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Information and Guidelines

This page provides a summary of important information. For more in-depth information and guidelines, make sure you follow the relevant links:

Where to send your manuscript

Submit manuscripts, queries and general questions directly to the Editor, Alfredo Mac Laughlin, at editor.jsfphil@gmail.com. For manuscripts, check the Submission Preparation Checklist, below.

We like answering to queries! (Just know that our focus is specifically on academic articles; that is, we do not publish fiction, even if it is very rich in philosophical content.) Our aim is to respond to queries within the week, and to determine whether a manuscript would be a good fit for the Journal within two weeks. If we have not responded within that timeframe, please feel free to write to us asking for an update or a reminder.

When sending a manuscript, please include in the body of the e-mail your name and academic affiliation (if any), and an abstract. Please make sure that this information does not appear in the manuscript itself (see “Ensuring a Blind Review“). If the article is accepted for publication, we will ask for a short bio to be included in the article page.

Submission Preparation Checklist 

Before submitting your manuscript, please check that it complies with the following items:

  • The submission has not been previously published, and is not being currently considered for publication in another journal.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, follow the instructions for Ensuring a Blind Review, that is, remove all personal identifiable information from the manuscript.
  • Include an abstract, in the file or in a separate document. This will be use in the call for reviewers.
  • The submission file must be in a format directly readable in Microsoft Word (either .doc, .docx, or RTF). If working on Google Docs or Apple’s .pages, export or convert to one of the above before submitting. See “Formatting Your Manuscript,” below, for more detailed information.
    Adobe PDF is not an acceptable format. We will give it a preliminary read, but it does not allow for complex feedback or in-text comments, and we like to provide those. If the article is accepted for review you will need to provide a Word-compatible file.
  • The text should use an 11- or 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end. (Unless, of course, they form part of an appendix).
  • In-text references should be parenthetical, rather than in footnotes. For their format, we use the Chicago Manual of Style. (See the Journal’s Style Sheet).
  • Where available, provide URLs for the references.
  • The text must adhere sufficiently to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Style Sheet. (Note: don’t lose sleep over this. It is enough that the article is prepared and polished up to academic standards. There will be time to adjust the style and formatting later.)
  • Proofread, double-proofread, triple-proofread! Nothing hurts more a manuscript during review that the impression that the author did a half-hearted job.

Copyright Notice

Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. By submitting to this journal, you acknowledge that the work you submit has not been published before.

Articles and any other work submitted to this journal are published under an Attribution / Non-Commercial Creative Commons license; that is, by virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use – with proper attribution – in educational and other non-commercial settings.

Fees

There are no fees for authors publishing in the Journal.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses entered in this journal site will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of this journal and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

The Journal is free and open access; subscribing or registering is not necessary for readers. Subscribing to the Journal (using a form or clicking on the “Follow” button) will allow you to receive notifications regarding new articles, the publication of a new volume, or calls for papers. There is only a small number of such notifications each year.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Publication Frequency

The Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy publishes one volume each year. Each volume is originally published during the Spring, and is kept open for publication as articles become available until the following volume is prepared. Each volume displays a collection of articles around a “yearly theme,” plus assorted articles that match the scope and aim of the Journal, but do not fall within that theme.

Section Policies

SectionDescriptionPeer-Reviewed?
Yearly Theme articlesThe Yearly Theme section contains peer-reviewed articles on subjects that match the Journal’s Yearly Theme at the time of approval for publication.YES, double-blind
General ArticlesThe General Articles section contains peer-reviewed articles on topics suitable to the Journal’s Aim and Scope, but that do not quite fit the Yearly Theme. General articles may address any philosophical themes found in SF stories, discussing them through an analysis of the corresponding story, and furthering the understanding of a philosophical topic in this manner. Alternatively, general articles may discuss in more depth the relationship between SF as a genre and Philosophy as a discipline.YES, double-blind
Book ReviewsThe Book Reviews section contains exclusively reviews of books on science fiction and philosophy. JSFP does not review science fiction narratives (SF short stories, novels, etc.); only books that provide a philosophical analysis of a topic through the use of SF stories, or that examine SF as a genre (providing significant philosophical commentary), or of books that analyze the ideas and legacy of an SF author or movement.
See our Book Review Wishlist for more information.		No, but require editorial approval
The Education StationThe Education Station contains non-peer reviewed essays written in a more conversational style, documenting ways in which SF has been used in the philosophy classroom. It is intended as a resource section for philosophy teachers.No, but require editorial approval
Response EssaysResponse essays are short pieces of scholarly literature (1-4 pages) responding to philosophical issues in current or past journal articles, or to previous responses. They are not peer-reviewed, but are subject to editorial approval and added to the current volume’s contents. They may focus on very specific elements of a published article, providing the opportunity to clarify, criticize, support or debunk with technical expertise, but without the burden of writing a full-fledged article to that effect. Authors may use this feature too, to clarify or defend, or to acknowledge an accurate criticism and modify their views, as any good conversation is expected to do.
This section is somewhat of an experiment in academic discussion, attempting to take advantage of our online format to generate a more fluid discussion of article contents.		No, but require editorial approval
Editorial NotesThese comprise the Editor’s introduction to a volume’s contents, along with some reflections and background on the development of the Journal.No