This bibliography presents sources that composition researchers can use to supplement the “CCCC Guidelines for the Ethical Conduct of Research in Composition Studies.” (November 2003, Revised March 2015, Revised March 2025)
Associations’ Statements of Ethics
American Anthropological Association. “Principles of Professional Responsibility.” https://americananthro.org/about/policies/statement-on-ethics/.
American Educational Research Association. “AERA Code of Ethics.” http://www.aera.net/AboutAERA/AERARulesPolicies/ProfessionalEthics/tabid/10200/Default.aspx.
American Folklore Society. “A Statement of Ethics for the American Folklore Society.” http://www.afsnet.org/?page=Ethics&hhSearchTerms=%22statement+and+ethics%22.
American Historical Association. “Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct.”
https://www.historians.org/resource/statement-on-standards-of-professional-conduct/.
Association of Internet Researchers. “Ethics.” http://aoir.org/ethics/.
American Psychological Association. “Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct 2010.” http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/.
American Political Science Association. “A Guide to Professional Ethics in Political Science.” https://apsanet.org/Portals/54/diversity%20and%20inclusion%20prgms/Ethics/APSA%20Ethics%20Guide%20-%20Final%20-%20February_14_2022_Council%20Approved.pdf?ver=OshhbBcL94mq7VQiYkp9vQ%3D%3D.
American Sociological Association. “Code of Ethics.” http://www.asanet.org/about/ethics.cfm.
Modern Language Association. “Statement of Professional Ethics.” http://www.mla.org/repview_profethics.
Oral History Association. “Oral History and Best Practices.” http://www.oralhistory.org/about/principles-and-practices/.
Society of American Archivists. “SAA Core Values Statement and Code of Ethics.” http://www2.archivists.org/statements/saa-core-values-statement-and-code-of-ethics.
Society of Professional Journalists. “SPJ Code of Ethics.” http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp.
Human Subject Research and Academic Freedom
Abbott, Lura, and Christine Grady. “A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature Investigating IRBs: What We Know and What We Still Need to Learn.” Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, vol. 6, no.1, 2011, 3–19.
Boateng, Boatema. The Copyright Thing Doesn’t Work Here Anymore: Adinkra and Kente Cloth and Intellectual Property in Ghana. U of Minnesota P, 2011.
Office for Human Research Protections. “Federalwide Assurance (FWA) for the Protection of Human Subjects,” 17 June 2011. http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/assurances/assurances/filasurt.html.
Tierney, William G., and Zoë Blumberg Corwin. “The Tensions Between Academic Freedom and Institutional Review Boards.” Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 13, no. 3, 2007, 388–98.
Law, Copyright, and Intellectual Property
Biagioli, Mario, et al., editors. Making and Unmaking Intellectual Property: Creative Production in Legal and Cultural Perspective. U of Chicago P, 2011.
Butler, Paul. “Copyright, Plagiarism, and the Law.” Authorship in Composition Studies, edited by Tracy Hamler Carrick and Rebecca Moore Howard, Wadsworth, 2006, pp. 13–27.
“Copyright Office Basics.” US Government. July 2006. https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
Hassel, Holly, and Cassandra Phillips. Materiality and Writing Studies: Aligning Labor, Teaching, and Scholarship. NCTE, 2022.
Herrington, TyAnna K. Intellectual Property on Campus: Students’ Rights and Responsibilities. Southern Illinois UP, 2010.
Hobbs, Renee. Copyright Clarity: How Fair Use Supports Digital Learning. Corwin, 2010.
Intellectual Property Caucus of the Conference on College Composition and Communication. “The CCCC-IP Annual: Top Intellectual Property Developments of 2013” [and all years back to 2005]. Available from /cccc/committees/ip.
Kennedy, Krista, and Rebecca Moore Howard. “Introduction to the Special Issue on Western Cultures of Intellectual Property.” College English, vol. 75, no. 5, 2013, pp. 461–469.
