Some thoughts on print versus online, open access, and web presence: Future directions for the JBI and growing its global community
By Michael A. Ashby and Leigh E. Rich
For some time now, the editorial board (and various subcommittees) of the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (JBI) has been giving a good deal of thought to some of the major issues that we (and other journals) must work through in the rapidly changing contemporary publishing environment. The evolution of open access publishing and the proliferation of blogs and web-based resources in all areas of life—including the worlds of academia and bioethics—is clear, and we need to come to a consensus about how to situate ourselves in this ever-changing landscape. There would appear broadly to be two lanes of academic publishing operating in parallel. One is the “fast food” online route, where conversations can occur almost in real time, and this is particularly relevant to a dialectical field such as bioethics. It is also thoroughly consistent with the JBI’s mission to promote international conversations about major bioethical issues that challenge us at home and in the world. However, to date the major strength of the journal has been in the “slow food” lane, in its capacity to promote and curate deep scholarship from a multidisciplinary perspective. The JBI has been particularly successful in its production of symposia and special issues, often cultivated by guest editors and through which in-depth examinations and conversations regarding specific pressing (or even long-standing) bioethical issues have taken place. The journal, however, has not hitherto been a major player in the online scene, and we are mindful that if you are not visible online, your existence in the modern world is questionable!
At the JBI we see our existence as ultimately more than just an academic journal; rather, the JBI aims to foster a community of bioethics scholars and practitioners from multiple disciplines and all corners of the world. To achieve this requires travel via both lanes, and to this end, the JBI has been trying to bridge distances and pick up speed in the virtual realm in order to grow this community, reach more places and cultures, and encourage not just faster but more and better dialogue. Leigh Rich, former editor of the JBI and now a consulting editor (membership in the JBI community is often considered lifetime!), has been working on our web development, and what follows is a summary of where things have reached. [continued …] 
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Ashby, Michael A., and Leigh E. Rich. 2016. Which lane should we be in? Some thoughts on print versus online, open access, and web presence: Future directions for the JBI and growing its global community. Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 13(4): 461–465.
