Biosemiotics on Twitter and Facebook

Our journal Biosemiotics is now officially on Twitter and Facebook:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Biosemiotics1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Biosemiotics

Do follow us there to stay up to date, interact and share biosemiotic publications!

2nd survey conducted by Biosemiotics - 'Umwelt' (the biosemiotic glossary project)

Dear all,

on behalf of the journal Biosemiotics, I refer you to a questionnaire which we now distribute in the biosemiotic community in preparation of the second review article in the biosemiotic glossary project. Carlo Brentari, Riin Magnus and I have been assigned as authors of this scientific article, which will review the term ‘Umwelt’ (in the sense established by Jakob von Uexküll in his Umwelt theory). As part of the editorial process, each review article will, when submitted, be distributed to the members of the editorial board of Biosemiotics and further to those cited in the article, for feedback. 

A survey in the biosemiotic community is conducted in preparation of each review article. The associated questionnaire, which is to be returned to me as handling editor, is distributed to a wide range of biosemioticians, including but not necessarily restricted to/via the members of the editorial board and advisory board of Biosemiotics, the biosemiotics email list (biosemiotics@lists.ut.ee), the board members of the International Society for Biosemiotic Studies (ISBS), the board members of the International Society of Code Biology (ISCB), and the Biosemiosis blog (http://biosemiosis.blogspot.com/).

The invited authors are tasked with describing the outcomes of the survey associated with their review article, and to do so systematically and in an unbiased manner. However, when it comes to synthesis and suggestions, they will have the freedom to propose their own view even if it contradicts the general/popular understanding.

The deadline for returning the attached questionnaire is August 20^th. It should be sent to my email address (mortentoennessen AT gmail.com or alternatively morten.tonnessen AT uis.no). The questionnaire (Word format) is available via my Academia.edu page, here.

My best,

Morten Tønnessen

Co-Editor-in-Chief of Biosemiotics

See also:

Questionnaire from Biosemiotics - and info about the biosemiotic glossary project (November 2013)

Message on the editorial board of Biosemiotics (Springer)

We are in the process of reorganizing the Editorial Board (EB) for the Biosemiotics journal, as we have explained at the recent 14th Gathering in Biosemiotics in London (June 30 - July 4). Please note that the new and revised editorial board will have fewer members than the current one.

The duties of the EB members are:

(1) To support Biosemiotics as the main journal of the International Society for Biosemiotics Studies (ISBS) and contribute to ensure its quality.

(2) To provide help in reviewing papers submitted to Biosemiotics and comply with journal guidelines and standards.

(3) To facilitate submission of high-quality papers to Biosemiotics, e.g. by writing reviews on topics of special interest, organizing Special Issues, or promoting the journal at various academic meetings and in communication with relevant scholars.

The main benefits of being a member of the EB are possibility to contribute to the development of biosemiotics as a discipline and free access to the electronic version of Biosemiotics.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the new EB, please, send us a message indicating your interest, with your CV in attachment. Please note that the Editors-in-Chief will jointly decide on the membership of the EB, and that we cannot guarantee any particular candidate a spot in the EB based on motivation alone. Our decision will in the main be based on the merit and competence of the candidates in core biosemiotics.

Our best,

Alexei Sharov

Timo Maran

Morten Tønnessen (mortentoennessen@gmail.com)

(Editors-in-Chief)

Questionnaire from Biosemiotics - and info about the biosemiotic glossary project

Dear all,

on behalf of the journal Biosemiotics, I refer you to a questionnaire which we now distribute in the biosemiotic community in preparation of the biosemiotic glossary project. The editorial team of Biosemiotics, which counts Alexei Sharov, Timo Maran and myself (note that in parallel Marcello is finishing the final issues he is responsible for the next few months), has decided to go through with this project, and that I will be its handling editor.

The genre for the resulting publications will be invited review articles. The first, standard-setting review article, on the notions ‘agent’ and ‘agency’, will be written by me personally. One review will be published in each regular issue of Biosemiotics – in other words, usually there will be two review articles per year. The first article will appear in no. 3/2014. Each article will review one or more terms.

While I am the handling editor for these review articles, all three of us will be involved in decision making. We will routinely discuss and decide on what term(s) to review next, what author(s) to invite to write each review, etc. As part of the editorial process, each review article will, when submitted, be distributed to the members of the editorial board of Biosemiotics and further to those cited in the article, for feedback. This will be part of the basis for our editorial decision concerning whether the review is ready to be published or needs revisions.

A survey in the biosemiotic community will be conducted in preparation of each review article. The associated questionnaire, which is to be returned to me as handling editor, will be distributed to a wide range of biosemioticians, including but not necessarily restricted to/via the members of the editorial board and advisory board of Biosemiotics, the biosemiotics email list (biosemiotics@lists.ut.ee), the board members of the International Society for Biosemiotic Studies (ISBS), the board members of the International Society of Code Biology (ISCB), and the Biosemiosis blog (http://biosemiosis.blogspot.com/).

The invited author(s) will in each case be tasked with describing the outcomes of the survey associated with their review article, and to do so systematically and in an unbiased manner. However, when it comes to synthesis and suggestions, they will have the freedom to propose their own view even if it contradicts the general/popular understanding. In the writing process, all assigned authors are expected to conduct an extensive literature review on their own as well.

All respondents to the first survey in the biosemiotic community are, as part of the survey, invited to propose specific terms to review. Suitable terms should be quite concisely used by several biosemioticians, and if the terms are in more general usage as well, the biosemiotic usage of the terms should somehow stand out from general usage.

The deadline for returning the attached questionnaire is December 15^th. It should be sent to my email address (mortentoennessen AT gmail.com or alternatively morten.tonnessen AT uis.no).

My best,

Morten Tønnessen

Co-Editor-in-Chief of Biosemiotics

PS: The questionnaire is available via my Academia.edu page, here.

Update on special issue 'Semiotics of perception'

The special issue of Biosemiotics 'Semiotics of perception' will appear as no. 2, volume 3, in August (guest editors: Kati Lindström and myself).

After a few changes have been made, the authors now include:
David Abram
Kalevi Kull
Kati Lindström
Timo Maran
Renata Sõukand & Raivo Kalle
Morten Tønnessen
Wendy Wheeler
Ane Faugstad Aarø

Abram's contribution is a chapter ("The discourse of the birds") from his forthcoming book Becoming animal: An earthly cosmology, to be published August 24th.

Collage of letters from the editorial team

At January 17, 2009, Marcello Barbieri wrote the following

"To the Members of the Editorial Team of Biosemiotics,
Dear friends,
Our Journal has just concluded its first year and I wish to have a brief consultation with you.
Please let me have a short comment on the three Issues of Volume 1, and your suggestions for the future. A few lines is all I need, so please let me have your feedback. " (...)

A long and vivid series of emails and discussion followed, and we decided to make that accessible to a wider audience here, hopefully to inspire and learn more about the diversity of opinions and approaches to biosemiotics.

The file with this "COLLAGE of Letters from the EDITORIAL TEAM", kindly compiled by Marcello, can be downloaded in a .doc and a .pdf version (click to download the full correspondance).
(Update of February 2: updated versions from Marcello here: download .doc and .pdf)
Best regards,
Claus