“Silent gratitude isn’t very much to anyone.” —Gertrude Stein
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” —Cicero
For those within academic publishing, it is no secret that countless individuals often share their time and expertise gratis, though many outside of this realm might be unaware of (or unengaged by) this fact. It is a tradition that has its roots in the history of journal publishing (with Philosophical Transactions editor Henry Oldenburg often on the hook for paper, ink, and postage [see Tucker 2011]) as well as a duty and desire among scholars to engage as a community and safeguard the production of knowledge. Although modern academic journal publishing has in many ways become rather lucrative, the practice is sustained by those who, often without clear remuneration, facilitate and oversee review processes, engage in the essential labour of evaluating, appraising, and improving work, and put the finishing touches on the product so that it employs intelligible language, appropriate methods, and proper citation and referencing styles. These tasks frequently are completed in between teaching classes, seeing patients, balancing time with family, and attending to the self. And—perhaps like a perverse form of capital, which has the capacity to reproduce itself—those who carry out such duties more efficiently and effectively typically are asked to take on more.
And with the enduring momentum of the great publishing wheel, which excitedly travels from one issue to the next, there is little time to stop along the journey and pause to express thanks. Manuscript submissions increase, time for peer review plummets, revisions are due, proofs need to be checked, the next deadline looms. It is thus easy to be silent and simply move on to the next chore, but as Gertrude Stein once said, that “isn’t very much to anyone” (Mahoney 2008, 135).
So, for the fourth year in a row, we publish here a brief note of gratitude to all who make the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (JBI) possible—even though such words aren’t much and cannot compare to the efforts they have expended. This is especially so in regards to our peer reviewers, whose work, like with many journals, happens behind the scenes with little recognition. We reserve this column each year in order to highlight their names. Please find this list of dedicated JBI reviewers for 2015 below.
We also extend kudos to Ian Kerridge, a member of the JBI executive committee, who was honoured by Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council last year with its ethics award (NHMRC 2015), as well as Floor Oosting, our publishing editor at Springer, who has been promoted to senior publishing editor for applied ethics. Ian tirelessly (and never without good humour) helps guide the JBI, accepts assignments orphaned by all, and turns around projects in record time. In keeping multiple plates spinning without fail, he is often neither seen nor heard, but the effects of his presence positively linger. We also know that all of the journals now under Floor’s direction will flourish, like she has made possible for the JBI, thanks to her talents, skills, professionalism, patience, and authenticity. We are lucky to continue to have both Ian and Floor in our midst.
While the JBI has grown in terms of pages over the past year (bursting at the seams as never before!), our core team hasn’t expanded as much. However, we very much welcomed Gordon Campbell of Australia to our copy-editing team as well as Ilaria Walker, who steps into Floor’s shoes as the JBI publishing editor at Springer. We also would like to extend our thanks to Carmina Cayago, who, among other duties, assists both JBI authors and editors with technical and other questions related to the online manuscript submission system; Chris Wilby at Springer, now a senior publishing assistant, who has tended to the JBI with care for several years; and Catherine Murphy, the JBI’s production editor at Springer, and her team, who transform all of the pieces into a cohesive final product with great diligence, flexibility, advocacy, and patience. And a few members have moved on. Martha Stoddard-Holmes of California State University completed a long tour with the JBI as associate editor of “Literature and Medicine”; Ainsley Newson of the University of Sydney was one of the two associate editors leading the journal’s “Science and Genetics” portfolio; and Sheila Pham of Australia provided much-needed technological and Web-based assistance. Though their absence and collegiality are already felt within the JBI community, we heartily wish them the best in all of their endeavours.
For the new, the former, and all those continuing on, the JBI (and I) cannot express sufficient gratitude. We appreciate the work, the wisdom, and the wherewithal you bring to the JBI team—all of our associate editors, copy editors, founding and executive members, ombudsman, international team of legal scholars, advisory board members, and colleagues at Springer.
And always mentioned last—but clearly without whom the JBI as either an academic journal or, more importantly, an interdisciplinary community of scholars and professionals dedicated to ethics in health wouldn’t exist—are our editorial board chair Paul Komesaroff, who keeps this vehicle always travelling towards our destination while exploring new paths; consulting editors Michael Ashby and David Shaw, skilled, insightful, and forward-looking navigators, whose guidance and collaborations on this journey improve the literature and knowledge base; Grant Gillett, Ian Kerridge, Neil Pickering, and Colin Thomson, who keep the machine oiled and running; and managing editor Bronwen Morrell, whose infinite talents ensure the expert performance of ceaseless jobs every kilometer of the way, running the gamut from start to finish, from seemingly small (but crucial) tasks to those looming and large—essentially without whom there would be no vehicle at all. Their many abilities, virtuous characters, unflagging efforts, careful thinking, inspired writing, considerate mentoring, excellent wit, and infectious personalities enable the JBI—and all connected to it—to reach for brass rings.
“No one who achieves success,” so mused Alfred North Whitehead, “does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.”
