It’s finally out there! The special issue of the International Journal of Internet Research Ethics about online communities that I guest edited (December 2010) is available for free, public access here.

Many thanks to the exceptional authors, the reviewers and the journal editors for their time and commitment. I’m pleased as punch.

Here’s the blurb:

Announcing the publication of the International Journal of Internet Research Ethics special Online Communities issue, edited by Aleks Krotoski.

This special issue draws together seven case studies from the social sciences and humanities that describe best ethical practices in the investigation of online communities. It aims to create a compendium of case studies and theoretical frameworks which future scholars will reference when designing their own analyses of populations and practices in social networking sites, weblogs,
listservs, online games, video sharing sites, virtual worlds and other Web environments that demonstrate evidence of community processes.

This volume introduces extensions to existing theories – including new frameworks for approaching the ethical issues that emerge in online communities and novel applications of existing offline ethics frameworks – and examples of best practice – including case studies of successful ethical solutions, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches, issues associated with international ethics practices, and changes to ethical approaches over the short- and the long-term.

Note: all links below are pdfs

Download Entire Issue

Contents

Introduction to the Special Issue: Research Ethics in Online Communities
Aleks Krotoski
Control And Contingency: Maintaining Ethical Stances In Research
Natasha Whiteman
Virtual World Research Ethics and the Private/Public Distinction
Åsa Rosenberg
Applying the “Contextual Integrity” Model of Privacy to Personal Blogs in the Blogosphere
Frances S. Grodzinsky and Herman T. Tavani
The Duty To ‘Play’: Ethics, EULAs and MMOs
Ren Reynolds and Melissa de Zwart
Beyond recruitment? Participatory online research with people who use drugs
Monica J. Barratt and Simon Lenton
Apomediation and Ancillary Care: Researchers’ Responsibilities in Health-Related Online Communities
Dan O’Connor
Online behavioural tracking in Internet gambling research: Ethical and methodological issues
Mark Griffiths and Monica Whitty