Introduction to the special section on ethical issues in clinical writing

This introduction provides an overview of the special section on ethical issues in clinical writing. A summary of the complex issues presented by the author of the lead article (Barbara Sieck), and the four authors who were invited to respond to the paper (Jeffrey Barnett, Mark Blechner, Constance Fischer, and Susan Woodhouse), is followed by a critique of instructions to authors about ethical standards included in Psychotherapy and other journals. It is recommended that journal editorial boards regularly review policies regarding ethical standards about published case material. The introduction concludes with Psychotherapy's newly revised instructions to authors submitting clinical manuscripts, which now require more specific information about how ethical guidelines were applied.