If I possess any wisdom or confidence, it is the direct result of my ever fortunate interactions with each and every member of the JBI team—including those not mentioned specifically here by name. (Please see the masthead in this and previous issues as well as http://bioethicalinquiry.com/editorial-team/ to see how lucky we really are!) I cannot repay their trust, guidance, friendship, and kindness and thus remain, now and always, clearly in their debt.
This is but a paltry acknowledgement to those whose work positively impacts bioethics knowledge, practice, and the lives of many in both great ways and small.
Thank you to all.
Below, please find a special round of thanks to all who have served as a peer reviewer for one or more articles over the past year, from January 2015 to January 2016.
Alejandra Mancilla
Ali Khan
Amrita Banerjee
Amy Vidali
An Ravelingien
Andreas Vilhelmsson
Andrew Cooper
Andrew Knight
Angela Ballantyne
Angela Kelly-Hanku
Anna Smajdor
Anne Scott
Anne-Maree Farrell
Annemarie Jutel
Arianne Shahvisi
Aric Bendorf
Assim Padela
Barbara Mintzes
Barry Jubraj
Ben A. Rich
Bernadette Tobin
Betty Levin
Bharat Jayram Venkat
Brandon Brown
Brandon Kohrt
Bridget Haire
Britt E. Johnson
Calvin Ho
Carolyn Hayes
Carwyn Hooper
Charles Douglas
Christopher James Ryan
Christopher Robertson
Claire Hooker
Clare Delaney
Clayton Clark
Colleen Cartwright
D. Gilson
Damian Adams
Daniel Fu-Chang Tsai
Daniel Morrison
Daniela Cutas
David Buchanan
David Courtwright
David Isaacs
Dennis Cooley
Diana Tietjens Meyers
Diedre Anglin
Dirksen Bauman
Donald Chi
Donald Thompson
Donna Dickenson
Douglas Hutchinson
Edward Wheatley
Else Vogel
Emilio Dirlikov
Emily Postan
Enrique Gavilán-Moral
Erin Heidt-Forsythe
Esther Speight
Gabriel Sayegh
Graham Mooney
Heath Fogg Davis
Helen Bynum
Helen J. Davidson
Helen MacDonald
Henry Kilham
Hsien-Cheng Lin
Hub Zwart
Hudson Henry Birden
I. Glenn Cohen
Iain Brassington
Ian Scott
Iris Bergmann
Isabel Karpin
Israel Berger
Jack A. Kilcullen
Jacob Busch
Jaime Cantrell
Jami Anderson
Jan Angus
Jay Sibara
Jeanne Snelling
Jeannette Pols
Jens Seeberg
Jeremy Mennis
Jeremy Wickins
Joe Brierley
Joel Lexchin
Joel Marks
Johan Christiaan Bester
John McMillan
Jonathan Moreno
Joseph F. Kras
Joseph Shaw
Judy Segal
Justin Sanchez
Kara Elizabeth Thompson
Kasper Raus
Katayoun Chamany
Katherine Prendergast
Kathrin Herrmann
Katrina Jaworski
Kenneth Robert Abbey
Kim Q. Hall
Kirsty Horsey
L. Syd M. Johnson
Laura Buccini
Laura Mauldin
Letitia Helen Burridge
Lynn Woodward
Malcolm Keith Smith
Marcus Agnafors
Marie Bismark
Martha Jones
Mary Ann McCabe
Matthew Steven Lucas
Maya Sabatello
Melissa McCullough
Michael David Dahnke
Michael Loughlin
Michael Mason
Michael Montoya
Michelle A. Groman
Michelle de Souza
Miles Little
Moriah McSharry McGrath
Nancy S. Jecker
Neil Price
Nicholas J. Lennings
Nicholos Kontos
Nicolae Morar
Noam Ostrander
Paolo Palladino
Paul B. Thompson
Paul Howard Mason
Paul Lombardo
Paula A. Treichler
Paula Saravia
Pauline Lane
Pawan Singh
Peter Fraenkel
Peter Saul
Rachel Ankeny
Raymond Devettere
Reem Sweid
Renaud F. Boulanger
Richard Cooper
Rosalind McDougall
Sabine Salloch
Sandra Bradley
Sascha Callaghan
Scott Santibanez
Shahram Ahmadi Nasab Emran
Sheryl de Lacey
Simon Richard Walters
Simon Woods
Srila Roy
Stephen G. Henry
Susan MacCallum
Susannah Mintz
Tamra Lysaght
Tenzin Wangmo
Thomas Couser
Thomas David Harter
Tim Carey
Timothy Murphy
Tina Cockburn
Tommaso Bruni
Trish Dunning
Wannes Van Hoof
Warren Bell
William Bülow
Zabidi Hussin
References
Mahoney, J.M. 2008. Topsy turvy: A book of quotations. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). 2015. Highest-ranked stars of medical research recognized. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/media/releases/2015/highest-ranked-stars-medical-research-recognised. Accessed February 10, 2016.
Tucker, H. 2011. Blood work: A tale of medicine and murder in the Scientific Revolution. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
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Rich, L.E. For the New, the Former, and All Those Continuing On: We Offer Our Thanks. Bioethical Inquiry 13, 15–18 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-016-9711-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-016-9711-7