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WIAA Contributor agreement

World Information Architecture Association (WIAA)

Version: 1.1 | Effective date: 26 March 2026

WIAA is grateful for every content contribution to our community knowledge base. 

This agreement covers how WIAA will publish and manage your contributed content, and how your rights are protected. Questions before signing? Reach out at editorial@information-architecture.world. 

By submitting content to WIAA, you agree to the terms below.

What you're agreeing to

You keep your copyright. WIAA gets a license to publish and share your work, but you own it.
Small edits may happen without notice, but anything that changes the meaning of your work won't go live without your approval.
Your work should be your own. If you use someone else's material, make sure you have the right to use it and cite your sources.
Contributions are unpaid. WIAA is a volunteer-run organization.
You can ask us to remove your piece at any time. We'll make reasonable efforts within 30 days, though archived copies aren't always within our control.
Disclose any conflicts of interest. Vendor relationships don't disqualify you, but we need to know.
Light AI use is fine, for grammar checking, outlining, and light editing. Using AI to generate the bulk of your content is not. If you used AI significantly, disclose it at submission.
Your content may appear in WIAA's internal search and AI features. If you'd prefer to opt out, indicate that in the agreement.
We will not use your content to train third-party commercial AI systems without your separate written consent.
Continue reading for the full details. If anything is unclear, let us know at editorial@information-architecture.world.

1. Contributor information

Name

Preferred display name

How do you want your name to be displayed publicly on the website? You can include non-English along with English. We'll do our best to represent your name as you prefer.

Email address

Affiliation / organization

(if applicable)

2. Description of content being contributed

Title or working title

Publication

Content type

Approximate word count

3. Copyright and licensing

You keep the copyright to anything you contribute. By agreeing to these terms, you give WIAA permission to publish, share, and promote your work across our platforms — including our website, newsletter, social media, and any other channels we operate.

This permission stays in place unless you ask us to remove your work (see Section 8). If you do, we'll make reasonable efforts to stop actively distributing it. However, we can't always remove content from archived formats like past newsletter issues where that's technically not possible.

We won't sell or license your work to third parties without your written permission.

You're free to republish your work elsewhere — on your own blog, in another publication, wherever — as long as you credit WIAA as a previous publisher and link back to the original WIAA publication where possible.

4. Originality and rights

By submitting your content contribution, you are confirming that:

- the work is your own original creation;

- the work does not infringe the copyright, trademark, privacy, or other rights of any third party;

- any previously published content included in or forming the basis of the content contribution - has been disclosed to WIAA at the time of submission; and

- you have the authority to enter into this agreement.

If the work includes third-party material (such as quotations, images, or data), you confirm that appropriate permissions have been obtained or that the use falls within fair use or equivalent provisions.

5. Editorial rights

WIAA may edit your work for clarity, length, style, and consistency with our editorial standards. Minor edits like grammar fixes, formatting, and light copyediting may happen without notice. Any edits that materially change the meaning, argument, or conclusions of your work will be shared with you for review before we publish.

We will not publish anything under your name without your final approval.

Our editorial team may use AI tools for tasks like grammar checking, formatting, and light copyediting. AI tools will not be used to substantively rewrite your work or change its meaning without your knowledge. As with human edits, any material changes made with AI assistance will be shared with you for review before publication.

6. No compensation

Contributions to WIAA are unpaid. As a volunteer-run organization, we're not able to offer financial compensation or honoraria.

We genuinely value what contributors bring to the IA community. Every piece published helps build a shared resource that practitioners around the world can learn from.

7. Removing or unpublishing content

Your request to remove content

You can ask us to remove your work from WIAA's active platforms at any time by emailing editorial@information-architecture.world. We'll make reasonable efforts to remove it from our website and stop actively promoting it within 30 days of your request.

In some cases, full removal isn't technically possible — for example, past newsletter issues, cached web pages, or content already shared on social media. We'll be upfront with you about what we can and can't remove.

When WIAA removes content

We may remove published content if it contains inaccuracies, conflicts with our editorial standards, or if circumstances have changed significantly since publication. Where possible, we'll notify you before removing your work.

8. Conflicts of interest

If you have any affiliations, relationships, or interests that could influence your content, please disclose them when you submit. We don't accept content whose primary purpose is to promote a commercial product or service.

That said, we know many practitioners work with or consult for vendors and tool providers. Disclosure doesn't automatically disqualify your submission. A case study that references your employer's product, for example, may still be a good fit if it offers genuine insight and the affiliation is clearly stated. We'll evaluate these situations case by case, and we'll always talk with you before making any decision.

9. Representation and independence

Your contributed content reflects your own views, not WIAA's official positions, unless we've explicitly agreed otherwise. We may include a standard disclaimer to this effect alongside your published work.

10. AI-assisted content

Your contribution should be substantially your own work. The ideas, argument, and voice should be yours — a reader should be encountering your perspective, not a generated one.

Light use of AI tools is fine for grammar checking, outlining, or light editing. Using AI to generate the main substance of your piece is not.

If you used AI tools in any significant way during drafting or editing, please disclose that below.

Did you use AI tools in drafting or editing this content?

Did you use AI tools in drafting or editing this content?
A
B

11. Use of contributed content in WIAA’s AI systems

WIAA is developing a digital ecosystem that may include AI-powered tools, such as a community knowledge assistant drawing on content published on our platforms. Content you publish with us may also be discoverable through WIAA's internal search and Ask AI feature, as well as through external search engines and web crawlers like Google and ChatGPT.

We will not use your content to train or power third-party commercial AI systems without your separate written consent.

If our use of AI changes significantly — for example, if we move from an internally operated tool to a third-party-powered one — contributors who have opted in will be notified and given the opportunity to withdraw their consent.

Your preferences below apply at the time of submission. WIAA editors may adjust these settings after publication if you request a change at editorial@information-architecture.world.

11a. Content search and Ask AI indexing

WIAA's website includes an internal content search engine and an Ask AI feature. By default, published content is indexed and discoverable through both of these tools.

If you would prefer your content not to appear in WIAA's internal search results or Ask AI responses, you may opt out below.

Index my content in WIAA's content search engine and Ask AI feature

Index my content in WIAA's content search engine and Ask AI feature
A
B
A selection is required. If no preference is indicated, your content will be indexed by default.

11b. Web crawler and search engine indexing

By default, published content may be indexed by external search engines and web crawlers (such as Google and ChatGPT) and may appear in search results. This setting can also be managed globally in WIAA's site settings.

If you would prefer your content not to be indexed by external search engines and web crawlers, you may opt out below. Please note that WIAA cannot guarantee the removal of content already indexed by third-party search engines before this preference is applied.

Allow external search engines and web crawlers to index my content

Allow external search engines and web crawlers to index my content
A
B
A selection is required. If no preference is indicated, your content will be indexed by default.

12. Governing law

This agreement is governed by the laws of [jurisdiction].

13. Dispute resolution

If you have concerns about your contribution or this agreement, we hope we can work it out through a direct conversation. If a dispute comes up, please reach out first at editorial@information-architecture.world and we'll try to resolve it informally.
If that doesn't work, both parties agree to seek mediation before taking any formal legal action.

14. Agreement

By signing below, you have confirmed you have read, understood, and agreed to the terms of this agreement.

Contributor name

Signature

Signature

Today's date

Questions about this agreement? Contact us at editorial@information-architecture.world.