One of the most useful resources on philosophy journals is the Blog of the APA’s Journal Surveys Project. It shows the average wait time, the quality of editor interactions, acceptance rates, and more for numerous journals. The aim is to help philosophers navigate the journal publishing world; understanding how specific journals work, including their responsiveness and helpfulness, aids both authors and editors to find publishers and improves extant publications.
One fundamental issue with the Journal Surveys is that the results are based on author-reported information. This makes it hard to verify the accuracy of the results and restricts the kind of information that can be collected. While they can still provide useful insights into the inner workings of journals (see the Blog’s recently published report on the Journal Surveys), the results are limited in several ways.
To address this issue, the Philosophy Journal Insight Project (PJIP) is working with some of the world’s largest philosophical organisations (inc. the American Philosophical Association, British Philosophical Association, Australasian Association of Philosophy; full list here) and the Blog of the APA on a survey to collect statistics directly from journals. The ‘PJIP Operations Survey’ will gather information on, among other things, the number of submissions, acceptance rates, length of review, and percent of manuscripts returned to authors with comments. Once complete the results will be disseminated in an openly accessible manner and incorporated into the PJIP’s existing resources: Directory and Ranking Index.
Each summer we will collect information about submissions made in the previous calendar year. The 2024 survey is open for journals to complete until August 15, 2024 (although flexibility is possible for journals with particularly lengthy review procedures) and is accessible here. I hope that many journals will participate in the survey and that as a result, philosophers gain valuable insights into the journals that play such a prominent role in the profession. The more widespread the survey becomes the more journals are likely to take part; promoting the survey will do much to help with its success. As such, the project owes thanks to the Blog of the APA for this post and to any individuals who subsequently share it.
Sam Andrews
Sam Andrews is a recent PhD graduate from the University of Birmingham who specializes in Metaphysics, Epistemology, and the Philosophy of Science. He is the director of the Philosophy Journal Insight Project, a project that aims to improve the transparency of journal practices and operations.
