4: Ethical Considerations in Technical Writing
- Define ethics.
- Explain what it means to be a professional of integrity.
- Demonstrate ethical writing responsibilities.
- Distinguish between ethical and legal responsibilities.
- Describe three approaches for examining the ethical nature of a decision.
The Importance of Ethical Responsibility
Safety, security, and confidentiality are foundational for establishing confidence with your audience. To build a relationship of trust, consumers rely on the reputation and identity an organization projects. When technical writers behave unethically, illegal, or immorally, all trust is lost. It is often difficult to regain it.
Should we care about ethics in our lives, in our professions, and/or in our technical writing? Your goal is to understand why the answer to these questions is yes . When you write an ethical document, consider the following:
- Responsibility
- Integrity
- Trust
- Transparency
- Justice
- Equity
- Regulations
- Citations
Ethical Writing: Setting a Firm Ethical Tone
Ethics consists of the individual standards of behavior you exhibit in your personal and professional lives. It establishes the levels of honesty, empathy, trustworthiness, and other virtues that identify your personal behavior and your public reputation.
In your personal life, ethics sets norms for the ways in which you interact with family, friends, and colleagues. Ethical acts are generally considered voluntary and personal—often based on our perception or position on what is right or what is wrong. In industry, each employee has a choice in making an ethical or unethical decision. Whenever you think about the behavior you expect of yourself in your personal life and as a professional, you are engaging in a philosophical dialogue with yourself to establish the standards of behavior you choose to uphold. That is your ethical position.
Professional Ethics
Your success in a professional setting entails more than simply earning money and promotions. It may also mean treating stakeholders--employees, customers, clients--with honesty and respect. It may come from the sense of pride you feel about engaging in honest practices, not just because the law or policy demands it, but because you demand it of yourself. Thus, professional ethics guides the conduct by which technical writers abide by laws, regulations, and policies. Professional ethics means respecting the rights of stakeholders and the communities in which they live. Professional ethics centers on principles of good conduct through civil, social, economical, environmental, and lawful actions.
To see an example of a professional ethical code or mission statement, visit Johnson & Johnson and read "Our Credo" written by former chair Robert Wood Johnson. (Note: This link was viable at the time of publication; it may be inoperable now.)
Forbes provides a list of companies recently deemed the most reputable companies for corporate responsibility in 2019 according to their standards and research. (Note: This link was viable at the time of publication; it may be inoperable now.)
In our professional lives, ethics guides our interactions. Professional ethics consist of businesses having a reputation of composing standards and displaying conduct that exemplifies civil and lawful actions that build trust, confidence, and goodwill.
Acting with Integrity
Integrity is unity between what we say and what we do. Being a professional of integrity means consistently striving to be the best person you can be in all your interactions with others. It means you practice what you do based upon reasoning, laws, morality, and justice.
Although ethics are an individual choice, in the professional world, ethical choices by employees often define the success of an organization. Some professions, such as engineering, journalism, and medicine have traditional codes of ethics. Essentially, a code of ethics is a commitment to treat with honesty and integrity customers, clients, employees, and others affiliated with a profession. The Hippocratic Oath, for example, is embraced by most professionals in health care today as an appropriate standard always owed to patients by physicians, nurses, and others in the field. This obligation traces its etymology to ancient Greece and the physician Hippocrates.
Social responsibility represents the interaction and collaboration with stakeholders to reflect the concerns of communities which an organization serves. Social responsibility includes:
- Practices that are inclusive and diverse
- Activities that help local communities and stakeholders
An example of an organization implementing social responsibility is Warby Parker. Executives at Warby Parker, an online prescription glasses retailer, displayed social responsibility by pledging $1 million to organizations and initiatives that focused on combating systemic racism. This outreach demonstrates that executives understand the importance of addressing inclusion and diversity.
"Work Ethic (1 of 2)" by Brett Jordan is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Legal responsibility represents practices that are in compliance with local, state, federal, and industry regulations and laws.
