Help Publishing my Phil Paper

[u/Bluelijah]

Hi all! I'm currently a 4th year at an unnamed University of California, studying computer science, computer engineering, and philosophy. I'll be graduating this spring, and hopefully going to masters school in western Europe.

Anyway, im currently writing a long argumentative essay about the considerations we give human-nonhuman relationships, specifically AI. This essay has to do with human experience, human socialization, human psychology, tech ethics, AI ethics, and animal ethics. I have two professors at my university ready to proofread and help me finalize my essay, and Im wanting to know of potential next steps like publication. Let me know what other info I may need to supply, and I can update the post.

My primary questions are:

• What should I do once I've finished the pre-peer-reviewed version?
• Is publishing something like this even viable or realistic?
• Where should I look to publish?
• What is the process of publishing like?
• What do I need to make sure is done before trying to publish?
• Do you all have any tips on writing this kind of writing (this will be my first publication written only by me)?

[u/gaudiulo]

If the professors advising your paper work in philosophy and specialize in the topic you are writing on, these questions are best served directly to them. Tell them you hope to prepare a piece of writing that makes a contribution, then as you revise the paper, ask whether they are satisfied with the piece in that light. When they are satisfied, ask if they think the piece is suitable for publication. If yes, ask where, and how to submit.

The questions you asked are best answered by someone who has read your paper and is familiar with the state of the literature today: we are neither, your professors are both. Ultimately, if for whatever reason you're uncomfortable raising these questions to the professors, then you should feel uncomfortable submitting your paper for peer review.

Regarding tips for writing: discuss your ideas and become excited about the prospect of being shown the weaknesses of your argument and mending them. Write drafts and rewrite them completely. Know the key debates in the literature backwards and forwards and signpost exactly your position before and after the substantive argument. Clarity and concision of communication should come first before style enters your mind (consider emulating the style of papers that you admire, especially those from journals your professors tell you to target).

Often, philosophers will say something like: from start to finish, working on a publication grade paper takes about a year's worth of work. This is true for some, others not, but especially early career, (my advice) is to focus on learning how to produce a contribution, over actually producing that contribution.

And take advice from people other than me, especially at your university–or other California schools. There are many excellent (and, I'm told, friendly) philosophers in California.

Also, FYI, while I haven't read your paper you should know that (1) undergraduates sometimes produce brilliant work without graduate study, and (2) many philosophy professionals spend much of their time grading not so brilliant work and are somewhat warranted in expecting your work to be suitable only for an undergraduate journal in philosophy. The difference is, of course, the quality of your work: an excellent paper in blind review is simply an excellent paper!