GUIDEBOOK FOR PUBLISHING PHILOSOPHY: JOURNALS

LAW AND PHILOSOPHY

Editorial statement: Law and Philosophy is a forum for work in law and philosophy which is of common interest to members of the two disciplines of Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy. It is open to all approaches in both fields and to work in any of the major legal traditions -- common law, civil law or the socialist tradition. The editors encourage papers which exhibit philosophical reflection on the law informed by a knowledge of the law, and legal analysis informed by philosophical methods and principles. Law and Philosophy seeks to foster and facilitate exchange between legal scholars and philosophers. This journal will publish papers ranging from short discussion pieces to sustained essays. Every attempt will be made to prohibit format requirements from inhibiting exchange. We will develop a book review section and a "review of the literature" section that will help readers stay abreast of relevant work in law and philosophy. The editorial board, which will guide the development of the journal, will be balanced between legal scholars and philosophers, with several members bridging the two areas. We hope the results of such interaction will be available to an even wider audience in both law and philosophy and to those concerned with public policy and legal practice. It is the editors' intention to publish essays on the following topics among others: theories of law, justice and law, morality and the law, legal validity, the nature of law and legal systems, punishment and responsibility, adjudication, legal reasoning, obligation and disobedience, professional ethics, epistemological issues involved in evidence and procedure, philosophical investigations of conceptual and foundational questions in law and legal systems, the impact of legal developments on philosophy, the relations of law and legal institutions to other social institutions, the relations of legal and political theory, the economic dimension of issues in jurisprudence and legal philosophy, the nature and development of legal concepts and exploration of problems in particular areas of the law.

Questionnaire summary: Seeks work on original, traditional and currently popular issues in philosophy and work by well-known philosophers. Analytic and nonanalytic philosophy equally preferred. Incoming manuscripts logged and acknowledged; 35 percent rejected on preliminary reading; 65 percent sent out to one or two external reviewers. One-fourth of accepted articles accepted without outside reviews. Major revisions requested 15 percent of the time. Most common reason for rejection is lack of originality. Journal would use qualified volunteers for book reviews and would print an unrequested review if timely and well done. Of invited reviews, 10 percent rejected, 10 percent sent back for revision. In the past year, journal published 14 regular articles, with an average length of 25 pages, two replies, about 15 pages each and four book reviews, about six pages long each.

Reviewer's comments: This relatively new journal has already become a valuable resource, offering articles by both established and younger scholars on topics of interest to both the philosophical and the legal communities. Published in the Netherlands, the journal draws contributors primarily from the United States and Britain. Articles range in length from 3,000 to 6,000 words, and book reviews, averaging about 2,000 words in length, are included in most issues. The style of articles published ranges from broadly based philosophical inquiry to highly technical legal analysis; among the philosophical contributions, analytic approaches have predominated in recent issues. Articles in a recent volume dealt with topics in political philosophy, philosophy of law, analysis of legal concepts and jurisprudence, with occasional discussions of topics relating law to sociology and to Marxist theory. A special issue was devoted to the proceedings of a conference on legal philosophy, with contributions (in English) by writers from Western and Eastern Europe and the United States. Articles include an average number of references (divided between scholarly references and legal citations). The journal is very handsomely printed and bound, holding to standards of quality that relatively few journals still maintain; and the subscription price, though higher than many American journals, is modest in comparison with that of some other journals published in the Netherlands. (DAH)

MAN AND MEDICINE Has ceased publication.

MAN AND WORLD: An International Philosophical Review Frequency: 4/year. Focus: Continental philosophy. Editorial address: Purdue University, Recitation Building, West Lafayette, IN 47907 or 246 Sparks Building, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. Send two doublespaced copies, in MLA style, with wide margins and footnotes separate. Processing time: 80 days. Blind reviewing. (And referees' comments?) Acceptance rate: 30%. Average wait till publication: 6 months. Accepted authors should wait: no. Special topic issues: once a year, with 25% of articles invited, topics announced in advance. Ratio of contributed to invited pieces: 3/1. Book reviews: yes.

Editorial statement: The central purpose of Man and World is to foster a living dialogue within the international community on philosophical issues of mutual interest. It seeks to elicit, within this international space of dialogue, discussions of fundamental philosophical problems and original approaches toward a solution of them. Encompassing in its focus, the editors invite essays both on expressly theoretical topics and topics that deal with the practical problems surrounding the wider socio-political life of man. The journal encourages explorations in the domains of art, morality, science and religion as they relate to specific philosophical concerns. Although not an advocate of any one trend or school in philosophy, it comports a commitment to keep abreast of developments within phenomenology and contemporary Continental philosophy and is interested in investigations that probe possible points of intersection between the Continental and the Anglo-American traditions. Although routinely the published articles are in English, from time to time manuscripts written in German and French are accepted. Man and World contains review articles of recent, original works in philosophy. It provides considerable space for such reviews, allowing the critic to develop his comments and assessments at some length. It features a unique chronicle section, in which the current events in the international philosophical world are reported.

