Report 2020
Overall aims:
- Promote high-quality work at the interface between philosophy and the empirical mind sciences
- Publish high-quality contributions free of charge for authors and readers
Editorial team:
- Editors-in-chief (3 [1 female])
- Editorial board (26 [8 female])
- Guest editors (responsible for Special Issues) (2 [0 female])
Procedure:
Submission of stand-alone articles and articles for SIs
- Initial submission: all submissions (including invited submissions) are read by at least 2 editors (for stand-alone articles, these are editors-in-chief; for SIs, this includes the guest editors); 2 strong endorsements are required to send an article to review.
- Review: double blind, unless authors or reviewers wish to disclose their identity; we solicit at least 2 reviewers per submission (authors may suggest or exclude reviewers); 1 rejection recommendation usually leads to rejection; 2 strong endorsements are required for publication; in general, max. 2 rounds of review are allowed.
- Editorial comments: provided for all accepted articles in addition to reviewer comments.
- Rejection & formatting: rejection is possible at any stage and acceptance is conditional upon correct formatting and following reviewer and editorial recommendations. In particular, we require authors to format their manuscripts, figures and references exactly according to our guidelines. This process is time-consuming and more onerous than for other journals; however, the support of our authors in this process is needed to keep the journal free-of-cost.
Published articles & Special Issues:
In our first year, we published two Special Issues and one stand-alone article. Authors include international leaders in their fields as well as early career researchers; we were particularly happy to see PhD students among the authors of accepted manuscripts and guest editors.
We also received numerous submissions for the Special Issues and stand-alone articles, showing that our journal is attracting interest.
Special Issues:
1. Radical disruptions of self-consciousness, edited by Raphael Milliere & Thomas Metzinger
- 9 articles plus editorial introduction (10 authors [0 female])
- 18 submissions (23 authors [6 female], 3 desk rejections [1 with female (co-)authorship], 6 rejected in review [4 with female (co-)authorship])
2. The neural correlates of consciousness
- 18 submissions (29 authors [4 female], 2 desk rejections [1 with female (co-)authorship], 2 rejected in review [1 with female (co-)authorship])
2a. Part 1, 2020, edited by Sascha Benjamin Fink
- 7 articles plus editorial introduction (14 authors [0 female])
2b. Part 2, expected 2021, edited by Sascha Benjamin Fink & Ying-Tung Lin
- 1 article accepted, 7 under review
Stand-alone articles:
- 1 article (2 authors [1 female])
- 24 submissions (30 authors [4 female], 14 desk rejections [1 with female (co-)authorship], 9 rejected in review [2 with female (co-)authorship])
For the Special Issues, 30% of invited authors were female. However, only 22% of submissions to Special Issue II were by female (co-)authors, and only 17% of stand-alone submissions were by female (co-)authors.
Duration:
Special Issues: on average 23 days to first decision, 149 days to final decision.
Stand-alone: on average 23 days to first decision, 68 days to final decision.
While COVID-19 led to significant delays and severely impacted progress on all sides (authors, reviewers, and editors), we nonetheless managed to publish part 1 of our second Special Issue on NCCs in 2020; part 2 will be published in 2021. We decided to split the issue into two parts to ensure timely publication for those authors who had submitted earlier while also enabling those who required more time to still be part of the Special Issue. In particular, we hoped that this would enable female authors who were invited but were unable to meet the original deadline to contribute.
Planned Special Issues:
“Spontaneous thought in sleep and wakefulness” (TBA); editors: Manuela Kirberg & Jennifer Windt.
Submission deadline is anticipated for late 2021 / early 2022; CfP will follow soon.
Aims and strategies for 2021:
Aims
- Increase impact and visibility
- Increase submission of stand-alone articles
- Increase publication of special issues handled by guest editors
- Decrease the time to first decisions and publication
- Increase participation of female scholars on all levels
- Increase participation of early career researchers
Strategies:
- Introduce section editors who will take on responsibility for stand-alone articles and help promote the journal to readers and potential contributors, which will hopefully increase the number of submissions, visibility, and reach of the journal
- Actively solicit special issues and stand-alone articles
- Actively solicit book symposia
- Actively solicit participation of female and early career researchers as (co-)authors, reviewers, authors and commentators for book symposia, section editors, and guest editors of special issues (where possible, at least 30% of female scholars at all levels).
We welcome suggestions for suitable candidates and expressions of interest.