Ethics is among the most critical topics in technical communication. When a writer can communicate effectively and clearly, and when it is their job to help others to understand a process or an object through communication, they should do so ethically. In essence, good writing is not only grammatically correct or even purposeful. If good writing is defined merely as writing, which gets the audience to think or do what the writer wants, the writer fails to consider the needs or welfare of the audience. The writer also disregards the ways through which writing might hurt other people. The question that one may ask is what it means to communicate ethically concerning technical writing. There is much confusion pertaining to what "ethics" means, and when it is related to ethical, technical writing, the issue becomes very complicated. This white paper informs my fellow students about the complex issue of technical writing and ethics and discusses how technical writers can become ethical in their writing.
One of the issues about technical writing is the ability to communicate technical information clearly in a format which is accessible and meets the audience's needs. Like other experts, technical writers encounter ethical problems often and should decide about how to write ethically. Ethical conduct, covering ethical technical writing, entails not only stating the truth and offering precise information, but also stating the facts and presenting information for a rational audience to know the truth ( Dombrowski, 2000) . Also, it indicates acting to prevent real hurt, like providing misleading information which could harm the audience.
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In technical writing, writers must not mislead, manipulate, or stereotype audience in their writing. They should avoid misleading the audience. Writers should be clear in their writing. When writing to persuade the audience, they should avoid presenting information which could make the readers believe something untrue. This may be done through the misinterpretation of facts, lying, or altering facts or numbers to favor their objectives of opinions. Also, technical writers should avoid manipulating information. Writers should not use their ability to persuade the audience to do what is not their best interest. It is also essential for the writers to avoid stereotyping that is, presenting information in an overgeneralized belief about a specific group of individuals ( Reep, 2000) . Further, technical writers must not suppress relevant information. Any pertinent information should be provided in writing, even if it might hurt or sabotage the goal of the audience. Other ethical points to consider is using adequate source information in the research and ethically presenting ethical information.
Many ethical technical writing violations might be unintended. However, they are still ethical abuses. Thus, technical writers should consciously identify their biases and check to see whether bias could influence any information presented: whether in graphs or charts, or discussions of the evidence or the use of sources. It is unethical to document source use in a manner to misinform the audience about the source or make the identification of the source hard. Technical writers must also show their credibility in writing by avoiding plagiarism and using reliable resources ( Roig, 2006). Also, credibility could be established through the use of proper professional language, citing greatly appreciated sources, provision of credible evidence, and the use of reason.
In summary, the way a writer presents information in writing may impact how a reader understands the information. Then, ethical writing encompasses being ethical, as well as giving information to the target audience in a manner which they can understand its relative significance and understand if specific technical facts are a good or bad thing. Thus, ethical technical writing avoids misleading, manipulating and stereotyping, along with using credible sources of information, and avoiding hiding relevant information to the audience.
References
Dombrowski, P. (2000). Ethics in Technical Communication. The Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication . Allyn and Bacon, 160 Gould St, Needham Heights, MA 02494.
Reep, D. C. (2000). Technical writing: Principles, strategies, and readings (p. 572). Allyn and Bacon.
Roig, M. (2006). Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: A guide to ethical writing.
