OUR CODE OF ETHICS
The following is Gytha Press's voluntary code of ethics. We work as hard as possible to maintain these standards in everything we do. These guidelines may change as we develop them.
All changes to these guidelines are logged here.
All changes to these guidelines are logged here.
HOW WE RELATE TO...
...OUR TEAM
Values
Gytha Press expects artists and creators to adhere to values of Integrity, Respect and Social Responsibility.
Any Creator or partner found to be directly or indirectly in violation of these policies, regardless of current or previous involvement with Gytha Press, will be subject to consequences which may include termination, removal, or cancellation of partnerships or projects with Gytha Press.
Integrity:
Any work submitted to, and published by, Gytha press will be entirely the artist’s work, unless an explicit agreement to do otherwise is agreed to both by Gytha Press and by the original creator.
Respect:
Gytha Press stands firmly against women (and anyone else!) in refrigerators. Any work submitted to, and published by, Gytha Press will exhibit a respect for women and female-identified persons, persons of all gender identities, the LGBTQ+ community, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and any other marginalized group or individual. This policy stands regardless of circumstance and is at the discretion of the managing editor and curatorial team.
Responsibility:
We consider ourselves responsible not just for the consequences of our actions, but for maximizing the positive impact we are capable of having on our community. This includes anticipating, protecting and consulting on the needs of our artists, our readers, our distribution and promotion networks, and anyone else effected by our work, directly or not. We publicly disavow: economic exploitation, colonial and structural violence, social violence and toxicity, epistemic injustice, inequality, mis- and dis-information. We endeavor whenever possible to design our structure and actions in a way which promotes transparency, and prevents the disavowal of mistakes. We believe in admitting to our mistakes and working toward reperative action whenever they occur.
Management Support
Gytha Press takes any violation of ethical policy very seriously. Complaints against a creator’s work can be made anonymously through our contact page, and a member of Gytha Press will address the concern as soon as possible.
Personal Responsibility
Gytha Press expects artists and collaborators to be aware of these policies and to take personal responsibility for upholding them.
Compliance
Gytha Press retains the right to remove or refuse any work which is found to be in violation of any stated ethical guidelines. These guidelines may be changed, and can be applied retroactively. Ethical misconduct which does not fall under these guidelines may also lead to removal or refusal. Gytha Press retains the right to act legally or otherwise on the behalf of our organization, selves, artists, readers, or community.
...OUR ARTISTS
Gytha Press is committed to respect, kindness, and open-mindedness in all our relations with artists, individuals, groups, and members of our community. We will endeavour to help and address the concerns of all persons, within our ability.
Contact from Artists will be responded to as immediately and clearly as possible, within the limited labor hours in which our volunteer staff are available. All payment will be made in a timely manner; to ensure this, clear timelines will be provided to all invoicing parties. Gytha Press will never use material which the creator has not provided us explicit permission to use.
Gytha Press will always endeavor to the best of our ability to provide clear communication and responses to our artists’ questions or comments in a timely manner.
...OUR MEMBERS, VOLUNTEERS & OTHER PERSONS
Any member, volunteer, partner, employee, or individual who fails to hold themself(s) or others to the standards maintained by Gytha Press may have their relationship with Gytha Press terminated at any time. No compensation is guaranteed for any time or contributions made, excluding all legal employment guarantees and protections.
...OUR SPONSORS
Any sponsor or partner which fails to hold itself or others within its organization to the standards maintained by Gytha Press may have their relationship with Gytha Press terminated at any time. Donations or contributions will not be refunded.
...WORK WE COMMISSION
Code of Conduct for Work from Commissioned Artists
...OUR SOCIAL MEDIA
...OUR TEAM
Values
Gytha Press expects artists and creators to adhere to values of Integrity, Respect and Social Responsibility.
Any Creator or partner found to be directly or indirectly in violation of these policies, regardless of current or previous involvement with Gytha Press, will be subject to consequences which may include termination, removal, or cancellation of partnerships or projects with Gytha Press.
Integrity:
Any work submitted to, and published by, Gytha press will be entirely the artist’s work, unless an explicit agreement to do otherwise is agreed to both by Gytha Press and by the original creator.
Respect:
Gytha Press stands firmly against women (and anyone else!) in refrigerators. Any work submitted to, and published by, Gytha Press will exhibit a respect for women and female-identified persons, persons of all gender identities, the LGBTQ+ community, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and any other marginalized group or individual. This policy stands regardless of circumstance and is at the discretion of the managing editor and curatorial team.
Responsibility:
We consider ourselves responsible not just for the consequences of our actions, but for maximizing the positive impact we are capable of having on our community. This includes anticipating, protecting and consulting on the needs of our artists, our readers, our distribution and promotion networks, and anyone else effected by our work, directly or not. We publicly disavow: economic exploitation, colonial and structural violence, social violence and toxicity, epistemic injustice, inequality, mis- and dis-information. We endeavor whenever possible to design our structure and actions in a way which promotes transparency, and prevents the disavowal of mistakes. We believe in admitting to our mistakes and working toward reperative action whenever they occur.
