Editors at Springer’s Journal of Philosophical Logic resign and launch a new open-access journal — a move that reshapes access to cutting-edge work in philosophical logic. All editors-in-chief and associate editors of the Journal of Philosophical Logic, which has been published by Springer Nature, have announced their immediate or pending resignations. They will begin serving in parallel roles for the new journal, Philosophical Logic, which operates as a diamond open-access publication.
According to the announcement from the editors, board members, and former editors of the Journal of Philosophical Logic, the resignations involve the Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors, with some editors continuing to fulfill responsibilities at Springer Nature for a transitional period. They will still manage manuscripts in the review and publication pipeline for the Journal of Philosophical Logic through the end of their terms.
The Journal of Philosophical Logic traces its origins to 1972, founded by Nicholas Rescher with Bas van Fraassen as the first Editor-in-Chief. It has shifted publishers over the decades—from D. Reidel to Kluwer, and then to Springer. An Executive Board oversees the editorial selection process in line with the journal’s charter.
Today also marks the debut of a new Diamond Open Access journal, Philosophical Logic, published by the Open Library of Humanities (OLH) and not affiliated with Springer Nature or the Journal of Philosophical Logic. The editors express support for making high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarly work broadly accessible to both the academic community and the public. They point to several recent Diamond Open Access launches in related fields, including Zeitschrift für Mathematische Logik und Grundlagen der Mathematik, Political Philosophy, and Free and Equal, all backed by OLH, alongside successful examples in nearby disciplines such as Glossa and Open Mind.
Philosophical Logic will welcome original research across all areas of philosophical logic and will uphold the rigorous editorial standards associated with the former journal. The editors suggest that hiring and promotion committees should regard publications in Philosophical Logic as equally prestigious to those in the Journal of Philosophical Logic in its previous form.
The Executive Board members who have contributed to both journals emphasize that Rescher’s vision of a journal serving the philosophical-logic community continues through Philosophical Logic. They also thank OLH for its long-term funding commitment and invite ongoing participation from the philosophical logic community, encouraging submissions at the new journal’s website.
Signatories include the outgoing Editors-in-Chief: Wesley H. Holliday (UC Berkeley), Thomas Icard (Stanford), and Francesca Poggiolesi (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne);
the outgoing Associate Editors: Marta Bílková (Czech Academy of Sciences), Ivano Ciardelli (University of Padua), Alexander Kocurek (UC San Diego), Johannes Korbmacher (Utrecht University), Toby Meadows (UC Irvine), Lavinia Picollo (National University of Singapore), Yanjing Wang (Peking University);
and the Executive Board members: Johan van Benthem (University of Amsterdam and Stanford), Kit Fine (New York University), John F. Horty (University of Maryland), Rohit Parikh (CUNY), Robert Stalnaker (MIT).
Other colleagues on the Editorial Board include Giovanna Corsi (University of Bologna), Charles B. Cross (University of Georgia), James Delgrande (Simon Fraser University), Alan Hájek (ANU), Sven-Ove Hansson (Royal Institute of Technology), Richard Kimberly Heck (Brown), Andreas Herzig (IR Toulouse), Barteld Kooi (University of Groningen), Angelika Kratzer (UMass), Hannes Leitgeb (LMU Munich), David Makinson (University of Queensland), Friederike Moltmann (Nice), Reinhard Muskens (University of Amsterdam), Hiroakira Ono (JAIST), Graham Priest (University of Melbourne/City University of New York/University of St Andrews), Hans Rott (University of Regensburg), Jason Stanley (University of Toronto), Eric Swanson (University of Michigan), Rineke Verbrugge (University of Groningen), Heinrich Wansing (Ruhr University Bochum), Kai Wehmeier (UC Irvine), and Ming Xu (Wuhan University).
Former Editors-in-Chief of the Journal of Philosophical Logic include Hans van Ditmarsch, Rosalie Iemhoff, Greg Restall, Frank Veltman, and Albert Visser, reflecting a broad lineage of leadership in the field.
On its website, Philosophical Logic positions itself as an international scientific journal that sits at the intersection of philosophy and logic. It welcomes contributions ranging from conceptual analysis to technical developments and invites papers not only from traditional areas of philosophical logic but also on how logic is extended to new applications and the philosophical issues those extensions raise.
What this shift means for the field is a topic worth watching. It highlights ongoing debates about access, prestige, and the best pathways to disseminate rigorous scholarly work in logic and philosophy. Do you think diamond open-access models will become the standard for leading journals in philosophy and logic, or will hybrid and traditional models persist? What are the potential implications for authors, reviewers, and readers in terms of speed, quality, and reach?
