In our newest "how can we help you?" thread, a reader writes:
What’s the deal with the “Oxford Studies in X”? How does one publish in these volumes and what is the perception within the field generally, or of various Xs?
My sense is that these publications are viewed as quite prestigious. However, I'm not entirely sure how to publish in them. I do know that most papers presented at the annual Arizona Workshop in Normative Ethics appear in the Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics. But, beyond this I don't know much about the Oxford series. Any of you out there have the inside scoop?
If you want to try Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Mind, you email your paper to Uriah Kriegel. There's a post or two about it on philos-l.
Posted by: Phil Osopher | 05/24/2021 at 11:19 AM
I guess it must vary depending on the series? Oxford Studies in Ancient and in Medieval are largely just ordinary journals with blind review practices and mostly unsolicited articles, but I get the sense from the reader's question that some of the other series don't function this way?
Posted by: Eric Hagedorn | 05/24/2021 at 11:32 AM
If you want to be published in Oxford Studies in Metaethics, you should submit an abstract to the Madison Metaethics Workshop (usually due at the beginning of May each year). The program committee selects the workshop program from the abstracts, then the papers presented at the workshop may be submitted to the Oxford Studies volume. At that point they go through another round of refereeing. To my knowledge (and Russ Shafer-Landau can correct me), it is not possible to appear in Oxford Studies in Metaethics without being accepted to the workshop.
Posted by: Mike Titelbaum | 05/24/2021 at 11:55 AM
Most papers presented at the annual Madison Metaethics Workshop appear in Oxford Studies in Metaethics.
As for perception, my sense is that publishing in that venue is a very significant accomplishment for ethicists. It's not at the level of publishing in Ethics, but it's a solid top-5. One thing worth noting is that the Madison Metaethics Workshop is both very large and, at times, very intimidating. Something to keep in mind if angling for a publication in Oxford Studies in Metaethics.
Posted by: Fav | 05/24/2021 at 11:58 AM
I believe that if you want to publish in Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility then you have to present your paper at the New Orleans Workshop on Agency and Responsibility. Which sucks given that OSA&R is probably the most prestigious specialist venue for work in the philosophy of action, and traveling to New Orleans is prohibitively expensive for most early career researchers outside of the U.S (and probably many within the U.S.).
Posted by: Anon | 05/24/2021 at 12:08 PM
Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy is a very prestigious venue, which operates as a facsimile of a normal journal. That is, you send your paper to the editor, he reads it, sends it out for review, etc.
However, the review practices over the past few years have been very poor, as documented here: https://endoxa.blog/. The current editor is not continuing on after his term ends, according to that blog. We'll see if things change.
Posted by: OSAP Watcher | 05/24/2021 at 02:39 PM
Publishing in Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy also goes via a workshop (The Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy Workshop!), which is generally held in a different place each year, mostly within the US. Not sure of the exact details, but acceptance in the workshop is by submission, and the published papers are generally (always?) papers presented at the workshop.
And agree with what Fav said - not a PPA or Ethics-level pub, but top 5 sounds about right.
Posted by: Rosa | 05/24/2021 at 02:40 PM
Anyone know about Oxford Studies in Epistemology?
Posted by: Postdoc | 05/24/2021 at 05:27 PM
hi there - oxford studies in phil mind has a mixed model: there's 6-8 papers that are invited and the rest come from submissions. there's info about how to submit to the next volume here:
https://philevents.org/event/show/85258
cheers -
uriah
Posted by: uriah kriegel | 05/25/2021 at 01:04 PM