Complaints

We look at complaints and queries against the Editors’ Code of Practice, which was developed by the industry and used by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). You’ll find it at https://www.ipso.co.uk/editors-code-of-practice/

We look at complaints that fall into any of the 16 areas of the Editors’ Code of Practice, namely:

1. Accuracy
2. Opportunity to reply
3. *Privacy
4. *Harassment
5. Intrusion into grief or shock
6. *Children
7. *Children in sex cases
8. *Hospitals
9. *Reporting of crime
10. *Clandestine devices and subterfuge
11. Victims of sexual assault
12. Discrimination
13. Financial journalism
14. Confidential sources
15. Witness payments in criminal trials
16. *Payment to criminals

Where there are asterisks above, the Editorial Code recognises that complaints should be weighed against a judgment as to whether the story is in the public interest.

What we won’t look at as part of the complaint process

Responding to complaints takes time, effort and resources, so we will not consider complaints that are:

• from anyone not personally and directly affected by the matter which forms the subject of the complaint;
• trivial, hypothetical or otherwise vexatious or insignificant;
• without justification (such as an attempt to argue a point of view or to lobby);
• about advertising (unless in exceptional circumstances);
• about reader offers; or
• legal in their nature.

How to complain

Before contacting us with a complaint, please read the Editors’ Code of Practice first to understand whether we can look into your complaint.

You can then email us at hello@theoxfordmagazine.com outlining the following points:

• The article you’re complaining about.
• The date on which it appeared (if dated).
• The nature of your complaint, in no more than 500 words.
• Which part of the Editors’ Code of Practice the article breaches.

What happens next?

Once we’ve received your complaint, and ONLY if your complaint is being taken up, you should receive an email within 2 to 3 working days acknowledging that your complaint is being taken up.

We aim to give a substantive response to your complaint within 28 days of receiving all the necessary information to enable an investigation. However, this may take longer in more complex cases where more information is required.

If we receive multiple complaints about the same issue, we may not respond to all.

If we deem there to have been a breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice, we will suggest an appropriate remedy. Corrections and clarifications will appear on the relevant web page.

We will always aim to handle your complaint fairly, courteously and with respect. We expect the same from complainants and reserve the right to decline to consider complaints that are abusive or gratuitously offensive.

If at any stage of your complaint we do not hear back from you within 28 days, we will consider your complaint satisfied and closed.

Corrections and clarifications

If you’ve spotted a potential error in our editorial content or would like to suggest a clarification, please email hello@theoxfordmagazine.com so that we can look into it.

Significant corrections to editorial content — including any associated apologies, statements, or responses — will be published on this page as well as on the relevant web page. Routine corrections to news stories, or updates to non-editorial content such as directory entries and event listings, will not be included.