I am continuing a series of interviews with journal editors (see the previous entry with Anna Marmodoro) with Thornton Lockwood, editor of Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought. Thornton is Professor of Philosophy at Quinnipiac University and the Program Director of the First-Year Seminar. He received a BA in history from Hamilton College, a MA in the Liberal Arts from St. John’s College (Annapolis), and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Boston University. His scholarly research focuses on ancient Greek and Roman ethical and political thought and its subsequent reception. He has co-edited two volumes, Aristote Politique VII: La constitution « selon nos vœux » (Polis, 2019) and Aristotle’s…
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Opportunity to Sign Open Letter by Junior Philosophers to OUP and OSAP’s Editorial Board
I have recently documented serious issues with response times and editorial practices at Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy. In light of that, I sent my own personal open letter to OSAP’s editorial board and Peter Momtchiloff, the editor at Oxford University Press. I then published Peter Momtchiloff’s response. Now a group of junior ancient philosophers have come together to write their own letter asking for specific changes in editorial practices at OSAP that they believe would make ancient philosophy a more welcoming space for philosophers from marginalized groups. I was not involved in drafting this letter, though I agree with the concerns they articulate and have requested that my name…
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OUP Response to Open Letter about OSAP Editorial Practices
Peter Momtchiloff, the editor at Oxford University Press responsible for managing the production of Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, has written back in response to my open letter to OUP and the editorial board saying: “We are of course aware of the issue and have been working on trying to deal with it. This will take some time still but you may be sure that it is a priority for us.” He was unable to share a determinate timeline, but says that “we shall make announcements about OSAP when we can.” I look forward to seeing what steps OUP and the editorial board take. I will share an update when…
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Open Letter to OSAP Editorial Board
The following is an open letter I sent to the editorial board of Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy in light of the responses I received to my post on response time problems at OSAP. I will post any reply or comment the board or the incoming editor would like to make in response. You may download a copy of the letter or read the entirety of it below. Dear Editorial Board of Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy (OSAP), I am writing to you to share the information I have received about serious problems with current editorial practices in the hope that this will lead to reforms in the management of this…
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UPDATED: Response Time Problems at Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy
UPDATE: Victor Caston has written to let me know that he did not seek a renewal of his term and will soon complete his term as editor. I will still pass on the experiences I receive to the editorial board, as I believe it might be helpful in determining best practices for OSAP going forward. I will also share any news I have about the transition when I have it. ORIGINAL POST: Recently several people have reached out to me noting continued experiences of serious delays in editorial responses at Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy. Many junior scholars report waiting 8-15 months for an initial verdict on their submission. See…
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Ancient Philosophy Journal Experiences and Time Frames, June 2020 Update
Last September, I highlighted what recent public surveys submitted to the APA Journal Surveys project indicated about the editorial experience at journals that specialize in ancient philosophy and the history of philosophy. I’m writing to provide another update based on recent surveys (though things have not changed too much). The journals that get the best ratings for editorial experience are also the quickest. The British Journal for the History of Philosophy and the Journal of the History of Philosophy continue to lead the way in editor experience scores. The APA journal surveys site asks respondents to rate the overall editorial experience from 1-5 and these two are the only ones with…
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Publons and Recognizing Peer Review
Peer review is the foundation of our whole system of recognizing and sharing scholarship. At the same time, it consists of unpaid labor that is rarely rewarded or recognized, though some efforts are now being made. Its burden also falls disproportionately on the conscientious who are more likely to respond to requests and to do a decent job as reviewers. Those who ignore invitations to review or do such a poor job that they will not be asked again can free ride on the system. We need better ways to incentivize scholars to do their fair share of peer review. Publons, a website that tracks peer reviews and works with…
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Update to Ancient Philosophy Journal Listings
I have updated my ancient philosophy journal listings to more prominently include several generalist journals on the first sheet: Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Ergo, Philosophers’ Imprint, and Philosophical Quarterly. These journals are all well-regarded and have quick turnaround times, with all of them averaging less than 2.5 months to decision. They have also all fairly consistently published articles on Greek and Roman philosophy and are committed to doing so. Both Ergo and Philosophers’ Imprint are open access, without requiring the author to pay any fees (though Philosophers’ Imprint does have a $20 USD submission fee). Ergo is also triple anonymous, so that neither editors nor referees know the identity of…
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Journal Experiences and Time Frames, September 2019 Update
Last December, I highlighted what recent public surveys submitted to the APA Journal Surveys project indicate about the editorial experience at journals that specialize in ancient philosophy and the history of philosophy. I excluded generalist journals that also publish some articles in ancient philosophy, both because there are a large number of these and because the survey aggregates may diverge from the experience of those submitting ancient philosophy papers (there’s no way to filter experiences based on topic). I’m now writing to update those results. Again, we should start with some caveats: 1) many ancient philosophy journals from my journals listing are not included because they have no submitted surveys 2)…
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Online texts and resources for ancient philosophy scholars
Many of us don’t own or have access to print copies of the full range of classical texts, so I thought it would be worth highlighting some online resources for the ancient philosophy scholar. Most readers are probably already aware of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae collection of Greek texts and the Perseus collection of Greek and Roman materials. You should also take note of Répertoire des sources philosophiques antiques, a source I recently discovered. This site has bibliographic information and links for critical editions, commentaries, and translations into modern languages, covering over 700 ancient authors and 1200 ancient texts. Readers should also note that the Loeb Classical Library, including the…
