Ethics
Business ethics
We believe that our organisational goals should never be achieved at the expense of high ethical standards. We are committed to carrying out our business lawfully, ethically and with integrity, no matter where in the world we operate.
As an organisation, we act ethically, sustainably, and in compliance with all global laws and regulations. We prohibit corrupt practices in any form including all forms of unlawful payments, modern slavery or human trafficking. Our commitment is reflected in our policies and statements that set out how acts of bribery and corruption, modern forms of slavery, and harassment are prevented from taking place in Cambridge University Press & Assessment’s business operations. These are drafted to keep to UK civil and criminal legislation as well as laws around the world, as more than 90 per cent of our business takes place outside the UK.
Code of Ethics
Our Code of Ethics, which is updated annually, provides guidance on the standards of behaviour to which all our employees must adhere. It covers honest and ethical practices, our commitment to sustainability and treating poeple with dignity and respect. These also reflect the common sense and good business practices that we all work to in any event. It also states our requirement for relevant third parties to hold themselves and their own relevant suppliers to the same high standards. Our employees are required to certify that they have read and understood the Code of Ethics on an annual basis and our Executive Board is responsible for our Code of Ethics and for ensuring it is kept to.
Expectations of our suppliers and partners
We demand the same high ethical standards and business conduct from our third parties as we do our own people. Our third party code of conduct details these standards and expectations and is provided to third parties such as agents, assessment specialists, contractors, distributors, joint venture partners and suppliers prior to us conducting business with them.
Alongside this, our global procurement policy is designed to work with our supply partners and their extended supply chains to minimise negative impacts from trading activities on the environment and local communities. To further the commitments made within our global procurement policy, we have signed up to the most widely recognised industry standards for labour conditions, environmental impact and chemical safety. We also recognise the importance of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Modern slavery and human trafficking
We strictly prohibit the use of modern slavery and human trafficking in our operations and supply chain. We are committed to upholding the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and complying with legislation tackling modern slavery and human trafficking. We expect that our third parties will hold themselves and their own suppliers to the same high standards. There is more detail on this in our latest statement on anti-slavery and human trafficking, which is updated annually.
Publishing ethics
The integrity of our content and editorial publishing process is paramount. We have two sets of publishing ethics guidelines that relate to the different types of content we publish: our Academic Research Publishing Ethics Guidelines and our Teaching and Learning Guidelines. These guidelines are aimed at many different groups, including authors, peer reviewers, editors within and outside Cambridge University Press & Assessment, societies and funders.
For all enquiries relating to publishing ethics, please contact us at publishingethics@cambridge.org. All queries will be handled sensitively and as confidentially as possible within the scope of any necessary subsequent investigation.
Sustainability
We believe that the health of an organisation depends on the health of the environment and the wellbeing of global citizens. As a socially responsible organisation, we measure our success based on the impact and reach of our activities and the scale of our contribution to helping learners realise their aspirations. We are responsible for operating in a socially and environmentally sustainable way.
Deforestation
As a publisher and assessment group, we recognise the impact that using paper can have on global deforestation and forest degradation.
From 31 December 2024, the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which aims to reduce global deforestation and carbon emissions, and increase human rights protection in forestry-related supply chains, will apply to our products which are sold in Europe.
We are working with our supply chain to ensure that Cambridge is compliant with the EUDR.
Dignity and respect
We recognise right for people to be treated with respect and dignity and we do not tolerate any form of harassment. This ideal extends to our employees, third parties we work with, our learners, our authors and the citizens of the communities in which we operate. Harassment, discrimination, bullying or any other type of intimidation at work in any form by any party is unacceptable and will never be permitted or condoned. Harassment because of the actual or perceived age, disability, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, trade union membership, gender (including gender reassignment) or sexual orientation of a person, or of someone with whom they associate (such as a colleague, relative or partner), constitutes unlawful discrimination in the UK for which both the harasser and Cambridge University Press & Assessment may be held liable.
Raising concerns
If you have any serious concerns you want to raise about any aspect of our work, the conduct of others or the running of our organisation, you can get in touch via either our Speak Up Portal, our publishing ethics email address, or by contacting our Executive Board. The portal is confidential and available to anyone who wishes to raise a concern at any time. It allows for reporting anonymously (if permitted in your country) and in your own language.
