2024Q4 Reports: Publication Ethics Committee Co-chairs

Committee Achievements

Policy Implementation

The committee successfully drafted, reviewed, and secured approval for the ACL Policy on Publication Ethics. This foundational policy addresses a range of ethical issues that may arise in the publication process, informed by practices from organizations such as IEEE and COPE. The policy was formally adopted by the ACL Executive Committee in June 2024.

Complaint Management

To facilitate the resolution of publication-related complaints, the committee created and released a complaint submission form. Onboarding to a Freshdesk-based case management system is underway, allowing for systematic handling of complaints. In the interim, the committee has begun addressing an initial queue of 19 cases.

Policy Updates

The ACL Exec ++ is reviewing a proposed update to the policy to address coordinated vulnerability disclosure. This revision considers the cases when ACL publishes research identifying weaknesses in LLMs or NLP artifacts, and proposes to balance the need for transparency with the responsibility to mitigate risks by allowing artifact producers to address vulnerabilities prior to public disclosure.

Ongoing Initiatives

The committee continues to explore and refine the implementation of its policies, including finalizing the case management system. Collaboration with the ACL Ethics Committee remains a priority to ensure effective information exchange and alignment across related committees.