Preamble

This document is a guideline for all MJPS staff (this hereafter references the Online and Print platforms unless otherwise stated). It is intended to standardize many of our protocols and promote accountability by codifying our commitment to accurate and critically considered political analysis.

The MJPS does not report or provide news coverage. Instead, we provide original, political analysis on a wide range of issues.  This document addresses questions of accuracy, equity, and accountability relevant to our mission as an on-campus publication.

While many specific scenarios are addressed here, all potential scenarios may not be captured and updates will be issued as deemed appropriate by the editorial board, with final decisions resting with the editors in chief of MJPS Online and MJPS Print, respectively. All staff members of the MJPS, including the editorial board and editor in chief, are obliged to respect the outlined commitments. Contributors are also subject to the applicable commitments regarding articles. 

Any suggestions for additions or amendments can also be directed to the Editor in Chief of the MJPS Online at eicmjps@gmail.com and the Editor in Chief of the MJPS Print at editorinchief@mcgillpssa.ca.

Equity

No political analysis that is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or otherwise oppressive will ever be intentionally published or promoted through our publication.

  1. If such work does become published, we commit to a transparent and immediate removal or editing process upon discovery. 

We respect the dignity of people involved in our political analysis and acknowledge that the issues covered in our publication have serious implications for the respect of human rights, especially for marginalized individuals.

We commit to making the MJPS a safe working environment for all staff by enforcing a zero-tolerance towards discrimination of any kind.

  1. Discrimination on the grounds of race, sex, general, ability, sexual orientation and/or religion will not be tolerated and are grounds for action up to and including immediate dismissal.
  2. We will make clear to all staff where they can confidentially disclose equity complaints, including any complaints against those in positions of leadership including but not limited to, the editor in chief, managing editors and editors.

We commit to providing all staff with the resources to avoid perpetuating racist discourse in our political analysis, including:

  1. Mandatory training and guidelines delivered by experts on how to effectively and critically consider systemic racism in our articles.

We commit to amplifying the voice and perspective of McGill students that have been marginalized and excluded from spaces of political analysis.

  1. To ensure the representation of BIPOC in hiring decisions, especially in leadership positions, we commit to:
    1. Extending hiring opportunities beyond well-connected members of the McGill political science community by implementing office hours and/or information sessions before hiring decisions in each semester.
    2. Advertising opportunities to join the MJPS through a diverse range of on-campus students associations and organizations.
    3. Checking bias in hiring decisions by standardizing application and interview assessment criteria while valuing all forms previous experience.

We commit to respecting staff members’ privacy, dignity, and ownership over their work. This means we will:

  1. Monitor the comments on our website and social media pages and reserve the right to remove any discriminatory or derogatory remarks.
  2. Allow authors to remove entire social media posts about their work and/or articles in situations, including but not limited to, where the article and/or post has been shared onto an unwanted external platform without permission or where discriminatory or derogatory remarks are being made.

Accountability

We will make every effort to avoid errors and ensure accuracy in every article we publish.

If we are called upon to reconsider a published article due to an error in substance, we will:

  1. Designate the author and editor of the article in addition to an MJPS staff member, uninvolved in drafting the article, to:
    1. Revisit the article and consider the specific aspects of article cited errors.
    2. Determine whether there are inaccurate or imprecise claims in the article and if so, how this led to a problematic conclusion.

If the author, editor and independent MJPS staff member determine the article should be revised the MJPS will:

  1. Work with the author to revise the article and address the errors in substance.
  2. Make the changes as soon as possible, preferably within 24 hours, while prioritizing a thorough review and diligent response.
  3. Be transparent in indicating on social media and on our website that article was altered or revised, and what was specifically changed.

If we are called upon to reconsider a published article due to an error in substance, at the discretion of the editor-in-chief or author, an article may be removed altogether.

  1. In this case, we will be transparent in indicating on social media that the article was removed and the specific errors in substance that led to that decision.

We will make every effort to use photos that are copyright-free and intended for use by publications such as MJPS. 

  1. If we later discover that the owner of a photo does not wish for their photo to be used by our publication, we will remove and replace the photo immediately.

While the opinions expressed in every MJPS article are solely those of the author and they do not reflect the position of the McGill Journal of Political Studies or the Political Science Students’ Association, we will differentiate analysis articles from opinion articles by labelling them as such in the title, to alert the reader that an article is expressly and intentionally opinionated.

Transparency

In delivering political analysis, we will ensure all articles are supported by credible sources, MJPS will:

  1. Cite sources through hyperlinks or footnote citations where online sources are unavailable in each article.
  2. Whenever possible, carefully consider the credibility of the content and include this information in our analysis when citing studies, polls, and surveys (especially those commissioned by parties with a vested interest).

While all final decisions at MJPS rest with the editor in chief, we commit to:

  1. Making any consequential decisions, and the reasoning behind them,transparent when possible.
  2. Promptly and thoroughly answering queries from the public about our operations.