#23226
This is a working draft of the code of ethics of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. As a work in progress, it is subject to substantial change and carries no authority from ATTW. It is meant only for inspection and comment by the ATTW Ethics Committee and general ATTW membership.
#23554
Beyond Plagiarism: Ethical Issues in the Technical Communication Classroom
Recent discussions of ethical issues that relate to technical communicators reflect the rise of interest in this topic. Although some journal articles do look at teaching ethics in the technical communication classroom, most concentrate on ethics in the workplace. Yet, for students to understand current and future ethical issues, we must heighten their awareness of potential problems before they encounter such problems in industry and business situations.
Horowitz, Renee B. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Ethics>Plagiarism
#31656
The Ethics of Technical Publishing: Trust Yourself
A researcher needs grit and self-trust to do this kind of work in the first place. Letting someone other than a ghostwriter or a reviewer do it for you will be self-defeating. An unethical deal here will corrupt you, the project, and your employer. You must finish the job in a straightforward accountable manner.
Delm, Jay. WritersWrite.com (2007). Articles>Publishing>Technical Writing>Ethics
#23665
Hiding Humanity: Verbal and Visual Ethics in Accident Reports
Located at the critical intersection of technology and humanity, technical communicators must always try to avoid human injury and promote sensitivity to the needs of human beings. The reporting of human injuries and fatalities in accident reports, however, often strips victims of their humanity and hides the tragic human consequences of technological failures from individuals trying to devise appropriate public policy, establish effective safety regulations, and modify or abolish dangerous industrial processes—government officials, company executives, labor representatives, community activists, and ordinary citizens. Technical communicators have the rhetorical ability, the requisite editorial and graphic skills, and the moral responsibility to bring humanity to the verbal and visual display of information.
Dragga, Sam and Daniel W. Voss. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Writing>Ethics>Reports
#18275
Hiding Humanity: Verbal and Visual Ethics in Accident Reports 
The work of technical communicators transcends the purely technical—it has implications for real human beings. Located as they are at the critical intersection of technology and humanity, technical communicators direct traffic to avoid human injury and to promote sensitivity to the needs of human beings. When technology fails human beings, it is the ethical obligation of the technical communicator to sustain the humanity of the victims of that failure—to make those victims visible.
Dragga, Sam and Daniel W. Voss. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Writing>Ethics
#23536
Plagiarism is defined in the Ohio University Student Handbook as 'presenting the ideas or writing of someone else as one's own'. It is a form of academic misconduct. Even if you change a few words of someone else's sentence, it is still plagiarism if the same idea is presented in essentially the same style. Plagiarism by students is often unintentional, but still unacceptable.
Young, V.L. and K.J. Sampson. Ohio University (2004). Articles>Writing>Ethics>Plagiarism
#18891
Plagiarism: A Misplaced Emphasis
Plagiarism is conventionally seen as a serious breach of scholarly ethics, being a theft of credit for ideas in a competitive intellectual marketplace. This emphasis overlooks the vast amount of institutionalized plagiarism, including ghostwriting and attribution of authorship to bureaucratic elites. There is a case for reducing the stigma for competitive plagiarism while exposing and challenging the institutionalized varieties.
Martin, Brian. University of Wollongong (1994). Articles>Writing>Ethics>Plagiarism
#10881
Technical Writing and Research Ethics
Pointers to information about research and writing, intended primarily for computer science.
Zobel, Justin. JustinZobel.com (2001). Articles>Writing>Ethics
#31797
The Open Market of Cut and Paste: Cure the Disease, not the Symptoms 
Beyond its revolutionary timesaving approach, "cut and paste" has metamorphosed into a fancy synonym for organized knowledge piracy, and on a bigger canvas as a psychological disorder that needs to be checked.
Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Writing>Ethics
#34023
How to Comply With Moral and Ethical Standards in Technical Documentation
Technical writing has a number of moral and ethical standards that a professional technical writer needs to comply with. Violate them at your own peril, by risking the sudden demise of your career. Here are some of these issues.
Akinci, Ugur. Technical Communication Center (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>Ethics
#34060
Literacy 2.0: Plagiarism in the Internet Age
In an age when students gravitate to online sources for research—and when tremendous amounts of both reputable and questionable information are available online—many have come to regard the Internet itself as a culprit in students' plagiarism. Some teachers go so far as to forbid students from researching online, in the mistaken assumption that if students are working from hard-copy sources only, the problem will disappear. We believe that an approach far different from either warnings and punishment or attempts to curtail online research is warranted.
Howard, Rebecca Moore and Laura J. Davies. Educational Leadership (2009). Articles>Education>Writing>Ethics
