Conflict of interest

Hi,

I consider to apply for becoming an editor for my native language section of an DMOZ section. However, one might construct a conflict of interest since I work in the same field as I want to apply for editorship. I personally think I can distinguish between my work and the work for DMOZ.

Does it make sense to apply at all, or is working in the area you want to edit already a no-go?

Plenty of dmoz editors edit in areas where they already work and edit in areas where their own sites are listed. Having this 'conflict of interest' is no bar to being accepted if you edit independently and fairly. This includes declaring all your affiliations with websites, be those ones you own, ones your cousin owns, ones representing a company you work for etc. Also, you mustn't treat your own site differently to anyone else's - many editors leave their own sites to be edited by other people for precisely that reason.

So go ahead and apply - be honest and complete in listing your affiliations on the application form and ideally suggest three new sites that are not ones you are affiliated with.

Good luck!

Lets have a look into our guidelines - they cover this issue quite well.
See http://dmoz.org/guidelines/conflict.html

It looks like some folks missed this thread covering the same topic -- the very TOPMOST thread in this forum.

Working in the same field as the area you edit can be an advantage. Presumably, you are an expert on the topic and will be a good judge of what is worth including and what is not. Also, you will be more likely than a non-expert to ensure that the topic is organized sensibly and thoroughly covered. As previously mentioned, there shouldn't be a problem as long as you treat all sites fairly.

Good Luck!