Would it be a good idea to create an open access journal dedicated specifically to effective altruism? From what I understand, it would cost relatively little to run a website where papers could be submitted by authors, assigned to referees, evaluated by editors, and published for anyone to read. There also seems to be enough technical expertise in the community to design a website like that if there are volunteers interested in doing it. Of course, it would be a big time commitment on the part of whoever serves as the editor, but it could have significant benefits to the movement including:
-increasing dialogue between the EA community and academic philosophers
-creating a formal mechanism for receiving thoughtful feedback on new ideas
-allowing readers to find the most important new contributions in one location
-incentivizing serious research on topics that are important to the movement
-signalling the openness of the community to changing its mind on key issues
The journal could complement the various ways that new ideas are currently shared. An EA could still write a blog post to share her views, and online forums could still be considered legitimate places for serious discussion. It’s just that the author of a post would now have the option of developing the idea in greater depth, a process during which she may significantly improve her argument.
The journal could be slightly different in its willingness to publish articles from authors outside the academy and select referees outside the academy. As long as the editor is an experienced academic, she should be able to ensure that the papers still meet the standards of normal philosophy journals.
Since there is currently a large unpublished literature on effective altruism, there should be enough material for the first several issues. After that, you would probably have enough submissions from people who devise arguments with the intent of getting them published in the journal.
Would it be a good idea to create an open access journal dedicated specifically to effective altruism? From what I understand, it would cost relatively little to run a website where papers could be submitted by authors, assigned to referees, evaluated by editors, and published for anyone to read. There also seems to be enough technical expertise in the community to design a website like that if there are volunteers interested in doing it. Of course, it would be a big time commitment on the part of whoever serves as the editor, but it could have significant benefits to the movement including:
-increasing dialogue between the EA community and academic philosophers
-creating a formal mechanism for receiving thoughtful feedback on new ideas
-allowing readers to find the most important new contributions in one location
-incentivizing serious research on topics that are important to the movement
-signalling the openness of the community to changing its mind on key issues
The journal could complement the various ways that new ideas are currently shared. An EA could still write a blog post to share her views, and online forums could still be considered legitimate places for serious discussion. It’s just that the author of a post would now have the option of developing the idea in greater depth, a process during which she may significantly improve her argument.
The journal could be slightly different in its willingness to publish articles from authors outside the academy and select referees outside the academy. As long as the editor is an experienced academic, she should be able to ensure that the papers still meet the standards of normal philosophy journals.
Since there is currently a large unpublished literature on effective altruism, there should be enough material for the first several issues. After that, you would probably have enough submissions from people who devise arguments with the intent of getting them published in the journal.
[Edited]