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Note to Members of ISHPSSB
October 7, 2005
Gar Allen, President
I'd like to provide ISHPSSB members with an update on the
results of the membership poll and subsequent discussions within the
Council regarding the take over of the journal History and Philosophy
of the Life Sciences (HPLS) by ISHPSSB. First, I want to thank Phil
Sloan and the Ad Hoc Committee on Publications that managed to get
together a great poll which was sent out to all members, asking a
number of questions about the idea of ISH taking on a journal, and
whether that journal should be HPLS. Second, I want to thank all ISH
members who sent in their questionnaires and gave their feedback on
many of the issues that were laid out. We have tried to take all
these into account as we move along.
The results of the membership poll were overwhelmingly in
favor of pursuing the prospects of ISH taking on a journal, and that
HPLS was the most likely prospect. Of the total questionnaires
returned (138), 116 were for taking over the journal and 22 against.
However, even those in favor of the general proposal had a variety
of concerns and caveats about everything from language of publication
to editorial responsibility and costs. These responses suggested that
while we should explore the possibilities of taking on HPLS seriously
and enthusiastically, we need to keep in mind the potential problems
many of you identified and brought forward.
I am pleased that a majority of members think we should move ahead
with exploring the prospect of editing HPLS. I think ISHPSSB can
benefit in a number of ways from sponsoring an official journal, and
by taking over HPLS can also help restore the journal to its former
stature. Especially as an organ of the Society, with the prospect of
containing Society news (and the Newsletter), and papers from our
meetings, it would serve the field and our organization well. After
receiving the questionnaires I summarized the major concerns that
people had raised, circulated these concerns to the Council and
asked for responses. The major areas of concern were addressed in
points l-10 below:
(1) There were numerous comments to the effect that there
was still some information necessary before it would be possible to
make an informed decision : most notably financial arrangements with
publishers and long-term cost to the Society.
(2) Most responses, even from the more enthusiastic members,
thought the two-year trial period was a good idea. It is also clear
that it will take a while to turn the journal around, and that at
the end of two years it still might not be clear whether the
experiment was successful or not.
(3) There was some concern that the field might not even
need a revived HPLS. But the majority of the membership seemed to
feel that HPLS has always filled an important niche, and that with
ISHPSSB editorship it can serve a truly international community, and
provide an especially appropriate outlet for papers from our biennial
meetings.
(4) One clear issue was the policy of publishing articles in
HPLS in English only, as opposed to the long-standing HPLS policy of
publishing in French, Germany, Italian and English. While almost all
members agreed that in principle, the policy of multi-language
publication was a good one, it was clear that it would be impractical
to use other languages than English. Furthermore, all reports from
publishers indicated that they would not consider takeing on a
multi-language journal. What did come out of discussing this issue
were a number of alternatives, including a compromise policy that
would strongly encourage authors to submit papers in English, while
reserving the right to publish ones every once in a while in another
language, with a significant English abstract (prepared at the
author's expense). Other suggestions included on-line only
publication of papers in languages other than English, if the
publishers would allow, or publishing on-line in the original
language papers published in the journal in their English version.
(5) Most all members thought that the name of the journal
should be changed to reflect ISHPSSB's concern with the sociology of
science. Clearly, this will be necessary, though the representative
from Elsevier suggested waiting at least until the end of the
two-year trial period in order to insure continuity with subscribers.
(6) One of the crucial issues of concern to members was the
managerial control of the journal, especially in the cooperative role
with the Stazione Zoologica, who own HPSL. The question of the
composition of the the Editorial Board (equal numbers of members
appointed by the Stazione and by ISHPSSB, or all by ISHPSSB, and the
relationship between the Editorial Board and the Editor (for example,
in questions of who should have final say in disputed issues?). It is
clear that the Editor will be appointed by ISHPSSB, but that some
members of the Editorial Board (or Advisory Board if there is one)
will be appointed by the Stazione. I think we all recognize that this
will have to be worked out very carefully and clearly with the
Stazione. At the same time, the Stazione very much wants to keep the
journal alive, is planning to put 20,000 euros/year into it, and has
shown no tendency in the past to micromanage or exert influence on
the Editor, who was free to make all final editorial decisions.
Working out the details of this joint-management will clearly be one
of the most important items during our negotiations. I am firmly of
the opinion that if we undertake this operation, we have to establish
clear lines of authority and management for editorial and management
decisions between the Editor/Editorial Board and the Stazione.
