Questions tagged [ethics]
This tag should be used for questions that deal with ethical considerations, such as which facts you will want to reveal in a public newspaper article or what kind of behaviour is expected from publishers.
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Is it wrong if I kill off a black character?
He is one of two supporting characters that die in my screenplay.
My wife says I shouldn’t make him black if he’s going to die.
Would it be politically incorrect?
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To what extent should we fear giving offense? [closed]
Recently we have seen multiple questions on various aspects of political correctness. They have sparked some measure of disagreement, which is what I wanted to examine here.
To what extent should we ...
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How to identify whether a publisher is genuine or not?
Despite an identical title: This question is in no means duplicate of this question.
In my local area, there have been various ads running on social media that invite novice writers to contribute ...
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How to tell readers your story is a re-imagination of a popular story?
If for example, I were to rewrite a story heavily inspired by Romeo and Juliet, but placed it in a complete different setting. Do you have to say it? Also, do you mention it in the title that's it's a ...
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Writing about real people - not giving offence
The Spy is a Netflix series about Israeli spy and hero Eli Cohen. In a recent interview, Eli's widow Nadia expresses great dissatisfaction with the series: a lot of changes were made, ostensibly to "...
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Is the often used black and white symbolism inherently racist?
It is an extremely common trope that white/light means good and dark/black means bad/evil.
I thought that - contrary to the appearances - the black/white symbolism is not racist. I believe it has ...
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How can you humanize infanticide of the evil-tainted?
The world is surrounded by an alternate realm called the spirit world. Humans existed as separate physical entities, but maintain an attachment to the spirit realm due to their connection with god. ...
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The ethics of multiple contest submissions
So I'm gearing up to write an actual full-length novel and I've decided that the best way to test the mettle of my writing (and make a couple of bucks in the process) is to enter a few writing ...
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How far I can write about a protagonist with a different ethnicity of me?
I am planning to write a book about a life of a person. However, the protagonist is a black person. The main plot is not about ethnicity things, but where the plot happens I have to talk about some ...
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What should be done if there is a dispute of opinions within the editorial team?
In a magazine where an individual author's name is not published with the article, it seems obvious to me that the article can be presumed to reflect the consensus of the entire editorial team on ...
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Is it considered ethical to accept payment from a business for reviewing a product or service?
Let's say that you operate a popular blog that routinely dispenses your personal opinions and expert advice on various topics. A business believes that your audience contains many potential customers ...
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Are happy deaths offensive?
Would having characters not feel sad about death, but instead fascinated about it be offensive to those who lost others? I always felt as if death is natural and should not be sad, but would writing ...
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How to quote something somebody was told by someone else? (Third-party, hearsay)
THE ISSUE
There must be a catch-phrase or soundbite to describe this scenario, but so far, I've been unsuccessful locating that term, and my efforts to answer this question have been flat as well. I ...
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Disclaimer when writing about governmental entities
I've read many novels involving characters working at the NASA, Vatican, Secret Police, high government officers (Dan Brown, Stieg Larsson for example) and doing stuff that I wouldn't like being made ...
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As an author, how can you ensure that your agent/publisher isn’t ripping you off by pocketing your money and giving you false info about sales?
Agents typically demand that authors sign over complete control of their royalties to them so that their money comes from the agent rather than from the publisher directly. I know a certain author ...
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Would I be breaking my exclusive submission by submitting similar works to different agents?
I've submitted some of my work to an agent that requested an exclusive submission. They say that after 6 weeks of no contact I can assume a rejection.
My question is this: would I be breaking my ...
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What are the ethics of using real-world house addresses in historical fiction?
I am editing a novel manuscript for a client of mine. It's a historical fiction set in 1948, so not that long ago. The main character lives in a house above a cafe that I believe is fictional within ...
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Ethics of incorporating a supplier's technical documentation into one's own documentation?
A company, M, buys components from company, S, to build into their product. Company S has technical documentation regarding safety and maintenance available in many languages and publicly available in ...
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Does Japan have a Press Code?
Many countries have a press code (examples: Germany, South Africa)
It is a kind of ethics guide for journalists. While usually not a law, it is often taken quite seriously by the whole profession.
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Is academic proposal ghostwriting ethical?
I wondered on the ethics of academic ghostwriting and withdrew from a paid contract based on the discussion here.
Now, the agency said they "understand" my position but asked if I could take ...
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To what extent should a writer care about the impact of their work IRL?
Let's get straight to the core issue:
Books, movies, and so on can indeed influence reality, and reality can influence them as well.
9/11 killed the appetite for disaster movies in American ...
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Ethics of using poorly-redacted information in public documents
In a copyright case, documents were released with portions redacted. The redaction was poorly done. Would it be generally considered ethical in most legitimate news organizations for a journalist to ...
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Proofreading exercise in upcoming interview
I need your advice.
I'm applying for a marketing assistant role and the first round of interviews requires a proofreading exercise.
I have been given a PDF where I have to highlight problems. (The PDF'...
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Seasoned tips for Academic writing? [closed]
Writing has to me been an painful endeavor since I’ve felt what I’ve written isn’t quite right. However when I do manage it, it’s very fulfilling. So I might as well try and get better at it.
So so ...
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I have a retracted article for ethical misconduct, this means my career is over? [closed]
When I was in my first year of M.SC. A professor told me to work on a project that the main data were belong to him. He had sent me a early draft and told me to translate it to english so I did along ...
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What are the things to consider when writing a sequel to a novel from another author?
I am talking about writing a sequel to a novel that's in the public domain. For example, Wizard of Oz. As far as I know, this is completely legal; however, the issue is how to deal with the fandom ...
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Can you frame ritual suicide in a "positive" light?
Eons ago, there was a war among gods that came close to destroying humanity and the mortal realm. Gods depend on humanity, and their destruction would inevitably hurt them as well. At the conclusion ...
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Can I mention a character and/or name of a famous author in the subtitle of my book? [duplicate]
Can I mention the words "Conan" and/or "Robert E. Howard" in the subtitle of my book? They are certainly well-known. Please note that they won't appear inside the book, only in the ...
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