Ladson-Billings, Gloria. “From the Achievement Gap to the Education Debt: Understanding Achievement in U.S. Schools.” Educational Researcher, vol. 35, no. 7, 2006, pp. 3–12.
Lessig, Lawrence. Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy. Penguin Books, 2009.
Pfannenstiel, A. Nicole. “Digital Literacies and Academic Integrity.” International Journal of Educational Integrity, vol. 6, no. 2, 2010. http://www.ojs.unisa.edu.au/index.php/IJEI/article/view/702
Rife, Martine Courant. Invention, Copyright, and Digital Writing. Southern Illinois UP, 2013.
Rife, Martine Courant, et al., editors. Copy(write): Intellectual Property in the Writing Classroom. Parlor Press, 2011.
General Disciplinary Discussions of Research Ethics
Barton, Ellen. “Further Contributions from the Ethical Turn in Composition/Rhetoric: Analyzing Ethics in Interaction.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 59, no. 4, 2008, pp. 596–632.
Barton, Ellen, and Susan Eggly. “Ethical or Unethical Persuasion? The Rhetoric of Offers to Participate in Clinical Trials.” Written Communication, vol. 29, no. 3, 2009, pp. 295–319.
Dieterle, Brandy. “People as Data? Developing an Ethical Framework for Feminist Digital Research.” Computers and Composition: An International Journal for Teachers of Writing, vol. 59, Mar. 2021. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2021.102630.
Denzin, Norman K., and Yvonna S. Lincoln, editors. Handbook of Qualitative Research. 4th ed., SAGE, 2011.
Hesford, Wendy S., and Eileen E. Schell. “Introduction: Configurations of Transnationality: Feminist Rhetorics.” College English, vol. 70, no. 5, 2008, pp. 461–470.
Kirsch, Gesa E. “The Challenges of Conducting Ethically Responsible Research.” Practicing Research in Writing Studies: Reflexive and Ethically Responsible Research, edited by Katrina M. Powell and Pamela Takayoshi, Hampton Press, 2012, pp. 409–414.
Lamos, Steve. “Institutional Critique in Composition Studies: Methodological and Ethical Considerations for Researchers.” Writing Studies Research in Practice: Methods and Methodologies, edited by Lee Nickoson and Mary P. Sheridan, Southern Illinois UP, 2012.
Mahboob, Ahmar, et al. “TESOL Quarterly Research Guidelines.” TESOL Quarterly, vol. 50, no. 1, 2016, pp. 42–65.
Nickoson, Lee, and Mary P. Sheridan, editors. Writing Studies Research in Practice: Methods and Methodologies. Southern Illinois UP, 2012.
Penman, Will. “A Field-Based Rhetorical Critique of Ethical Accountability.” The Quarterly Journal of Speech, vol. 104, no. 3, Aug. 2018, pp. 307–28. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2018.1486032.
Powell, Katrina M., and Pamela Takayoshi, editors. Practicing Research in Writing Studies: Reflexive and Ethically Responsible Research. Hampton Press, 2012.
Powell, Katrina M., and Pamela Takayoshi. “Accepting Roles Created for Us: The Ethics of Reciprocity.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 54, 2003, pp. 394–421.
Ridolfo, Jim. “Delivering Textual Diaspora: Building Digital Cultural Repositories as Rhetoric Research.” College English, vol. 76, no. 2, 2013, pp. 136–51.
Royster, Jacqueline Jones, and Gesa E. Kirsch. Feminist Rhetorical Practices: New Horizons for Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies. Southern Illinois UP, 2012.
Schneider, Barbara. “Ethical Research and Pedagogical Gaps.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 58, no. 1, 2006, pp. 70–88.
Traywick, Deaver. “Preaching What We Practice: RCR Instruction for Undergraduate Researchers in Writing Studies.” Undergraduate Research in English Studies, edited by Laurie Grobman and Joyce Kinkead, NCTE, 2010, pp. 51–73.
