International Journal of Internet Research Ethics (IJIRE)

International Journal of Internet Research Ethics (IJIRE)

http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SOIS/cipr/ijire.html

Publisher: Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information
Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Forthcoming October 2007

The IJIRE is the first peer-reviewed online journal, dedicated specifically
to cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural research on Internet Research Ethics.
All disciplinary perspectives, from those in the arts and humanities, to the
social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences, are reflected in the journal.

With the emergence of Internet use as a research locale and tool throughout
the 1990s, researchers from disparate disciplines, ranging from the social
sciences to humanities to the sciences, have found a new fertile ground for
research opportunities that differ greatly from their traditional biomedical
counterparts.  

As such, "populations," locales, and spaces that had no corresponding
physical environment became a focal point, or site of research activity.
Human subjects protections questions then began to arise, across disciplines
and over time: What about privacy? How is informed consent obtained? What
about research on minors? What are "harms" in an online environment? Is this
really human subjects work? More broadly, are the ethical obligations of
researchers conducting research online somehow different from other forms of
research ethics practices?

As Internet Research Ethics has developed as its own field and discipline,
additional questions have emerged: How do diverse methodological approaches
result in distinctive ethical conflicts ­ and, possibly, distinctive ethical
resolutions? How do diverse cultural and legal traditions shape what are
perceived as ethical conflicts and permissible resolutions? How do
researchers collaborating across diverse ethical and legal domains recognize
and resolve ethical issues in ways that recognize and incorporate often
markedly different ethical understandings?

Finally, as "the Internet" continues to transform and diffuse, new research
ethics questions arise ­ e.g., in the areas of blogging, social network
spaces, etc. Such questions are at the heart of IRE scholarship, and such
general areas as anonymity, privacy, ownership, authorial ethics, legal
issues, research ethics principles (justice, beneficence, respect for
persons), and consent are appropriate areas for consideration.

The IJIRE will publish articles of both theoretical and practical nature to
scholars from all disciplines who are pursuing‹or reviewing‹IRE work.  Case
studies of online research, theoretical analyses, and practitioner-oriented
scholarship that promote understanding of IRE at ethics and institutional
review boards, for instance, are encouraged. Methodological differences are
embraced.

The IJIRE is published twice annually, March 1, and October 15.

Editors-in-Chief:

Elizabeth A. Buchanan, Ph.D.
Center for Information Policy Research
School of Information Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
USA

Email: elizabeth.buchanan@gmail.com

Charles Ess, Ph.D.
Distinguished Research Professor
Drury University
USA

Email: cmess@drury.edu

International Journal of Internet Research Ethics is available free of
charge as an Open Access journal on the Internet.

Current Issue: Forthcoming October 2007

Date: 19 March 2007