Policies

MediArXiv Moderation Policy

Purpose

MediArXiv accepts scholarly work from across the fields of media, communication and film studies, broadly defined, that is plausibly categorized and for which authors are correctly identified, and which authors have the legal right to share. We do not assess the quality or perceived merit of the work. The appearance of work is an invitation to the public and scholarly community to share, review, discuss, and evaluate it (and its linked or associated research materials); acceptance is not a statement about research quality. MediArXiv thus empowers individuals, communities, and institutions to develop their own criteria, announcements, journals, lists, and analyses of scholarly work.

Policy

MediArXiv accepts papers, books, book chapters, and other scholarly works at any stage of the publication process. We moderate papers before they appear publicly, which is called “pre-moderation” on the Open Science Framework platform. To learn more about how this moderation works on our system, visit this page from our hosts. Subject to volume demands, we expect to post papers and others works submitted for moderation within 1-3 business days.

The MediArXiv moderation process accepts papers and other works that:

1. Are scholarly content. This includes original research, reviews, essays, critiques and comments on other work, systematic reviews, hypotheses, ‘negative’ results, and data and methods papers. Work on MediArXiv is either research or engages with research. Over time, we are committed to accepting scholarly works produced in a variety of non-traditional media formats.
2. Are in a research area that we support. We accept work from across all domains of media, film, and communication studies, along with cognate fields like information science and science & technology studies.
3. Are plausibly categorized. We allow authors to select their own categories from our subject taxonomy, but check whether there are obvious errors or categorizations that lack plausibility.
4. Are correctly attributed.
   • We do a simple Internet search to see if someone else has publicly claimed authorship of the work.
   • All authors listed on the work must be included as contributors, and all contributors must be listed on the first page or title page of the work, in the same order.
   • The title of the paper must match the metadata entry provided.
   • Extraneous information in the title (such as journal name or other metadata) is not permitted.

5. Are in languages that we can moderate. We welcome work submitted in any language, provided we have a moderator that can review it adequately according to our policy. Papers submitted in non-English languages will be held in the moderation queue until we can get them verified. The languages we currently support are:

   • Chinese (Traditional & Simplified)
   • Dutch
   • Filipino
   • Finnish
   • French
   • German
   • Irish
   • Portuguese
   • Spanish
   • Turkish

For more information, please see our Submission Guidelines, and check for journal policies on submitting pre-prints with the SHERPA/RoMEO database.

Copyright compliance

Moderation does include verification of copyright status, which we assess based on individual journal policies. Where we are uncertain, we check with submitting authors to verify their status (through an informal email contact, since there is currently no formal method for author queries). We seek to accept only papers and other works that comply with copyright law. We ask that authors share only that work they have the right to share. Actively affirming this is part of the submission process for each paper uploaded. Please contact us if you are uncertain about this part of the procedure.

Claims of copyright infringement should be sent to the Center for Open Science in accordance with their policy, which is here.

Procedure

Work will be reviewed by a moderator before appearing publicly on MediArXiv. If a paper or other work is not accepted, the moderator will include a description of the reason. Work that does not pass moderation will remain on the OSF platform but will not be identified as part of MediArXiv. Authors are free to resubmit such work after addressing the issues raised by the moderator. Authors also may contact us to discuss or appeal a moderation decision.

Please note: At present we do not have the capacity to formally query authors during the moderation process. If a paper does not pass moderation we will specify reasons, but we can’t discuss the reasons with the author prior to making a decision. Please don’t be discouraged by negative moderation decisions, and feel free to contact us with any questions.

Attribution: This Moderation Policy is adapted from PaleorXiv’s Moderation Policy.

Code of Conduct

Our Pledge

In the interest of fostering an open and welcoming environment, we as contributors and maintainers of MediArxiv pledge to making participation in our project and our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, level of experience, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.

Our Standards

Examples of behavior that contributes to creating a positive environment include:

• Using welcoming and inclusive language
• Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
• Gracefully accepting constructive criticism
• Focusing on what is best for the community
• Showing empathy towards other community members Examples of unacceptable behavior by participants include:
• The use of sexualized language or imagery and unwelcome sexual attention or advances
• Trolling, insulting/derogatory comments, and personal or political attacks
• Public or private harassment
• Publishing others’ private information, such as a physical or electronic address, without explicit permission
• Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting

Our Responsibilities

Project maintainers are responsible for clarifying the standards of acceptable behavior and are expected to take appropriate and fair corrective action in response to any instances of unacceptable behavior.

