Editor Interview: Dialogue Go to the listing List all editor interviews Edit answers (editors only) Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.Philosophical papersDavid E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?Our journal is open to students and non-professional philosophers. Contributors cannot have doctorates in philosophy or other areas.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?Submit original work that has been carefully edited for content and style. Submit work to colleagues for examination.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020Describe the ideal submission.The paper should have a specific claim and careful argument to support the claim. If critiquing another view, carefully examine that view and be clear what you are examining.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?Students may often present a summary of work by others; the paper should not be just a summary. It should contain original work that may well critique other work, but it should not simply summarize.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?A cover letter is required. Basically, we want to know where the person attended school, the person's philosophical interests, and future plans for study or work. Few students have previous publications, but we may list them if information is provided.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?The Editor will have to answer that. When I was editor, I read the whole paper, though I could tell after a few paragraphs that some student submissions were obviously not acceptable.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?Our editor is a full-time faculty member, so his time is not totally devoted to the editing. When I was editing, I was also the Executive Secretary for Phi Sigma Tau and could not devote my full time to editing and selecting papers.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?We probably do more extensive editing than some journals as our authors are all non-professionals--most are undergraduate students. We will not provide substantive editing, but we do editing to make essays more readable, to simplify complex sentences, to avoid gender-exclusive language, to correct punctuation and spelling, and to correct grammatical errors. Occasionally, we do consult the author before a final edit, but we only do that if we have questions about meaning.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?No.David E. Gibson, Managing Editor. on 27 January 2020 Cookie Consent: This site uses secure first-party cookies for essential, preference-setting, and statistical purposes. We do not use any marketing, advertising, or third-party cookies. Read our full cookie policy. Accept All Cookies Allow Essential Cookies Only