The Routledge Handbook of Ethics in Technical and Professional Communication

Introduction: Ethics in Technical and Professional Communication 

Derek G. Ross 

Part I. Why Ethics? 

1. Why Ethics? Using Ethics as the Basis for General Decision-Making 

Keisha E. McKenzie 

2. Ethics in the Classroom 

Aimee Kendall Roundtree 

3. Ethical Considerations in Communication Research 

Johanna Phelps 

4. Ethics in Workplace Research 

Clay Spinuzzi 

5. Ethics in Service Learning 

Susan A. Youngblood 

6. Codes of Ethics in Professional and Technical Communication 

Heidi L. Everett and Emil B. Towner 

Part II. Foundations: What Are Ethics, and How Do They Fit into Technical and Professional Communication? 

7. Metaethics, Technology, and the Value of Ethics in Technical and Professional Communication 

Jared S. Colton 

8. Character/Virtue Ethics 

Steve Holmes 

9. Duty/Deontological Ethics 

Beau Pihlaja 

10. Consequentialist, Utilitarian, and Hedonistic Ethical Approaches 

Mike Duncan 

11. Rights-Based Ethics 

Kristin C. Bennett 

12. Divine Command, Universalist Ethics, and Discernment 

Elizabeth L. Angeli and Conor M. Kelly 

13. Dialogue and Dialogic Ethics 

Michael J. Salvo 

14. Feminist Ethics 

Derek M. Sparby 

15. Ethics of Care in Technical Communication Research and Practice 

Denise Tillery 

16. Queer Ethics 

Michael J. Faris 

17. Chicanx Ethics in TPC: Thinking Pragmatically About Chicanidad 

Gabriel Lorenzo Aguilar 

18. Indigenous Ethics 

Emily Legg 

19. Ubuntu: An African Ethics 

Josephine Walwema 

Part III. Local Application: What Does “Being Ethical” Mean to the Individual? 

20. Writing Ethically 

Lydia Wilkes 

21. Designing Ethically: Accounting and Advocating for Inclusivity and Justice 

Jason Tham 

22. Coding Ethically as a Writer and Designer 

Adam Strantz 

23. Ethics in Technical Editing 

Jo Mackiewicz 

24. Marketing Content Ethically 

Scott A. Mogull 

25. Teaching Ethically 

Yanar Hashlamon and Christa Teston 

26. Researching Ethically 

Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq 

Part IV. Institutional Application: What Does “Being Ethical” Mean at the Institutional Level? 

27. Institutional Marketing and Ethics 

Chris Dayley 

28. Ethics and Plain Language 

Kira Dreher and Russell Willerton 

29. The Ethics of Accessible Design 

Sushil K. Oswal 

30. UX and Ethics 

Yingying Tang 

31. Business Ethics: Adopting an Ethical Mindshift and Building Multicultural Ethical Capital 

Binod Sundararajan and Tasnima Islam 

32. Ethics and Infrastructure 

Michelle McMullin 

33. Transnational Crisis Communication and Ethics 

Sweta Baniya 

Part V. The Future of Ethics in Technical Communication: What Happens Next? 

34. The Future of Environmental Ethics 

Derek G. Ross 

35. The Future of Ethics in Mobile Technologies: An Ethic of Inclusion Elevating DEIA Principles to the Forefront of Intersections of Mobile Technologies, Accessibility, and Place 

Brett Oppegaard 

36. The Future of Ethics in Political Communication 

Isidore K. Dorpenyo 

37. The Future of Ethics in Medical Communication 

Erin Fitzgerald 

38. The Future of Disability and Accessibility Ethics 

Rachel Bryson 

39. The Future of Multilingualism, Culture, and Ethics 

Laura Pigozzi 

40. The Future of Ethics and Social Justice 

Chris Lindgren, Julie Gerdes, and Halcyon Lawrence 

41. The Future of Ethics and Community Engagement 

Godwin Y. Agboka 

42. The Future of Risk Communication and Ethics 

Huiling Ding 

43. The Future of Apparent Feminist Ethics: Taking Rhetorical Action 

Erin A. Clark and S.B. McCulloch 

44. The Future of Ethics in Crisis Communication 

Rob Grace and Meghan Dunn 

45. The Future of Ethics in Industry: Generative AI and the Production of Technical Content 

Dan Card 

Part VI. Afterword 

46. Revisiting Ethics in Human-Machine Relations: Technical and Professional Communication and Emergent Intelligences 

Steven B. Katz

Biography

Derek G. Ross is the Hargis Professor of Writing Studies in the Master of Technical and Professional Communication Program at Auburn University, USA. He is the editor of Topic-Driven Environmental Rhetoric (Routledge, 2017), co-author of Document Design: From Process to Product in Professional Communication (2025), and a past editor of Communication Design Quarterly.