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Journal of Scientific Exploration

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Journal of Scientific Exploration
LanguageEnglish
Edited byStephen E. Braude
Publication details
History1987-present
Publisher
FrequencyQuarterly
ISO 4Find out here
Indexing
ISSN0892-3310
LCCN88648133
OCLC no.15153049
Links

The Journal of Scientific Exploration is a quarterly peer-reviewed[1][2] academic journal of fringe science published by the Society for Scientific Exploration that was established in 1987.[3] According to its mission statement, the journal provides a forum for research on topics "outside the established disciplines of mainstream science."[4] The editors of the journal state that the periodical "publishes claimed observations and proffered explanations that will seem more speculative or less plausible than in some mainstream disciplinary journals. Nevertheless, those observations and explanations must conform to rigorous standards of observational techniques and logical argument."[5] Critics of the journal regard it as a forum for promoting, not investigating, fringe science.

Topics and policies

The journal's website describes the publication's purpose as providing "a professional forum for presentations, criticism, and debate concerning topics which are for various reasons ignored or studied inadequately within mainstream science", and describes the Journal as a "critical forum of rationality and observational evidence for the often strange claims at the fringes of science."[4]

Responding in part to opinion survey results indicating that many mainstream scientists were interested in reasoned examination and debate about unidentified flying objects, the journal was initially established to provide a forum for three main fields that had largely been neglected by mainstream science: ufology, cryptozoology, and parapsychology. It has also published research articles, essays, and book reviews on many other topics, including the philosophy of science, pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact, alternative medicine, the process of peer review for controversial topics,[6] astrology, consciousness, reincarnation, minority opinion scientific theories, and paranormal phenomena.[4][7]

Refereeing

Bernard Haisch and Martha Sims, respectively past editor-in-chief and past executive director, describe the Journal of Scientific Exploration as a "peer-reviewed journal following the customs and standards of academic journals but designed specifically for the scholarly study of anomalies".[4][7] If an article or essay paper is accepted "but there remain points of disagreement between authors and referee(s), the reviewer(s) may be given the option of having their opinion(s) published "subject to the Editor-in-Chief's judgment as to length, wording, and the like".[5] The policy of the journal is to maintain a critical view by presenting both sides of an argument so as not to advocate for or against any of the published topics.

The Journal of Scientific Exploration publishes letters or commentary which dispute or critique articles, and also typically allows authors to publish rejoinders.

Former editor-in-chief Henry Bauer has asserted that the journal's contributors are largely "indistinguishable from people of the mainstream except in their enthusiasm for one pet unorthodoxy."[8] He contrasts this with a layperson's interest in anomalous phenomena, which is typically "omnivorous".[8]

Academic reception

The Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group of the Royal College of Psychiatrists says that the journal has reports about anomalies in science, particularly in the parapsychological and extraterrestrial fields.[9][10] Some academics have noted that the journal publishes on anomalous issues, topics often on the fringe of science.[11] The journal is not indexed in Web of Science, an indexing service for scientific journals.

Of the Society for Scientific Exploration and Journal of Scientific Exploration, journalist Michael Lemonick writes, "Pretty much anything that might have shown up on The X-Files or in the National Enquirer shows up first here. But what also shows up is a surprising attitude of skepticism."[12]

Kendrick Frazier, editor of Skeptical Inquirer and Committee for Skeptical Inquiry fellow has suggested that:

"The JSE, while presented as neutral and objective, appears to hold a hidden agenda. They seem to be interested in promoting fringe topics as real mysteries and they tend to ignore most evidence to the contrary. They publish 'scholarly' articles promoting the reality of dowsing, neo-astrology, ESP, and psychokinesis. Most of the prominent and active members are strong believers in the reality of such phenomena."[13]

Clinical community psychologist and professor of social psychology at the University of Connecticut, Seth Kalichman regards the journal as a publisher of pseudoscience, with the journal serving as a "major outlet for UFOology, paranormal activity, extrasensory powers, alien abductions etc". [14]

Editors-in-chief

Past editors-in-chief have been:[7]

References

  1. ^ "Academic Search Complete: Magazines and Journals". EBSCO. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  2. ^ "Journals Indexed in ERIC". Education Resources Information Center.
  3. ^ "Journal of Scientific Exploration". Society for Scientific Exploration. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  4. ^ a b c d "Journal of Scientific Exploration". Society for Scientific Exploration. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  5. ^ a b "JSE Instructions for Authors". Society for Scientific Exploration. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  6. ^ Campanario, J. M.; Martin, B. (2004). "Challenging dominant physics paradigms" (PDF). Journal of Scientific Exploration. 18 (3): 421–438. Bibcode:2008atcr.book...11C.
  7. ^ a b c Haisch, B.; Sims, M. (2004). "A Retrospective on the Journal of Scientific Exploration" (PDF). Journal of Scientific Exploration. 18 (1): 15–25.
  8. ^ a b Bauer, H. H. (1994). "Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science" (PDF). Journal of Scientific Exploration. 8 (4, ): 555–563.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  9. ^ "Journals: Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group". Royal College of Psychiatrists. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  10. ^ "Journals and Other Media at the Department of History of the University of North Texas". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20.
  11. ^ Cross, A. (2004). "The Flexibility of Scientific Rhetoric: A Case Study of UFO Researchers". Qualitative Sociology. 27 (1): 3–34. doi:10.1023/B:QUAS.0000015542.28438.41.
  12. ^ Lemonick, M .D. (24 May 2005). "Science on the Fringe". Time. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  13. ^ "CSICOP Responds to the Recent UFO Report Sponsored by the Society for Scientific Exploration" (Press release). Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. 6 July 1998. Archived from the original on 2000-08-16. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  14. ^ Kalichman, S. C. (2005). Denying Aids: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy. Springer. p. 71. ISBN 9780387794754.
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