Williams, Bronwyn T., and Mary Brydon-Miller. “Changing Directions: Participatory-Action Research, Agency, and Representation.” Ethnography Unbound: From Theory Shock to Critical Praxis, edited by Stephen Gilbert Brown and Sidney I. Dobrin, State U of New York P, 2004, pp. 241–58.
Discussion of Ethics in Creative Nonfiction
Bloom, Lynn Z. “Living to Tell the Tale: The Complicated Ethics of Creative Nonfiction.” College English, vol. 65, no.3, 2003, pp. 276–89.
Bradley, William. “The Ethical Exhibitionist’s Agenda: Honesty and Fairness in Creative Nonfiction.” College English, vol. 70, no. 2, 2007, pp. 202–15.
Cheney, Theodore A. Rees. “Ethical Considerations.” Writing Creative Nonfiction: Fiction Techniques for Crafting Great Nonfiction. Ten Speed Press, 2001, pp. 222–36.
Williams, Bronwyn. “Never Let the Truth Stand in the Way of a Good Story.” College English, vol. 65, no. 3, 2003, pp. 290–304.
Conducting Studies Involving Digital Media
Adkins, Tabetha. “Researching the ‘Un-Digital’ Amish Community: Methodological and Ethical Reconsiderations for Human Subjects Research.” Community Literacy Journal, vol. 6, no.1, (2011, pp. 39–53.
Augustine, Nora. “A Private Conversation in a Public Place: The Ethics of Studying ‘Virtual Support Groups’ Now.” Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition, vol. 25, no. 3, 2023, pp. 157–68.
Buck, Amber M., and Devon F. Ralston. “I Didn’t Sign Up for Your Research Study: The Ethics of Using ‘Public’ Data.” Computers and Composition: An International Journal for Teachers of Writing, vol. 61, Sept. 2021. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2021.102655.
Cavaliere, Cam, and Leigh Gruwell. “Developing a Feminist Mentorship Praxis for Digital Aggression Research.” Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition, vol. 25, no. 3, 2023, pp. 104–16.
Enoch, Jessica, and David Gold. “Introduction to the Special Issue on the Digital Humanities and Historiography in Rhetoric and Composition.” College English, vol. 76, no. 2, 2013, pp. 105–14.
Flores, Wilfredo. “Researching on the Intersectional Internet: Slow Coding as Humanistic Recovery.” Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition, vol. 25, no. 3, 2023, pp. 117–28.
Hoover, Ryan. “The Impact of NSF and NIH Websites on Research Ethics.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, vol. 40, no. 4, 2010, pp. 403–27.
Kelley, Brit. “Emotioned Research Methods: The Ethics of Online Fanfiction Research.” Loving Fanfiction. Routledge, 2021.
Kelley, Brit, and Stephanie Weaver. “Researching People Who (Probably) Hate You: When Practicing ‘Good’ Ethics Means Protecting Yourself.” Computers and Composition, vol. 56, June 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2020.102567.
McDuffie, Kristi, and Melissa Ames. “Feminist Internet Research Ethics [Special Section].” Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition, vol. 25, no. 3, 2023, pp. 94–183.
McKee, Heidi. “Ethical and Legal Issues for Writing Researchers in an Age of Convergence.” Computers and Composition, vol. 25, no. 1, 2008, pp. 104–22.
McKee, Heidi, and Danielle Nicole DeVoss, editors. Digital Writing Research: Technologies, Methodologies, and Ethical Issues. Hampton Press, 2007.
McKee, Heidi, and James E. Porter. “The Ethics of Digital Writing Research: A Rhetorical Approach.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 59, no. 4, 2008, pp. 711–49.
———. “Legal and Regulatory Issues for Technical Communicators Conducting Global Internet Research.” Technical Communication, vol. 57, no. 2, 2010, pp. 282–99.
McKee, Heidi A., and James E. Porter. The Ethics of Internet Research: A Rhetorical, Case-Based Process. Peter Lang, 2009.
———. “The Ethics of Conducting Writing Research on the Internet: How Heuristics Help.” Writing Studies Research in Practice: Methods and Methodologies, edited by Lee Nickoson and Mary P. Sheridan, Southern Illinois UP, 2012, pp. 245–60.
