[Interpretationandmethods] new Journal: International Journal of Internet Research Ethics

[Dvora Yanow]

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International Journal of Internet Research Ethics

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

Description and Scope:
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.

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