Questionnaire summary: mss/bkreviews/stats

Reviewer's comments: In 1985, the journal published 23 articles in a space of 470 pages. Its semiannual chronicles are descriptions of special conferences and other developments in the areas of its interests. It publishes few but lengthy book reviews. It has published English translations of articles by leading twentieth-century Continental thinkers (e.g., Heidegger, Cassirer, Gadamer). Its articles are on narrowly drawn topics and are expository rather than analytical. Their technical level varies considerably. The content extends to areas outside of philosophy, especially to the social sciences, and to cultural issues of contemporary significance. (EK)

METAPHILOSOPHY

Editorial statement: Metaphilosophy publishes articles and reviews books stressing considerations about philosophy or some particular school, method or field of philosophy. The intended scope is very broad: no method, field nor school need be excluded. Some areas of interest might be: the foundation, scope, function and direction of philosophy; justification of philosophical methods and arguments; the interrelations among schools or fields of philosophy (for example, the relation of logic to problems in ethics or epistemology), aspects of philosophical systems; presuppositions of philosophical schools; the relation of philosophy to other disciplines (for example, cybernetics, linguistics or literature); sociology of philosophy; the relevance of philosophy to social and political action.

Questionnaire summary: Journal seeks work on original, traditional and neglected issues, critiques of articles in Metaphilosophy and articles by well- known philosophers. No preference for analytic or non-analytic philosophy; wants high-quality metaphilosophical articles in any field, articles on applied philosophy, interdisciplinary articles and articles on teaching philosophy. To pass initial screening, articles must be of interest to a wide philosophical audience, sound in reasoning and substantial in content. Editor-in-chief reads all incoming manuscripts and rejects 85 percent, sending the rest to one referee, whose advice is normally accepted. Manuscripts most commonly rejected for being outside the scope of the journal, for lack of originality or lack of clarity, and occasionally for being too long. Major revisions asked of five to 10 percent of accepted manuscripts. Only three times in 17 years has Metaphilosophy printed an unassigned book review and prefers not to receive them or to assign reviews to volunteers. Of invited reviews, five percent rejected, 10 percent sent back for revision. In the past year, journal printed 30 regular articles, averaging 14 pages long, no replies, four book reviews, averaging eight pages each and two "notes," around four pages each.

Reviewer's comments: Metaphilosophy publishes articles, reviews and brief notes about the philosophy of (mostly) applied philosophy. It strongly emphasizes current and pragmatic issues within philosophy but it does not exclude the more traditional areas (for example, metaphysics, Marxism). While it assumes its readers are conversant with recent philosophical literature, it seeks a wide philosophical audience. Occasionally technical language is used and there is frequent reference to other recent articles. Documentation varies as to need. Occasionally there is one theme for the entire journal. During this past year, one issue was devoted entirely to ethics and the computer. Medical, environmental and business ethics were among the topics of another issue. Two out of three issues included a section on "The Philosopher as Teacher." Articles ranged in length from four to 18 pages, usually nine or 10. In the past year, the print type, quality of paper and the cover were not as attractive as they were the previous year. (TRF)

MIND Frequency: 4/year. Circulation: 3,500. Focus: General. Editorial address: Simon Blackburn, Pembroke College, Oxford, OX1 1DW. See detailed "Notes to Contributors" in Mind. Processing time: 2 weeks. Generally no blind reviewing. Referees' comments comments sent to author if helpful. Acceptance rate: 10%. Average wait till publication: 6 months. Accepted authors should wait: depends on quality of article. Special topic issues: none. Ratio of contributed to invited pieces: 9/1. Book reviews: yes.

Questionnaire summary: Analytic philosophy only; journal particularly seeks more or better articles on language, mind, metaphysics and epistemology. No replies to articles not published in Mind. Somewhat of a preference for work by "name" philosophers. Editor rejects 90 percent of manuscripts on preliminary reading, sends 10 percent to one outside reviewer. Major revisions requested about half the time. Journal might consider qualified volunteers for book review assignments, but would rarely print an unrequested review. No invited reviews rejected, 15 percent sent back for revision.

