The HOPOS Journal is moving to Cambridge University Press!

We are excited to announce that Cambridge University Press will publish the HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science beginning in 2027. Cambridge University Press, a part of the University of Cambridge, is the oldest publishing house in the world. The publisher of over 400 research journals, the press works to further the university’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning, and research. Founded to advance historically-informed, philosophical work on the sciences, HOPOS has, since its inception, become a central venue for scholarship on the history of natural philosophy and philosophy of science. This new partnership with Cambridge University Press marks an important step in the journal’s continued development and long-term sustainability. As part of the move to Cambridge, HOPOS will become fully open access (OA), with all content accepted for publication from Volume 17 to be published open access with a Creative Commons license. The costs of open access publication will be covered through agreements between the publisher and the author’s institution, payment of APCs for those with third-party funding, or else waived entirely, ensuring every author can publish and enjoy the benefits of OA. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the University of Chicago Press for its many years of outstanding partnership and support. University of Chicago Press has played a vital role in establishing HOPOS as a leading journal in the field, and we are deeply appreciative of their professionalism and dedication throughout our collaboration. The Society likewise thanks the editors of HOPOS who saw us through this transition – Lydia Patton and Matthew J. Brown. Their commitment to and engagement with this process have been substantial and unwavering. We look forward to working with Cambridge University Press and continuing our efforts to serve our authors, readers, and the broader scholarly community. Keep an eye out for more information about the partnership in the coming months. You can find CUP’s extensive FAQ here. Our FAQ can be found below.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

+ Will all future articles be Open Access?
Yes. All articles published through Cambridge University Press will be accessible without the need for payment or subscription.

+ Will articles published before 2027 be free?
Articles published before 2027 (HOPOS volumes 1-16) will remain available to all HOPOS members through the Cambridge University Press portal as a benefit of membership. Non-members will be able to access articles using an institutional or private subscription to Cambridge University Press resources, or by paying per use.

+ How will the change of press affect individual memberships?
HOPOS memberships will not be affected. If you are already a HOPOS member, you will continue to be a member until your membership lapses. If you are a HOPOS member with a print subscription to the journal, please contact us for a pro-rated refund of the journal’s printing charge. If you only have an online subscription, you need not do anything – online subscriptions to the journal have always been a free benefit of membership; only print subscribers paid money that went to the publisher.

+ How will the change of press impact the submission process?
The journal submission and editorial system will remain unchanged.

+ Will authors need to pay to make their articles Open Access?
No. The costs of Open Access publication will be covered through agreements between the publisher and the author’s institution, through payment of APCs for those with institutional or third-party funding for such purposes, or else waived entirely, ensuring every author can publish and enjoy the benefits of OA. Further information on Cambridge’s Open Access model can be found here. The extensive list of institutions with existing agreements with Cambridge University Press can be found here.

+ Why should I remain a member of HOPOS if the articles are free?
Maintaining membership in the Society remains extremely important even though the journal is now open access. Open access does not eliminate the costs of publishing. Continued membership sustains the Society’s partnership with Cambridge University Press and supports the peer-review process, editorial standards, and the journal’s long-term quality and independence. Members contribute not just as readers but as authors, reviewers, and editors, maintaining the journal’s visibility and intellectual vitality. Membership is not primarily about access to content, but about supporting the system that produces, evaluates, and disseminates that content for the benefit of our field. In other words, you’re helping keep the quality and continuity of our journal, even if you personally no longer need a paywall to read it.

Membership fees also fund core HOPOS activities and provide benefits that open access does not replace, especially during our biennial conference. These include travel grants for graduate students and recent PhDs, professional recognition, but also voting rights in HOPOS’ governance.

Finally, membership signals affiliation with the HOPOS scholarly community—an important benefit, especially for early-career researchers.