The AJOB Experiment

On behalf of The MIT Press and the Editorial Staff at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics, we welcome you to The American Journal of Bioethics and thank you for participating in an experiment. We have been surprised at the quality and number of scholars who agreed to participate in these first issues, and overwhelmed by good will from all corners. There is a greater than minimal risk for any who join a new publication, but it is our hope that in the coming months your efforts will bring scholars, institutions, and methods together for a unique dialogue. Our hope is that The American Journal of Bioethics will demonstrate a direct benefit to you.

To be effective, bioethics must cross the many boundaries that separate disciplines, methods, and style of publication. There has never been more discussion of bioethics or more obvious need for broad public debate, but, paradoxically, specialization and sub-specialization in publishing has reached its zenith. The challenge of publishing in bioethics is a real and significant one: research of interest to a broad audience often needs to reach scholars in a special discipline, but also has implications that are sweeping for many in law, medicine, nursing, and public policy. This is the case, for example, with new technologies for sex selection, as is discussed in this issue. AJOBpublishes "Target Articles" on interesting, important, and timely topics. For each Target Article, we publish 15 to 20 "Open Peer Commentary" articles. Taking advantage of the power of the Internet in the production of AJOB, a group of scholars comment in an evolving discussion about the Target Article. In this first issue, we are pleased that so many prominent scholars have joined the discussion. Future issues include interaction focused on refining and synthesizing bioethics (normative philosophical work alongside data-driven papers, literary analysis combined with ethnography), and different approaches to the problems of health and science as they impact the work of bioethics. AJOB also seeks out work that embodies imaginative scholarship in more traditional publishing formats: Warren Reich's fine piece on the concept of care in Nazi Germany has important lessons for contemporary medicine and bioethics. Future issues will include book reviews and other more innovative features.

Our Internet site (AJOBonline) includes not only the contents in the print version, but such innovative features as a web portal to keep you updated on news, an online bioethics bookstore, tables of contents for more than two dozen journals, a live classroom to allow your students to join the debate with our authors, and other online-only content.

We are very grateful to all of the people at Penn and the MIT Press who have invested labor and love in this experiment. Our team of Managing Editors, staff, and supporters at Penn since the inception of this idea have given tirelessly to an endeavor that one described as inventing the wheel. Our editorial board and many authors have contributed effort that vastly exceeds the duties ordinarily expected in such roles. Now, we hope the benefits of the journal will outweigh the burden of your investment!

- Glenn McGee and David Magnus