Transparency and reciprocity: Respecting fannish spaces in scholarly research

Accountability to participants is a topic of some debate within fan studies. Whilst working with people requires informed consent, it may be legally defensible to freely quote any fan work found online. Reflecting on my research experience, this article argues for a responsibility to ask permission from fan creators before sharing their work in academic and other contexts. An ethics of transparency is beneficial not only to fans, I argue, but to the development of fan studies and its continued dialogue with fandoms.