Thom Brooks alerts us to a new moral and political philosophy journal, Public Reason. The journal looks to be noteworthy for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it is an open-access e-journal, following the recent (and I think wholly positive) trend set by journals like Philosophers' Imprint and the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy. Moreover, back when JESP debuted, there was some excitement over the idea that philosophy had its first journal (or one of its first journals?) that was willing to consider papers that are simultaneously under submission elsewhere. As was noted at the time, this policy loses some sizzle if it is the only journal willing to do this. Apparently now that is no longer the case, though: Public Reason will also consider simultaneous submissions, so there are at least two journals to which those working in moral/political/social philosophy can simultaneously submit.
For philosophers concerned with various timetables that increase pressure to publish, this will no doubt be welcome news. It will be interesting to see how interested parties, particularly referees, respond to this development. (Some have been bothered by the idea of simultaneous submissions of book proposals.) As a referee, I don't think I'd be too bothered to learn that I had been working up a report for a paper that was withdrawn from the journal I was working for because it had been accepted elsewhere. But I also think it would be nice if authors took advantage of this opportunity--and thus of referees--only when they are under some sort of career deadline or other unique pressure to publish.
In related news, and again like JESP, Public Reason will be publishing discussion notes, in addition to regular articles and book reviews.
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