On the occasion of the 40th issue of the European Journal of Analytic Philosophy (EuJAP), I am delighted to report that the journal is thriving. Since its inception, EuJAP has aimed to provide a forum for papers written in the tradition of analytic philosophy across all areas of philosophical study, with a focus on publishing high-quality contributions that address contemporary issues in analytic philosophy as well as those intersecting with neighboring disciplines. Since its inaugural issue in 2005, EuJAP has published more than 240 research articles, reviews, and discussion papers, along with 18 book reviews, contributed by over 270 authors. The journal publishes two issues per year, one of which is typically a special issue dedicated to a specific topic in contemporary analytic philosophy. Over the years, we have collaborated with more than 30 guest editors, who have played a crucial role in preparing special issues, and have relied on countless reviewers, whose efforts ensure the selection and publication of impactful papers. We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the smooth operation of EuJAP and to its mission of advancing analytic philosophy.
In recent years, we have witnessed a steady but significant surge in submissions. Over the last couple of years, we have been receiving approximately 70 submissions annually, with a rejection rate of around 80%. Most of the rejected papers are desk-rejected as they are deemed to be of lower quality and unlikely to receive a positive review from our referees. Additionally, since being indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, we have experienced an increase in what appears to be random submissions of papers that fall outside the scope of EuJAP. For instance, once EuJAP simultaneously received five papers from a single author, all dealing with topics related to tourism and hospitality in East Asia, accompanied by a query asking how much they needed to pay for their papers to be published in EuJAP. A clearer picture of rejection rates might emerge when focusing on papers that enter the review process. In this case, my rough estimate is that around 50% of externally refereed papers are eventually accepted.
EuJAP remains firmly committed to diamond open access publishing, with all its issues freely available through the repository of the Portal of Croatian Scientific and Professional Journals (HRČAK). This commitment is particularly noteworthy given the increasing volume of submissions and rising publishing costs, especially since we continue to produce printed issues alongside the freely available online ones. Journals published in Croatia have so far been able to sustain this model thanks to financial support from the Croatian government and university publishers. In this regard, we extend our sincere gratitude to our publisher, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, as well as to the Ministry of Science, Education, and Youth of the Republic of Croatia for their invaluable financial support. We also wish to thank the National and University Library in Zagreb for providing DOI identification numbers for our research articles.
We have been regularly publishing two issues per year since the first issue in 2005. There was only a “slight” delay with the publication of Volume 10, No. 2, in 2014, which was dedicated to the work of Professor Nenad Miščević (https://hrcak.srce.hr/en/broj/13340).
Let me take this opportunity to honor Professor Miščević, who passed away earlier this year. He was one of the key figures in contemporary philosophy in Croatia and probably it is not too much to say that he was a person who almost single-handedly introduced and popularized analytic philosophy in the country. He was certainly one of the main figures and supporters of the establishment of the Department of Philosophy in 1998 that eventually enabled the transformation of the old Faculty of Pedagogy in Rijeka into its modern format known as the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Even though Professor Miščević was not one of the founders of EuJAP—in fact, according to some anecdotes, EuJAP was created partly as a reaction to the success of the Croatian Journal of Philosophy (https://hrcak.srce.hr/en/cjp), where Professor Miščević was a founding member and lifelong editor—there would not be EuJAP without his support, mentorship, and wisdom. Without his influence, the Department of Philosophy at the University of Rijeka, and by extension EuJAP, would not exist today. To commemorate his life and work, our publisher, the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka, is organizing a conference dedicated to Professor Miščević, which is planned to take place in April 2025.
We are working to maintain EuJAP’s online presence and promote our papers across several social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter/X, and Bluesky. Additionally, we use the blog capabilities of our website to share news and highlight journal publications. Occasionally, I consider expanding these activities to include features such as acknowledging the most cited papers in EuJAP or selecting an editor’s choice of significant articles from the latest issue. However, such initiatives often remain unrealized due to limited resources, my own constraints, and the all too transient enthusiasm for such efforts.
Nonetheless, our efforts in running and promoting the activities of EuJAP have produced visible results. EuJAP is performing well on the scientometric front. The steady, linear progression of citations for EuJAP’s articles can be tracked on its Google Scholar web page. The journal is indexed by all major indexing services, including Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). Over the last two years, we have maintained our status in the first quartile (Q1) according to Scimago (2023), a database that derives publication metrics from Scopus. Furthermore, EuJAP is ranked in the first quartile for philosophy according to WoS’s Journal Citation Indicator (JCI). I remain hopeful that by continuing to publish impactful papers and promoting the journal through our editorial board members, authors, reviewers, colleagues, and social networks, we will sustain our position as an important venue for analytic philosophers and further enhance our standing within the global academic community.
It is worth noting, however, that despite its publishing success and established reputation, EuJAP is not currently recognized in Croatia for career advancement purposes. Similar to the Italian ANVUR classification system, Croatia employs a centralized system for classifying journals in the humanities, which determines their validity for career progression. This system divides journals into A1 and A2 categories as defined by the relevant matični odbor (field-specific board) for the humanities. The A1 category is supposed to include the highest-quality journals published in Croatia, while the A2 category encompasses all other journals meeting the minimal criteria for scientific publications in Croatia. Currently EuJAP does not belong to either the A1 or A2 categories, effectively rendering it non-eligible for career advancement in Croatia.
Earlier this year, we submitted EuJAP for inclusion in the A1 category. However, given the lack of transparency regarding the criteria for A1 classification—especially when examining the current list of A1 and A2 journals—we remain uncertain about the prospects of achieving this status. That said, our primary goal is not to become a popular local journal but to establish ourselves as a prominent venue for analytic philosophy on the European and global stage. I dare say, while currently sitting in one of the birthplaces of contemporary analytic philosophy, that we are on a promising trajectory to achieve this ambition.
EuJAP would not have achieved its current status without the diligent work of its past and current editorial boards, and especially its previous chief editors—Carla Bagnoli, Majda Trobok, and Luca Malatesti—who played pivotal roles in shaping the journal into its present form. Each of them faced and overcame distinct challenges, from founding the journal to maintaining its standards and fostering its growth. I remain confident that their foundational efforts have set the stage for EuJAP to continue thriving and establishing itself as a prominent platform for analytic philosophy.
Marko Jurjako Editor-in-Chief, European Journal of Analytic Philosophy Cambridge, UK, December 2024