Project maintainers have the right and responsibility to remove, edit, or reject comments, commits, code, wiki edits, issues, and other contributions that are not aligned to this Code of Conduct, or to ban temporarily or permanently any contributor for other behaviors that they deem inappropriate, threatening, offensive, or harmful.

Scope

This Code of Conduct applies both within project spaces and in public spaces when an individual is representing the project or its community. Examples of representing a project or community include using an official project e-mail address, posting via an official social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event. Representation of a project may be further defined and clarified by project maintainers.

Enforcement

Instances of abusive, harassing, or otherwise unacceptable behavior may be reported by contacting the project team here. All complaints will be reviewed and investigated and will result in a response that is deemed necessary and appropriate to the circumstances. The MediArXiv team is obligated to maintain confidentiality with regard to the reporter of an incident. Further details of specific enforcement policies may be posted separately.

Project maintainers who do not follow or enforce the Code of Conduct in good faith may face temporary or permanent repercussions as determined by other members of the project’s leadership.

Attribution

This Code of Conduct is adapted from the paleorXiv Code of Conduct, itself adapted from the Contributor Covenant, version 1.4, available at https://www.contributor-covenant.org/version/1/4/code-of-conduct.html

MediArXiv Diversity Statement

Capturing a broad spectrum of interest and experiences will help MediArXiv consider and include the full media, communication, and film studies community. An essential step to achieving this objective is to ensure its Steering Committee’s diversity.

Media research is conducted by people of a diverse range of demographics, psychographics,and histories, including gender identities, sexual orientations, racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, abilities, religions, ages, career stages and fields, and socioeconomic and immigration statuses. These identities impact on how scholarship is produced and shared. We recognize that a diverse and inclusive scholarly community asks a broader range of questions, yet also faces different barriers to participating in media studies. By listening to diverse voices, we will be rewarded with a greater understanding of our world.

Scholars of media hail from a diverse range of disciplinary and cross-disciplinary backgrounds that span the humanities and social sciences, and draw upon multiple positionalities and ways of seeing. MediArXiv is committed to representing that intellectual diversity in its Steering Committee membership.

In an effort to represent and include the broadest possible spectrum of media scholars, MediArXiv is committed to the following objectives in forming its Steering Committee:

• FIELD: We will aim to include representatives from a broad spectrum of media studies fields such as film studies, speech and rhetoric, communication, information studies, media studies, and science & technology studies.
• GENDER IDENTITY: We will strive for gender parity in our Steering Committee, with awareness of the need for flexibility to include transgender and gender-fluid people.
• ETHNIC AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND: We will strive to include a broad range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds in our Steering Committee, with particular focus on traditionally excluded populations including Asian, black, indigenous, Pacific island, and Latinx scholars.
• GEOGRAPHY: We will respect the global nature of the media studies community by aiming for significant representation from regions beyond North America and Europe.
• CAREER: We will aim to have at least one representative each from key stages within academia including students; early-, mid-, and late-career professors; researchers at teaching-centric and research-centric universities; and independent scholars.
• ABILITY: We will aim to include representatives with a broad range of physical and mental abilities.
• SEXUAL ORIENTATION: We will aim to include representatives with a broad range of sexual orientations.
• RELIGION: We will aim to include representatives with a broad range of religious commitments.
• AGE: We will aim to include representatives with a broad range of ages.
• WAYS OF SEEING: We will aim to include representatives who bear a diverse range of worldviews, politics, and points of views.

We recognize that we may not always achieve all of these objectives, and will be as transparent as possible about our effectiveness within the confines of respecting the privacy of our Steering Committee members.

We also recognize we may not yet be considering all aspects of how identity shapes the scholarship that we do. We further commit to continuing to learn and adapt how we define and include diverse populations in response to the needs of our greater community.

This statement is adapted from the Diversity Statement of PaleorXiv.