Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

The primary duty of an editor is to constantly seek to improve their publication, to ensure that all the published materials are of optimum quality, balanced and grammatically and politically correct.

According to the ethical principles and the PIE Guidelines for the publishing sector, all editors are responsible for all material published intheir journals or other types of media with which they work.

Publishers are required to provide support for editors and authors so that they can follow the proper code of conduct, respect privacy, protect intellectual property, copyright and editorial independence.

All publishers who are adherent to PIE membership should act according to the PIE’s guidelines of ethical editorial conduct. They must advise thestaff under them to support and follow the guidelines and register with the organisation.

Individual data must be protected. All members of the editorial staff and publishers should protect the confidentiality of individual information and the right to privacy of every human being.

Confidentiality, consent for publication, authorship, integrity, transparency and the peer-review process should be respected in the same way, following strict guidelines.

Copyright and intellectual property must be respected and protected and action sought immediately against breaches of plagiarism rules or other similar issues. Support and advice must be accorded to colleagues whose copyright has been breached or who have been the victims of plagiarism, whether their cases were analysed internally or by the PIE’s Sub-Committee.

Privacy of individuals and their right to seek anonymity must be respected; this applies whether or not they are connected with the publishing sector.

Individuals working in the publishing industry should be informed about the benefits of PIE membership, together with the principles defined by the organisation, including conflicts of interest between editors, publishers, authors, reviewers and other individuals.