GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

July 2008

1. General Points

The editorial board welcomes quality writing relating to philosophy in practice. This includes, but is not restricted to, all aspects of philosophical practice, practical philosophy, philosophical counselling, socratic dialogue and philosophy for children. Articles which open up new areas of philosophical practice are especially welcome. A key requirement is that papers should have a clearly focused bearing on how practical philosophy is carried out. We encourage authors of mainly theoretical papers to draw out the practical implications of their ideas. Papers should be clear and accessible; a specialised technical vocabulary should be avoided wherever possible.

2. When and What We Publish

Practical Philosophy is usually published twice a year. Some issues are themed and some essays are by invitation. Please consult the call for papers for up-to-date information.

Practical Philosophy publishes articles in the following categories:

1. Full-length essays (no maximum length but usually between 3000 and 8000 words);
2. Reflections (personal reflections from leading philosophical practitioners around the world on the uses of philosophy in the individual's search for wisdom or enlightenment, as a method of individual reflection or meditation, or as a tool or context for therapy and counselling. No more than 1500 words, by invitation).
3. Forum items. The Forum is a place for comments about the content of the journal; replies or remarks on reflections or essays; ideas, reflections, recommendations and notices of forthcoming events; thoughts on different aspects of Practical Philosophy; reports from conferences, philosophical cafés or any organisation or group with an interest in how philosophy can be part of our lives; interim reports on work, or summaries of work in progress. Any of these together with announcements and details of anything of philosophical interest which is forthcoming and general items which help keep others in the field informed, (no minimum or maximum length but not usually more than 2000 words).
4. Book reviews (usually 500-1000 words). Please note that we do not accept unsolicited reviews. If you are interested in reviewing books for Practical Philosophy, please contact our Book Review Editor.

3. Submission of manuscripts

All contributions are anonymously refereed. Prior to publication authors will be expected to provide an abstract of not more than 300 words together with a list of keywords.

Practical Philosophy has style and referencing expectations for all submitted work and adherence to these is an author obligation. Papers should include references to quotations, works cited, etc., using the author/date referencing system.

• Please use single quotes for both quotations and 'scare-quotes'. All quotes within quotes should be double.

• Do not use double spacing anywhere within the document.

• Indent the first line of new paragraphs, except for the first paragraph following a heading. Do not insert an extra line between paragraphs.

• All citations should be placed within the text in parentheses. For example:

  (Lipman, 1991) for the recognition of an idea or concept, or:
  (Lipman, 1991, p.13) for a direct quote.

• Reference to the same immediately preceding title should be 'Ibid.' together with the page number, if different. For example:

  (Lipman, 1991, p.13)
  (Ibid.)
  (Ibid. p.16)
  (Ibid., app. A)

• All references should be cited in full in a collected bibliography ordered alphabetically by the authors' surnames as follows:

  Hadot, P. (1995) Philosophy as a Way of life (Oxford, Blackwell).

  Jopling, D. A. (1996) 'Philosophical Counseling, Truth and Self-interpretation', Journal of Applied Philosophy, 13 (3), pp.297–309.

  Marinoff, L. (1995) 'On the Emergence of Ethical Counseling', in R. Lahav and M. Tillmans (eds.), Essays on Philosophical Counseling (Lanham, University Press of America), pp.171–191.

• Footnotes may be used for any additional thoughts and any references here should be as for text.

• Spelling should be U.K. English in accordance with Oxford English Dictionary except for direct quotes and references to books and articles which should be spelled as in the original.

Any other matters of style should be answered by reference to Ritter, E.M. (ed) (2003) Oxford Style Manual (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Papers deemed to require revision will be returned to authors with comments from referees and a deadline for resubmission. The editor reserves the right to trim contributions for publication or amend minor errors of style or typography.

Accepted papers will be published in the paper version of the journal and may also be published on the internet or in other formats.

Published papers become copyright of the SPP, but permission to republish in the author's own books is automatic provided reference is made to its original publication in Practical Philosophy.

Please send contributions to the editor ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) as an MS Word attachment with the subject 'Essay for PP'.