About the Journal

Focus and Scope

The Journal of the Philosophy of Games (JPG) explores philosophical questions raised by the study of games. JPG is an open-access publication hosted by the University of Oslo, Norway. 

The journal pursues discussions about the general nature of games and gameplay and about their interrelation with technology, art, communication and social interaction.

We aim to identify emerging philosophical issues that arise from the presence of games in contemporary culture and society.

JPG has a primary emphasis on digital games. However, a portion of the articles will be dedicated to discussions that pertain to games and gaming in general.

JPG has an interdisciplinary profile and accept papers both from traditional philosophers and from scholars in other disciplines.

Peer Review Process

Each submission for a regular article will be subject to double blind peer review, and for relevant articles we aim to have both traditionally trained philosophers and games scholars as reviewers. Book reviews will receive a single blind review. Discussion notes are under editorial review.

Publication Frequency

The journal will have 1 issue a year. Items will be published as soon as they are ready in the online first issue.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Historical background

This journal springs from the the Game Philosophy Initiative, which was initiated with a collaborative seminar between IFIKK (University of Oslo) and The Center for Computer Game Research (IT-University of Copenhagen) in 2005. The initiative gave rise to the Philosophy of Computer Games Conference Series and this journal has been created to identify and elaborate the key problems in this emerging field.

Publishing fee

Accepted papers are published without a publishing fee.

Copy-editing

Please note that accepted manuscripts are not subject to detailed copy-editing. Upon acceptance, the author must enter the copy-editing workflow in the publication system and  carefully review her manuscript, paying special attention to spelling, punctuation, and grammar, as well as scientific content.

Authors who believe their manuscripts would benefit from in-depth professional copyediting are encouraged to use professional language-editing and copyediting services.

Guidelines for Book Reviews

JPG welcomes submission for book reviews. Please contact the editorial board to ascertain that the review will fit the journal profile.

The review should have the following information at the start: Author of the book. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, Date of Publication, ISBN-number, Number of pages, Price.

The review should provide an overview of the main objectives, themes and argumentation put forward in the book. The review should evaluate the weak and strong sides of its discussion. The review may assess how the book fits with other studies on similar topics, and comment on the potential value and impact of the book. We especially appreciate that the review succinctly identifies points of provocation that can serve to stimulate to further discussion.

The paper should be no longer than 4000 words excluding references and adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, Sixteenth Edition. The review will be submitted electronically on JPG’s website under the section “Book Reviews”.

The author must take care that professional relationships or other factors do not affect the neutrality of the review. The review will itself receive single-blind review. Upon publication, the final manuscript will have your name as you wish it to appear (no titles or degrees), along with your institution, and its city and or country at the end of the review.

Guidelines for Review of Regular Articles

Keep in mind JPG’s statements about focus and scope:

The Journal of the Philosophy of Games (JPG) explores philosophical questions raised by the study of games. 

The journal will both pursue discussions about the general nature of games and gameplay and about their interrelation with technology, art, communication and social interaction.

We aim to identify emerging philosophical issues that arise from the presence of games in contemporary culture and society.

JPG will have a primary emphasis on digital games. However, a portion of the articles will be dedicated to discussions that pertain to games and gaming in general.

JPG has an interdisciplinary profile and will accept papers both from traditional philosophers and from scholars in other disciplines.

We require that contributions from traditional philosophers should be well informed about games and that contributions that stem from authors in other fields must have a clear philosophical focus and interest value.

The paper should pursue a philosophical or a theoretical point for its own sake. Merely using philosophical literature e.g. as a background for an empirical discussion is not sufficient for the paper to fit the journal profile.

As a norm we require that the submission contains philosophical argumentation, but since this is an interdisciplinary journal we will allow some articles that do not satisfy this requirement.  In such cases, if you recommend the paper, please comment on why you think that it will be useful to philosophical debate.

Keep the following points in mind when filling out the form “Main Review Comments”

  • The reviewer comments should assess the submission in terms of what it contributes to existing discussion. Assess its significance, originality, as well its strengths and weaknesses.
  • Does the manuscript contain a clear statement of a thesis or argumentative strategy?
  • Does the paper adequately relate to relevant literature in the field? If not, what kind of literature should the submission relate to?
  • Reviewers should enter the role of a mentor, offering concrete advice on how to improve the manuscript. Please be specific about shortcomings (paragraphs in need of improvement or elaboration, weaknesses in argumentation, unnecessary references and so on).

The reviewer is required to declare that he or she does not have any conflicting interests.

Sponsors

IFIKK, University of Oslo

Wedel Jarlsberg Fond