Email List Policies

The Division 20 email list has global distribution, is publically archived, and is indexed in every major international search service. Please do not post confidential or secure information such as telephone numbers, email or home addresses, or other information you do not wish the whole world to be able to access indefinitely.

The presence of a confidentiality notice barring further distribution in the body of the email/posting does not override this warning. Responsibility for public dissemination of privileged or confidential information lies solely with the message originator. If sensitive information does get on the email list and its' archives, Division 20 staff will try to remove information from the archives, and can share links to search engine "web removal tools" to try to get materials removed from cached pages.

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 email list is construed more as a dynamic online "newsletter" than as a discussion group.
3. Postings from for-profit entities are generally not accepted.
4. We follow APA policy in that Division 20 does not endorse or forward requests for research participation to any APA email list. Specifically, as indicated on the APA website, 

APA does not endorse or forward requests for research participation to any APA email list. While divisions may choose to post requests for research participants to their email lists, Division 20 has opted not to. If you need more information about a division email list, it is recommended that you contact the email list administrator of that division. Please note the following statements regarding the limits of division and all other email lists as sources for research participants and samples.

APA disclaimer regarding limits of division email lists as research samples.

• email lists (division and other APA discussion lists) make no claim to be exhaustive collections of members who may fit into one or more specific category (e.g., clinical psychologists, practitioners, educators, and so on). In fact some 45% of APA members do NOT belong to any one division. By using a Division as the "universe" for one's respondents, researchers are excluding a large number of eligible participants and hence may be introducing bias into their research. 
• Many members belong to more than one division, and if the research is being sent to more than one division, the researcher faces the challenge of defining response rate given duplication and of removing duplicate records. 
• APA members and others who are not APA members belong to divisions and topical email lists for a number of reasons, some of these may not reflect the fact that the member works in the area covered by the division or list in any more than a tangential sense - raising questions about the suitability of the sample to the research.

An exception may be made when a specific request is made to division investigators for the purpose of gathering unpublished studies for inclusion in meta-analyses.