Rose, Jeanne Marie. “When Human Subjects Become Cybersubjects: A Call for Collaborative Consent.” Computers and Composition, vol. 24, no. 4, 2007, pp. 462–77.
Takayoshi, Pamela. “Methodological Challenges to Researching Composing Processes in a New Literacy Context.” Literacy in Composition Studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2016, pp. 1-23–23. licsjournal.org, https://doi.org/10.21623/1.4.1.2.
Taylor, Hannah. “Beyond Text: Ethical Considerations for Visual Online Platforms.” Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition, vol. 25, no. 3, 2023, pp. 129–39.
Williams, Bronwyn T., and Mary Brydon-Miller. “Ethics and Representation.” Sage Handbook of Digital Dissertations and Theses, edited by Richard Andrews et al., Sage, 2012, pp. 181–97.
Conducting Studies Using Archival Work
Cohen, Daniel J., and Roy Rosenzweig. Digital History: A Guide to Gathering, Presenting, and Preserving the Past on the Web. U of Pennsylvania P, 2005.
Enoch, Jessica, and Jean Bessette. “Meaningful Engagements: Feminist Historiography and the Digital Humanities.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 64, no. 4, 2013, pp. 634–60.
Enoch, Jessica, and David Gold, editors. Special Issue. “The Digital Humanities and Historiography in Rhetoric and Composition.” College English, vol. 76, no. 2, 2013.
McKee, Heidi, and James E. Porter. “The Ethics of Archival Research.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 64, no. 1, 2012, pp. 59–81.
Morris, Charles E. “Archival Queer.” Rhetoric and Public Affairs, vol. 9, no. 1, 2006, pp. 145–51.
Powell, Malea. “Dreaming Charles Eastman: Cultural Memory, Autobiography, and Geography in Indigenous Rhetorical Histories.” Beyond the Archives: Research as a Lived Process, edited by Gesa Kirsch and Liz Rohan, Southern Illinois UP, 2008, pp. 116–27.
Purdy, James. “Three Gifts of the Digital Archives.” Journal of Literacy and Technology, vol. 12, no. 3, 2011, pp. 24–49.
Ramsey, Alexis E., et al., editors. Working in the Archives: Practical Research Methods for Rhetoric and Composition. Southern Illinois UP, 2010.
Ridolfo, Jim, et al. “Rhetoric and the Digital Humanities: Imagining The Michigan State University Israelite Samaritan Collection as the Foundation for a Thriving Social Network.” The Journal of Community Informatics, vol. 7, no. 3, 2011.
Tarez, Samra Graban. “From Location(s) to Locatability: Mapping Feminist Recovery and Archival Activity through Metadata.” College English, vol. 76, no. 2, 2013, pp. 171–93.
Tesar, Marek. “Ethics and Truth in Archival Research.” History of Education: Journal of the History of Education Society, vol. 44, no. 1, 2015, pp. 101–14.
Theimer, Kate. “Archives in Context and as Context.” Journal of Digital Humanities, vol. 1, no. 2, 2012.
Collaborating with Undergraduate Students
Allan, Elizabeth G. “‘Real Research’ or ‘Just For a Grade’? Ethnography, Ethics, and Engagement in the Undergraduate Writing Studies Classroom.” Pedagogy, vol. 18, no. 2, 2018, pp. 247-77.
DelliCarpini, Dominic, et al., editors. The Naylor Report on Undergraduate Research in Writing Studies. Parlor Press, 2020.
Collaborating with Graduate Students
APA. “Tips for Determining Authorship Credit.” https://www.apa.org, 2015, https://www.apa.org/science/leadership/students/authorship-paper.
MLA Task Force on Ethical Conduct in Graduate Education. Report of the MLA Task Force on Ethical Conduct in Graduate Education. 2021, https://www.mla.org/content/download/124589/file/Ethical-Conduct-Graduate-Education.pdf.