Many people conflate legal and ethical compliance. They are, however, totally different and call for different standards of behavior. What is legal isn't always ethical. The purpose of a law is to establish and maintain a functioning society. Compliance with these legal standards is strictly mandatory: If we violate these standards, we are subject to punishment. Therefore, compliance in terms of professional ethics generally refers to the extent by which an organization conducts its operations in accordance with applicable regulations, statutes, and laws. Yet this represents only a baseline minimum. Organizations today need to be focused not only on complying with the letter of the law but also on going above and beyond that basic mandatory requirement to consider ethical practices for their stakeholders and do what is right.
Ethical Writing Considerations
Aristotle and the Concept of Phronesis, or Practical Wisdom
Phrónēsis (fro-NEE-sis) is a type of practical wisdom that enables us to act virtuously. In “The Big Idea: The Wise Leader,” a Harvard Business Review article on leadership and ethical decision-making, Ikujiro Nonaka, a Japanese organizational theorist, and Hirotaka Takeuchi (2011), a professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, discuss the gap between the theory and practice of ethics and the characteristics that make a wise leader. The authors conclude that chief executive officers (CEOs) must incorporate practical wisdom by leading with values and morals. The concept of practical wisdom dates back to Aristotle, who considered phronesis, which can also be defined as prudence, to be a key intellectual virtue. Phronesis enables people to make ethically sound judgments. From a business writing perspective, effective writers:
- Provide details and explanations
- Include information that is pertinent to the topic
- Analyze content to determine its efficacy
- Provide introductions, overviews, and transitions
- Analyze content to envision the consequences of possible actions or responses
- Include information that reflects the concerns and feedback of stakeholders
- Compose content that is easy to read and follow
- Create a shared sense of purpose among the document, readers, and stakeholders and inspire people to work together in pursuit of a common goal
- Engage as many people as possible in conversation and communicate using an audience-centered approach
Plagiarizing is misrepresenting the source or facts, most commonly when you claim the ideas you are writing about are yours. When you are researching professional documents, make sure you are using material with permission. If you are writing about what you researched, make sure you are citing the sources of your information and giving credit to all the necessary researchers.
Attribution refers to acknowledging and recognizing the source of information used in writing, ideas, concepts, and creations. Depending on the creation, the attribution is valid in various forms.
This rule also extends beyond writing to what is referred to as intellectual property. Intellectual property includes the following:
Patents and t rademarks are c ompany names (WalMart), logos (the Target bullseye), processes or slogans (I’m lovin’ it) that belong to a person or company . None of these things can be used without proper recognition of or approval from the appropriate company or individual involved.
A company uses a ™ to show something is trademarked or an ® for something registered with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office. An example would be Nike ™ and their famous swoosh symbol .
The legal consequences are most notable when one considers writing in the professional world. While plagiarizing may give you a failing grade in a class, plagiarizing in the workplace can not only get you fired, but could result in a costly lawsuit or possibly even jail time. It is not only ethical to follow these rules, it is an enforced law. Make sure you properly document all sources so as not to mislead a reader.
Spend a few minutes viewing the following website for clarification on copyright, trademark, and registered trademark: United States Patent and Trademark Office
Copyright law includes items whose distribution is protected by law (books, movies, or software). The copyright symbol is shown with a ©. Copyright is different from plagiarism in that it is a legal issue. Only the copyright holder, the person/organization who owns the protected item, can copy it.
Any written document, once produced, is copyrighted by law. That means if you are borrowing a good idea from a friend at another company, you must cite them as a source. Also, it is a good idea to cite sources from inside your own company, as well. You wouldn’t want someone else taking credit for your ideas. Why should you treat others any differently?
A Professional Document is a Legal Document
Most documents written by employees represent the position and commitments of the organization itself. There are always legal issues to consider when writing a professional document and they reflect in writing style and content. Professional documents can serve as evidence in disputes over contracts and in product liability lawsuits. A lawsuit is a civil action brought in court. Today, the average company is involved in 400 lawsuits at any given time. While most companies win their lawsuits, being caught in a lawsuit has many consequences. Lawsuits cost companies time and money. The money spent on lawyers and the time spent in court takes away resources a company could use for improving business and products, or hiring additional employees. Lawsuits also have ramifications for a business’s reputation.
One of the main reasons a company gets involved in a lawsuit is because of unclear writing. When in a lawsuit, all documents may be subpoenaed. This means that any document from memos and emails to proposals and tweets can be subject to review by a court of law.
