TEMPO.CO, Washington - Academics in many countries protested a proposal to ban senior members of the International Studies Association (ISA) from personal blogging. They said the measure was taken to separate their personal opinions from their academic responsibilities.
The proposal states, as quoted by The Guardian, “No editor of any ISA journal or member of any editorial team of an ISA journal can create or actively manage a blog unless it is an official blog of the editor’s journal or the editorial team’s journal.
“The policy requires that all editors and members of editorial teams apply this aspect of the code of conduct to their ISA journal commitments. All editorial members, both the editor in chief(s) and the board of editors/editorial teams, should maintain a complete separation of their journal responsibilities and their blog associations.”
Many ISA members—professional associations of scholars, practitioners and students of international studies, with more than 6,000 members from 80 countries—have expressed their disagreement. Stephen Saideman, a professor at Carleton University in Canada told The Guardian, “I think it’s a really strange proposal in 2014. There’s still a segment of academia that doesn’t engage in any kind of social media.”
However, Harvey Starr, a professor at South Caroline University who sits as the ISA president, said the ban would strengthen the organization’s code of conduct. “The proposed policy is one response, not to blogs per se, but to issues that can arise with people confusing personal blogs of the editors of ISA journals with the editorial policies for their journals. This proposal is trying to address that possible confusion,” he said, as reported by The Guardian.
GUARDIAN | TRIP B