Management Support
Gytha Press takes any violation of ethical policy very seriously. Complaints against a creator’s work can be made anonymously through our contact page, and a member of Gytha Press will address the concern as soon as possible.
Personal Responsibility
Gytha Press expects artists and collaborators to be aware of these policies and to take personal responsibility for upholding them.
Compliance
Gytha Press retains the right to remove or refuse any work which is found to be in violation of any stated ethical guidelines. These guidelines may be changed, and can be applied retroactively. Ethical misconduct which does not fall under these guidelines may also lead to removal or refusal. Gytha Press retains the right to act legally or otherwise on the behalf of our organization, selves, artists, readers, or community.
...OUR ARTISTS
Gytha Press is committed to respect, kindness, and open-mindedness in all our relations with artists, individuals, groups, and members of our community. We will endeavour to help and address the concerns of all persons, within our ability.
Contact from Artists will be responded to as immediately and clearly as possible, within the limited labor hours in which our volunteer staff are available. All payment will be made in a timely manner; to ensure this, clear timelines will be provided to all invoicing parties. Gytha Press will never use material which the creator has not provided us explicit permission to use.
Gytha Press will always endeavor to the best of our ability to provide clear communication and responses to our artists’ questions or comments in a timely manner.
...OUR MEMBERS, VOLUNTEERS & OTHER PERSONS
Any member, volunteer, partner, employee, or individual who fails to hold themself(s) or others to the standards maintained by Gytha Press may have their relationship with Gytha Press terminated at any time. No compensation is guaranteed for any time or contributions made, excluding all legal employment guarantees and protections.
...OUR SPONSORS
Any sponsor or partner which fails to hold itself or others within its organization to the standards maintained by Gytha Press may have their relationship with Gytha Press terminated at any time. Donations or contributions will not be refunded.
...WORK WE COMMISSION
Code of Conduct for Work from Commissioned Artists
- No direct images of violence; no use of violence as a solution or de facto response to a situation or conflict; depictions of violence must be conveyed or contextualized through/with the experience of the victim, and, if present, must have purpose or intent other than to provoke an emotional response. This includes implied violence, or images or incidents which occur non-visually.
- No images of sexual violence, abuse or brutalization. Work which deals respectfully with these themes is welcome, if approved by our editor.
- No depiction of gender, sexual, racial, religious or ethnic violence or abuse without explicit intention, or in any manner which normalizes or decontextualizes said abuse. Work which deals respectfully with these themes is welcome, if approved by our editor.
- No promotion or dissemination of medical, demographic, or other forms of misinformation, regardless of whether such information is intended in good faith. These forms of misinformation are considered by Gytha Press to be acts of direct harm toward effected populations. Claims are compared against high quality, reproducible, falsifiable and peer-reviewed data in relevant academic/professional/demographic fields to determine veracity.
- When depicting other cultural groups, defer to the lived experience or cultural history of said group. Stereotypes or cultural shorthand are not permitted as a replacement for real persons or cultures.
- No discriminatory, defamatory or prescriptive (i.e. gender essentialism, ethnic stereotyping, etc.) treatment of any gender, sexual, racial, religious, ethnic or economic group, or of any other group which faces significant discrimination or misrepresentation. Work which deals respectfully with these themes is welcome, if approved by our editor.
- Ignorance is not any excuse for any breached guideline. Artists are expected to perform research where necessary, to ensure sensitivity in all possible cases, and to reach out to our editorial team when unsure if content is inadmissable. This should occur early enough in the process of content development that significant progress is not lost.
- Our editorial team will do their best to accommodate artists requiring help or guidance, including additional time or scheduling requirements, when questions arise concerning the above. What is a “reasonable change in schedule or resources” will be determined by Gytha Press. Projects may be rescheduled or cancelled if they cannot be accommodated.
- Contributors who refuse the above rules will not be accommodated.
...OUR SOCIAL MEDIA
- Author/creator/artist consent must be attained before any image, text, or other creative work is posted or re-posted, as long as that work is not already covered by a written artists' agreement. If possible, we save emails or written agreements. (Exceptions may be made for works which are intentionally created and/or displayed anonymously)
- All author/creator/artist-produced content must be clearly attributed, including the artist’s social media information for the appropriate platform. (Exceptions may be made for works which are intentionally created and/or displayed anonymously)
- Author/creator/artist’s requests will be honoured wherever possible concerning the removal, alteration, re-attribution of posts containing their work.
- All social media content produced or re-posted by GP must follow the “Guidelines for Commissioned Works”
- GP will strive to promote creators, groups and organizations from diverse backgrounds whenever possible
- DMs, email and responses will be read, though not necessarily responded to. DMs or other contact (including re-posts, comments and SM responses) which includes abusive or hateful material will not be read, reviewed, or responded to, and will be removed if possible.
- Comments will be disallowed where possible. GP does not have the resources to ensure a safe and positive environment on all commenting spaces, and therefore will remove these spaces when possible.
- All of the above will be performed as soon as possible, within the means of Gytha Press.