A Clear Writing Style
Ethical writing decisions include word selection, content, organization, and tone. There should be no clichés and idioms in documents because they may pose a problem with comprehension. A cliché is a worn-out or overused expression that tends to sound trite and often doesn’t express what you truly mean to say. Examples include: the bottom line is, head over heels, or take it or leave it . Idioms, also known as jargon, are words or expressions that are specialized, usually industry-specific vocabulary. When it is necessary to use jargon, be sure to explain its meaning to increase understandability by various audiences. Opinions and jokes should also be avoided in business documents. Inform and persuade your readers through facts and data instead of opinions and beliefs. (See Chapter 2 Technical Writing Style .)
Ethical Infractions in Professional Writing
You have learned what constitutes ethical behavior in professional writing. In addition to discussing what to do, it is also necessary to discuss ethical infractions to avoid to strengthen your ethical knowledge and writing.
An ethical infraction is a decision that results in an ethical and moral breach. In business, the following breaches pertain to business writing and communication.
| Infraction | Definition |
|---|---|
| Defamation |
Causing harm to one's reputation or character by communicating false and malicious information. |
| Libel | Causing harm to one's reputation or character by writing false and malicious information. |
| Slander | Causing harm to one's good name or character by speaking false and malicious information. |
|
Fraud |
Misrepresenting the truth for personal or professional gain. |
|
Invasion of privacy |
Intruding in the business records of employees or stakeholders. |
Confidentiality does not mean that employees should not reveal a company’s unethical behavior. Whistler Blower laws are in place to assist workers who report unethical business behavior.
Ethical Sins of Commission and Omission
Unethical actions are classified into two categories: Sins of commission and sins of omission.
Sins of commission refer to unethical actions that include manipulating or changing information to benefit a person or business a person represents. To avoid using misleading or manipulating words and phrases, it is important to be open to alternative viewpoints; conduct an audience analysis. In preparing any type of writing, you may come across conflicting viewpoints. Discussing several points of view and ideas on the subject will make you more persuasive and inclusive, resulting in the avoidance of sins of omission. In addition, be aware of biased language; make sure you have not included anything that may point to discriminatory assumptions or stereotypes.
Sins of omission refer to withholding or using inaccurate information in order to benefit a person or company a person represents. Do not use false or skewed facts or argue from such premises because you may deceive the reader(s) and cause them to make an uninformed decision.
Conclusion
Whatever hopes you have for your future, you almost certainly want to be successful in whatever career you choose. But what does success mean to you, and how will you know you have achieved it? Will you measure it in terms of wealth, status, power, or recognition?
Before blindly embarking on a quest to achieve these goals, which society considers important, stop and think about what a successful career means to you personally. Does it include a stellar reputation, colleagues whose good opinion you value, and the ability to think well of yourself? How might ethics guide your decision-making and contribute to your achievement of these goals? It is important to consider the answer to these questions before you are faced with a decision that you must make in the moment.
When you are faced with an ethical dilemma, answer these questions to assist you with determining your next steps:
- What is the nature of the ethical dilemma?
- What are the specific aspects of this dilemma that make you uncomfortable?
- What are your competing obligations in this dilemma?
- What advice does a trusted supervisor or mentor offer?
- Does your organization's code of conduct address this issue?
- Does your professional association’s code of conduct address this issue?
- What are you willing to do? What are you not willing to do?
- How will you explain or justify your decision?
"Ethical Decision Checklist:" by ENGL 145: Technical and Report Writing. Bay College. is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://www.oercommons.org/courses/b...t-writing/view . Kinonen, Amber, et. al. Federal Trade Commission. (2020, January 2020). Equifax Data Breach Settlement . https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/case...ach-settlement Ikujiro Nonaka and Hirotaka Takeuchi, “The Big Idea: The Wise Leader,” Harvard Business Review , May 2011. https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-big-idea-the-wise-leader . This work "Ethical Considerations in Technical Writing" is derivative of “ Business Ethics ” by OpenStax , and “Ethical Considerations in Business Writing” by Valerie A. Gray , licensed under CC BY by Lise-Pauline Barnett, Tamara Girardi, and Mary Richards.