Reviewer's comments: Based on a survey of the January 1985-April 1986 issues, the average issue of Mind had: five main essay 14 pages long (range: five to 24 pages); six discussions five pages long (range: one to 13 pages); one critical notice 17 pages long in small type (range 10 to 25 pages); and eight book reviews, two and a half pages each, also in small type (range: one to nine pages -- the longest for a book by the editor of Mind. Footnotes are generally brief, and most of the contributions lack separate bibliographies. Citations to works outside of philosophy are few. The intended audience for contributions is Anglo-American analytic philosophers who are familiar with other literature on the topic. Several of the essays have modest technical content (e.g., from logic, probability theory or decision theory). Thirty percent of the essays, discussions or critical notices were in epistemology or philosophy of mind; 20 percent in each of metaphysics and philosophy of language; twenty percent in moral philosophy; and ten percent in other areas, including philosophy of science and history of philosophy. In addition, two "State of the Art" essays appeared: Jerry Fodor, "Fodor's Guide to Mental Representation" and Arthur Fine, "Unnatural Attitudes: Realist and Instrumentalist Attachments to Science." These were the first two of a series which Mind will "commission annually to give writers an opportunity to describe what they see as the crucial contemporary issues in a particular area od study." Half the authors listed institutional affiliations in the USA, another 40 percent in the UK and most of the remaining 10 percent in Commonwealth countries, especially Canada and Australia). (DFA)

MIND AND LANGUAGE

Editorial statement: Many linguists, philosophers, psychologists and workers in artificial intelligence are currently engaged in the study of a single, though complex, subject centered around phenomena of mind and language. Work in any of these disciplines has no real hope of illuminating the subject unless it takes on board the contributions of other disciplines. What is needed here is not so much a cross-fertilization as a fusing of effort. Mind and Language will have this as its main goal. To achieve this goal, the Journal will contain original and important material which will be written so as to be accessible to all those engaged in research on the phenomena of mind and language. In addition to these articles, Mind and Language will publish: survey articles which will enable researchers in one discipline to gain an understanding of new developments in other; reviews of important books in this subject area, normally commissioned, but unsolicited reviews will also be considered; forums which will consist of some background material followed by a question, to which a number of different writers will reply; and a noticeboard to keep readers informed of events of interest in all the fields.

Questionnaire summary: Incoming articles booked in, sent to two or three referees, discussed by editors and either accepted or rejected. To pass initial screening, articles must be in proper subject area, accessible to an interdisciplinary audience and original. As for book reviews, editor notes, "Most books are multiply reviewed on most occasions, so one-off reviews would be unlikely to be accepted, though not impossible." Reviewer's comments: This is a new journal, and, to the best of my knowledge, the first issue has not yet been received by libraries in the USA. The Editorial Advisory Board, with 36 members, includes at least 15 well-known American and British philosophers of psychology, mind and language. The Board also includes computer scientists, linguists and neuropsychologists whose names will be familiar to readers of the Behavioral and Brain Sciences and other periodicals in "cognitive science." (DFA)

MODERN THEOLOGY

Questionnaire summary: Interdisciplinary focus and preference for a post- analytical mode of philosophy. Also prefers work on original, traditional and neglected issues, history of philosophy and replies to articles in Modern Theology. Editor screens incoming manuscripts for quality of the typescript and English and for subject matter, rejecting 60 percent. The rest are sent out to one, sometimes two, external reviewers, whose decisions almost invariably accepted. Referees not asked to return manuscripts if they cannot read them within a certain time. Major revisions requested 10 percent of the time; half of accepted articles require some revision. Most common reasons for rejection are that articles are not significant enough or argument is badly presented. Editor advises authors of rejected manuscripts to try again elsewhere; from time to time Modern Theology accepts good articles that other journals have turned down. Journal might print uninvited book reviews if they met its standards, but will not assign reviews to volunteers. Of all invited reviews, five percent rejected, 10 percent sent back for revision. In the past year, journal published 18 regular articles, averaging 13 pages each, one reply of 15 pages and 15 book reviews, around 1-1/2 pages each.

Reviewer's comments: (initials)

THE MONIST

Editorial statement: Scholars in philosophy or related disciplines who wish to submit papers for any special issues of The Monist should communicate well in advance with the Editor and ask for special instructions defining the scope of the general topics in which they are interested. Papers may be from 4,000 to 8,000 words in length -- or about 10 to 20 double-spaced typewritten pages, including notes. Questionnaire summary: Upcoming special topics are as follows: Philosophical Problems of Space Exploration; Aesthetics and the Histories of the Arts; Justification; Descartes and his Contemporaries; Logic as a Field of Knowledge. See journal for deadlines and publication dates, and for detailed style and format requirements (latter also sent on request). Guest editor usually sole reader of manuscripts. No book reviews, but journal lists bibliographical data on a broad range of philosophical books received from publishers and solicits book abstracts (200-300 words) from the authors.

Reviewer's comments: Each quarterly issue of The Monist contains six to nine papers devoted to a preannounced topic. (Consult the back cover for the next three years' topics and the last issue of the year for descriptions.) Since topics are usually in fields of much contemporary philosophical interest, the papers typically stake out a position in relation to current literature. A clear statement of the view to be discussed, defended or attacked prefaces 10 to 20 pages (occasionally more) developing the case. Papers, in style and substance, resemble those presented at meetings of the American Philosophical Association. (RP)

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