Submissions
Submitting an Article for Publication
Philosophy professors are encouraged to e-mail the editor or area editors with requests for submissions to The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (The Encyclopedia also occasionally considers submissions from A.B.D. graduate students in philosophy.) Most articles are 6,000 – 10,000 words. Note our list of 100 most desired articles and the lists of desired articles by area of philosophy. Prospective authors may propose articles on these or on any other traditional philosophy topic or person not currently in the IEP or on our list of reserved articles. Authors may also offer to replace any IEP proto-articles, which are identifiable by the inclusion of the initials “IEP” at the foot of the article. Please search for the articles already published to avoid duplicating a topic currently reserved (use the search box or browse the alphabetical index).
When contacting the editor, please indicate:
- your educational credentials and university affiliation,
- the provisional title of the proposed article, and
- a tentative (and realistic) date of completion; six months is typical.
If you are asked by the editors to write an article, then consult the guidelines for authors for information on article format, style, and the licensing agreement. Authors should submit their documents in Word or WordPerfect format. If there is a special need, such as with articles written in special word processors that facilitate logical and mathematical equations, we will accept HTML file submissions. But those HTML files should contain minimal HTML tags and should not be generated simply by using the “save as HTML” command within MS Word or WordPerfect. Graphics and photos should be separate attachments.
How Publication Decisions are Made
After your article is received, the initial acceptance decision will be made by the area editor, with advice from referees, and will be based on the quality of the article, with special attention given to the accuracy of the coverage of the topic, fairness to alternative positions, and clarity for the intended audience of philosophy students and faculty who are not specialists in the field. Submitted articles are blind reviewed by academic specialists (see the statement of scholarly standards) and are subject to four possible decisions:
- acceptance in its current form with no revisions;
- acceptance contingent on some revisions;
- rejection with an invitation to revise and resubmit;
- rejection with no invitation to resubmit.
Most submitted articles require at least some revision in form or substance before acceptance. Initial acceptance decisions by the area editors are subject to final approval by the general editors. This includes both the article content and the title. You may wish to view our guidelines for referees.