honesty and fairness: avoid plagiarism, always cite (and possibly link to) sources, never post inaccurate information, distinguish between facts and commentary, and refrain from distorting facts.
- Respect: be considerate when addressing other Internet user and avoid intruding into anyone’s privacy.
- Be responsible: admit and correct your mistakes, explain the aim of the comment and invite dialogue with readers over the your comment’s content.
- Constructive (helpful) feedback: Encourage- don’t discourage.
- Make sure your comment is relevant and on topic with the original post.
- Language: avoid texting shortcuts like u for you or b4 for before. Edit for grammar and mechanics mistake. Please don’t use all capitals.
- Consider adding a question at the end to keep the conversation going.
Any comments that exhibit sexist, ableist, racist speech, speech that is discriminatory towards and harmful to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) people, people of other ethnicities or descent, or other kinds of hate speech will be deleted.