GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS & COMMENTING
ARTICLE/BLOG SUBMISSIONS
Tone and language of blogs
We want Mad In Canada to be a place that is respectful in tone. This doesn’t mean that bloggers shouldn’t write their opinions, but in a sense, blogging on Mad In Canada will be different than writing a blog on a personal website. Think of Mad In Canada as an online magazine. Pieces can be funny, opinionated, etc., but always written in a considerate way. Needless to say, we won’t publish racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic pieces.
Mad In Canada shares the mission of Mad In America. We want to avoid the use of medicalized terminology. We prefer to describe problems using everyday language wherever possible.
Purpose of blogs
While your blog is a forum for making your thoughts known on this general topic of psychiatry, psychology and mental health, you should also think of it as a place to report on what you may be doing in your own sphere of involvement.
We want readers to come to Mad In Canada to learn about innovative projects, success stories, efforts at developing alternative therapies, service user/survivor led initiatives, etc. So your blog might be seen as providing a mix of opinion, insight, and news.
Writing quality and suggested word count
- Please review your blog for clarity, grammar, and spelling. We want our readers to find Mad In Canada to be a home for good writing. At the same time, we recognize that some people are relatively new to writing for this kind of forum, and we are happy to offer support and feedback on drafts.
Before submitting a blog or article please consider the following:
- Please hyperlink all references. Do not include footnotes or academic-style in-text citations.
- Is your submission fresh? Why this blog, article, on this site, for this audience, at this time?
- Please don’t send us blogs or personal complaints that are just rants as we are looking for pieces that succeed at moving from the individual to the universal.
- Please let us know if there are any potential conflicts of interest. If the blog/article is accepted, conflicts of interest can be published along with the article.
We will sometimes edit blogs for clarity and ease of reading before publishing. And, we suggest a word count of 500 to 1000 words, but we will consider longer reads.
Simultaneous Submissions
We are happy to accept blogs that have been previously published elsewhere, providing that the previous publisher has no right to the blog that could prevent it from being used on Mad In Canada’s site.
Some submitted blogs may also feature on Mad In America, and possibly on the sites of other MIA Global affiliates. Should you not wish your piece to appear on any of the MIA family of sites, please tell us when you submit your blog. If you do not express a preference, all blogs submitted to us will be shared with Mad in America and the MIA Global affiliates, and their editors will decide which pieces to run.
Submitting Blogs
Please email your blog to [email protected].
We’re looking forward to reading your submissions!
If you have questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected]. We want to hear from you!
COMMENTING GUIDELINES
Introduction
This guide provides some general information about commenting on blogs posted on Mad in Canada.
madincanada.org is a site that, broadly speaking, is intent on providing an online focal point for people interested in campaigning for a change in the professional and public discourse about emotional distress and unusual experiences; for support, both within and beyond services, which meets people’s real needs; and for social policy which addresses the causes of distress at its roots.
We need your help to build a strong, resilient community that can robustly and respectfully discuss issues which, we believe, are some of the most important in the world today.
Our Expectations
We insist that madincanada.org is a place that is respectful in tone while understanding that discussions can become passionate and sometimes heated. MIC recognizes that there is a range of possible ways forward, not a single path, and we expect commenters to approach discussions with this in mind.
We expect comments made on madincanada.org to:
- Be civil and respectful in tone.
- Be relevant to the topic being discussed.
- Avoid generalisations about groups of people.
- Avoid personal attacks, abuse, bullying or threat.
- Avoid shaming or demeaning another person because of their views.
- Honour differing viewpoints and experiences.
Some of our writers will want to engage with readers, responding to their comments, and while it is up to every writer to decide whether to respond, we do encourage such interaction, as it can be so informative for everyone. We ask our bloggers to respond to commenters with the same respect that we ask our readers to give to our writers.
Moderation
In terms of our moderation, we will take a proactive approach, where necessary, towards ensuring respectful and constructive debate in which everyone’s voice can be heard. Experience from other community sites suggests that this may sometimes imply asking members to step back in order to allow others to take an equal share of the space. At other times, we hope that it will be possible to take a ‘light touch’ approach and allow the community to regulate itself. If action is taken, the writer of the comment will be informed. We may sometimes remove comments that don’t advance the discussion (e.g. ‘I agree’ or similar) and off-topic posts may also be removed. All comments will be reviewed and approved before being posted. This may mean a delay in your comment appearing on the site.
Moderating comments is a difficult and highly subjective task which sometimes requires interpretation of the intent behind a comment. We will not always get it right, but we ask for your understanding and support as we learn.
These guidelines and our moderation approach will evolve over time as we gain experience in observing our community discussions and moderating our community.
Language
MIC wants to avoid medicalized terminology. We prefer to describe problems using everyday language wherever possible. To illustrate this preference, we encourage writers to become familiar with language guidelines written by Peter Kinderman and Anne Cooke, which can be accessed here, or the British Psychological Society’s Division of Clinical Psychology Language. Guidelines provided here.
Registering to Comment
Readers who want to comment on blogs must register with madincanada.org.
To register, use the ‘sign in/join’ link in the menu, choose the ‘create an account’ link. You will be asked to provide an email address and username. Click ‘register’ and a password will be emailed to you. Once you have your password, you can log in with your username and password. Your account will allow you to comment on blogs.
We do hold your email address, but this is not visible to other users unless you create a biography that contains your contact details. If your email address is incorrect, we will not be able to contact you and you may be prevented from commenting on blogs.
A Note on Scientology
For anyone in the critical space around psychiatry and psychology, the potential for hijacking by Scientology adherents is a concern. Mad in Canada rejects Scientology and will never knowingly promote or host Scientology content.
It is very difficult to know the provenance of everything that may be posted on MIC, so if you are aware of something that we should take action on, please let us know by emailing [email protected].
Comments on Guidelines or Moderation
If you have questions or concerns about these guidelines or about moderation, please email [email protected]in the first instance.
If you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask and we look forward to your on-topic, civil and insightful comments.