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Division 20 Listserv Policies

Administration and Editorial Policies

1. Postings to the listserv may only be made by the moderator. Direct submissions to the listserv will be ignored. All postings for consideration on the listserv must be mailed directly to the moderator. The moderator may choose to post them under his/her name, or under the name of the originator.

2. There are no formal language or style guidelines; the listserv moderator's judgment is used, although there is a general principle against censorship.

3. When in doubt, the listserv moderator queries the Division 20 Executive Council for guidance.

4. Endorsement of political candidates outside of APA via the listserv is not permitted.

5. APA endorsements of policies or calls to action will routinely be posted.

6. Endorsement of APA candidates is disseminated as follows. (A) The Executive Committee requests information from candidates using a standardized questionnaire. (B) All responses received are posted on the Division 20 website, announced via the listserv, and published in the divisional newsletter. The Executive Committee may choose to endorse or rank candidates. Executive committee endorsements will be disseminated via the listserv. At the discretion of the Executive Committee, in a given APA election cycle, single "private member" endorsements of APA candidates are also permitted. When permitted, the "comment window" is publically announced, and will typically have a brief, fixed duration (typically two weeks).

Security and User Protection

1. All postings on the listserv, even when posted by the moderator, require a second automated "approval". Specifically, after a posting is sent to the listserv, the listserv sends a query back to the moderator to verify the posting. If the moderator wishes the posting to occur, he/she types "ok", and the posting will appear. This double-leveled security (posting by moderator only, and subsequent approval mechanism) is designed to reduce spam mails and virus/trojan/worm dissemination.

2. The list of listserv members is made publically available on the division's website. E-mail addresses are graphically transformed to dissuade harvesting by spam-bots. Concealed membership is not allowed; it is possible to read listserv messages without joining the list (via the division website), thereby eliminating the need for concealed membership.

3. Non-members of the division (as well as regular members, fellows, retired members, students, etc.) may subscribe to the listserv. The division construes this open-access policy to the listserv and its contents as (a) a recruitment tool, to inform people about the division, and (b) consistent with the policy of "giving Psychology away".

Acceptable content

1. Postings are accepted in the categories of JOBS, STUDENTS, AWARDS, CONFERENCES, FUNDING, and INFORMATION.

2. As a matter of general principle, no requests for information (e.g., finding a difficult reference, finding an out-of-print book or measure, etc.) will be posted. The listserv is construed more as a dynamic online "newsletter" than as a discussion group.

3. Postings from for-profit entities are generally not accepted.

Access to listserv content

1. All postings to the listserv are publically archived, and linked to the Division webpage. A "digest" option for the listserv (e.g., where e-mails are bundled and sent once a week) is not available, but persons who opt out of the listserv may view postings on the web page. All postings are public, and are not restricted to members.