Editorial Guidelines

Mission Statement

This publication was founded in 2016 to bring a new and independent voice to the current media landscape. Merion West is non-partisan and publishes critical commentary and in-depth interviews from across the political spectrum. As a publication, we serve the interests of the public, rather than any particular political party or interest group, financial or ideological. Read more on the About page.

Ethics Policy

Merion West is an online magazine committed to bringing different perspectives to our readers on the relevant issues of the day. Our ethics policy follows the Society of Professional Journalists’  Code of Ethics, with independence, transparency, and a commitment to impartiality.

Free Speech

While Merion West is committed to being a magazine where a variety of perspectives can be shared, this should not be understood as the magazine welcoming the publication of any and all possible views. Broadly stated, this means that the magazine does not welcome opinions that are considered libelous, inciting violence, or are otherwise harmful, as determined by the editors. One can find our Principles for Discourse here. Other than with regard to these exceptions, pieces are evaluated on their merits, and they are either accepted or rejected for publication based not on their capacity to offend but on the quality and style of the argument made.

Conflicts of Interest

Merion West aims to avoid conflicts of interest, including not permitting any coverage by writers of subjects with whom they have a personal, financial, or political relationship.

Corrections Policy

Whenever our editorial team becomes aware of any errors or misstatements in our reporting or commentary, we work promptly to revise said errors, and we then include a prominently placed editor’s note informing readers of the correction and of the error in the previous version of the article.

Pseudonyms

Merion West does not accept pseudonymous submissions.

Article Removal

Articles published in the pages of Merion West are considered to be part of the historical record. As such, the magazine maintains a firm policy of not removing, modifying, or deleting works that have been previously published.

Plagiarism

Works submitted to Merion West must be the work of the author’s, and plagiarism is not tolerated. Those found to have committed plagiarism will not be permitted to collaborate with Merion West again, and any such submission will be prominently noted as being plagiaristic.

The Use of Artificial Intelligence

Merion West values the originality and unique approach that authors bring to bear on their own works. For any piece that we publish, the team at Merion West appreciates the effort that underlies the diligent, methodical research, and the scrupulous care involved in refining the craft of one’s poetry or prose. Just as plagiarism is unacceptable, we do not accept submissions that reflect the output, not of the author’s own effort and care but, rather, of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT.

We increasingly recognize that artificial intelligence continues to permeate society, and it is likely to become a tool that complements the work of writers as it does the work of many others. For example, ChatGPT, like reading books, can be a useful way to generate ideas and gather material for research. But if someone submits an article that reflects verbatim the output of ChatGPT or similar devices, he is not authoring a piece. This constitutes intellectual dishonesty because it does not represent the authentic and independent effort of an author to craft an original work, reflecting his own creative spirit. Instead, it reflects the generic and robotic generation of a machine and, thus, misrepresents the author’s ability and effort.

Merion West seeks to be a space for disciplined authors to display their work to the reading public. As such, it celebrates the creative enterprise of living humans and turns away from the generic output of machines.

Verification Standards

Merion West works diligently to ensure that all claims are properly fact-checked and examined for accuracy. Our editorial team conducts a line-by-line review of each article to ensure that each claim is correct and properly sourced and/or hyperlinked. In the event of a dubious claim being made by an interviewee, a Merion West interviewer will either press the interview guest for further explanation or will seek to clarify said claim after the interview’s completion.  

Unnamed Sources

Merion West believes strongly in refraining from publishing content that is based on speculation or rumors. As such, the publication avoids the use of unnamed or anonymous sources. In the uncommon event that such sources might need to be used, their accounts would be checked against other corroborating sources that are willing to go on the record. And such sources would need to have a very compelling reason for their need to remain anonymous.

Feedback from Readers

We welcome feedback on all content produced and published at Merion West. Readers can email the editor-in-chief, Erich J. Prince, directly at erich@merionwest.com or the publisher, Henri Mattila, at henri@merionwest.com.

Ownership

Merion West is owned and operated by Merion West Co, a Pennsylvania-based not-for-profit corporation.