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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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