(7) In terms of selecting an Editor (we would refer to this
position as "Interim Editor" for the 2-year trial period), the Ad Hoc
Committee on Publications is putting out a call for volunteers who
might want to consider assuming the post. Any potential candidate for
the post would need to have a guarantee of financial support from
their home institution of somewhere around $ 4,000 - 5,000 per year
to operate the editorial office. You should be receiving that
notification within the next two weeks. At least at the moment, we
have Keith Benson as a back-up, as he has agreed to do it if no one
else steps forward.
(8) A number of comments pertained to the financial aspects
of the Society taking over editing and management of HPLS, especially
the possibility of "hidden costs" of operating an editorial office.
The basics we have in hand at the moment are that the Stazione will
continue to put in 20,000 Euros/year for at least the next two years,
and provide some administrative support through Christiane Groeben;
the Society is in the fortunate financial position (thanks to Keith
Benson's careful management) to pledge $12,500 for each of the next
two years to help support the journal without compromising any of our
other activities, such as funding graduate student travel to
meetings. On the positive side, with HPLS becoming the official organ
of ISHPSSB, all members would automatically receive a subscription to
the journal.
(9) There was much concern expressed by members over the
potential increase in dues (by $ 40.00 per two-year membership)
after the trial period, to pay for the journal. It was pointed out,
however, that this is much less than many other societies have seen
in dues increases in recent years, especially when we consider that
our membership cycle runs for two years. Some members feared it might
result in a drop in membership, and would be especially hard on
graduate students. (The possibility of providing a reduced
membership rate increase for graduate students was suggested by a
number of members).
(10) The issue of selecting a publisher was also of some
concern, especially given the prices of journals today. We currently
have three publishers who have expressed interest and are submitting
proposals: Elsevier, Springer and Taylor and Francis (the current
publishers of HPLS). The Council will have to evaluate those
proposals carefully as we move ahead. We all recognize that the whole
idea of taking over the journal might come to nothing if the expenses
seem to great or the joint-management issues with the Stazione cannot
be resolved satisfactorily.
After several weeks of e-mail discussion by the Council, I
asked for a ballot vote on whether to proceed or not with setting up
a meeting with Giorgio Bernardi, Director of the Stazione, and
representatives of ISHPSSB, and on specific questions arising out of
the concerns listed above. The Council voted unanimously to pursue
negotiations. To that end, Keith Benson and I will meet with the
Stazione representatives in London in mid-October. No Society funds
are being used to pay for this meeting. There is some urgency in
making this decision, since if we do not reach an agreement, it will
still give the Stazione time to seek other alternatives. And if we do
agree to take over the journal, it will provide our Editor and staff
the lead time necessary to put together their first issue (there are
still several issues of the journal in production under the present
editor, Bernardino Fantini). We had hoped to include one or two other
Council members in the negotiations, but no one, even our UK
representatives were free when the Stazione representatives were also
free. I have full confidence, however, that, having met with Giorgio
Bernardi in Naples in July, and discussed these issues fully, that
negotiations will go smoothly and quickly.
On subsidiary issues, the Council voted (in most cases
unanimously, in a few with one or several dissenting votes) to
support equal joint-management of the journal with the Stazione (half
the editorial board appointed by ISHPSSB and half by the Stazione);
for appointing an "Interim Editor"; for a two-year trial period after
which either party could back out; that the Newsletter, if feasible,
be included in the journal; that ISHPSSB would contribute
$15,000/year for the next two years; that dues would be increased
after the two-year trial period by approximately $40; that graduate
students should get a reduced rate on dues increase; that if it is
feasible from the publishers' perspective, members could opt out of
the subscription to the journal, and thus avoid the larger dues
increase; and that the journal should be published in English only.
If we reach an agreement with the Stazione, final arrangements will
be examined and voted on by the Council, as will the candidate for
Interim Editor selected by the Ad Hoc Committee on Publications.
As soon as results of the negotiations in London are
complete, I will let all ISHPSSB members know the outcome and we can
proceed ahead.
Again, I want to thank all the members who returned their
questionnaires to the Ad Hoc Committee, and for your many thoughtful
and very important questions and suggestions. Without this input, it
would have been much more difficult to cover all the dimensions
involved in this decision-making process. As matters proceed we (the
Council and I) encourage members to send us any ideas or suggestions
about the Society's sponsorship of the journal, its editorial policy
and its management. Most important, if ISHPSSB does in fact take over
editorship of HPLS, we would hope that Society members would think
about contributing papers to forthcoming issues.
*** End of announcement
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History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology
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