Call for Papers - Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of ScienceCall for Papers - Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science

Call for Papers - Spontaneous Generations: A Journal for the History
and
Philosophy of Science
http://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/SpontaneousGenerations/

Spontaneous Generations is an open, online, peer-reviewed academic
journal
published by graduate students at the Institute for the History and
Philosophy of Science and Technology, University of Toronto. It has
produced six issues and is a well-respected journal in the history and
philosophy of science and science studies.  We invite interested
scholars
to submit papers for our seventh issue.

We welcome submissions from scholars in all disciplines, including but
not
limited to HPS, STS, History, Philosophy, Women's Studies, Sociology,
Anthropology, and Religious Studies. Papers in any period are welcome.

The journal consists of four sections:

    1. A focused discussion section consisting of short peer-reviewed
and
    invited articles devoted to a particular theme. The theme for our
seventh
    issue is "Economic aspects of science"* (see a brief description
below).
     Recommended length for submissions: 1000-3000 words.
    2. A peer-reviewed section of research papers on various topics in
the
    field of HPS. Recommended length for submissions: 5000-8000 words.
    3. A book review section for books published in the last 5 years.
    Recommended length for submissions: up to 1000 words.
    4. An opinions section that may include a commentary on or a
response to
    current concerns, trends, and issues in HPS. Recommended length for
    submissions: up to 500 words.

** Economic Aspects of Science*
Nearly every discipline in science studies has considered the economics
of
science in some fashion. Philosophers have long looked to economics as
a
resource for understanding science. They have considered how individual
scientists might economize time and resources in pursuing a variety of
epistemic goals, and have considered how competing scientists might
spontaneously organize in ways reminiscent of Adam Smith’s invisible
hand.
More recently philosophers have begun to consider how science’s
changing
economic context might be affecting scientific norms. Historians have
deconstructed the “linear model” whereby scientific progress leads to
technological progress, which in turn drives economic prosperity. They
have
also considered how science's changing economic circumstances, from the
patronage relations of the Middle Ages, to the government-driven
funding of
the Cold War, to the recent trend toward commercial funding, have
affected
its operation. Economists have considered how science might be
important
for the economy and what that might imply for science policy.

We welcome short papers that explore these and other economic aspects
of
science, and especially welcome papers looking to make
interdisciplinary
connections within the economics of science. Case studies that speak to
these issues are also welcome. The questions below might help in
further
guiding potential submissions:


    - Do philosophers, sociologists, historians, and economists
interested
    in economic aspects of science have anything useful to say to each
other?
    - What should science studies learn from the history, philosophy, or
    practice of economics? For example, should we be applying the
results of
    behavioral economics to our accounts of how scientists operate? Can
these
    lessons be applied to discussions of, for instance, the value of
    intellectual property as a motivating factor in scientific fields
such as
    genomics?
    - Do, must, or should, scientific methods depend on the economic
context
    of scientific research? For example, does the high cost of
randomized
    controlled trials affect the expectation of repeatability in
scientific
    experiments?
    - What role does Intellectual Property play in science and how has
it
    changed through science's history? Is Intellectual Property just a
    metaphor, or is it a significant component of an economic system of
science?
    - To the extent that they were ever descriptively accurate, are
    Mertonian norms under threat? What does this mean for the nature of
science?
    - Is it illuminating to think about science as an economic
enterprise?
    What do we learn about science in doing so?
    - What does it mean to "commodify" scientific research? Is there a
    qualitative change underway in what scientists produce?


The seventh issue of Spontaneous Generations will appear in September
2013.

Submissions for the seventh issue should be sent no later than March
15,
2013.

For more details, please visit the journal homepage at
http://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/SpontaneousGenerations/