About the KIEJ

History of the Journal

Now in its third decade of publication, the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal (KIEJ) is an interdisciplinary quarterly journal of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University. Over time, the journal’s focus has evolved as the field of bioethics has itself shifted and matured. In its early years, the journal emphasized traditional concerns in bioethics, such as the ethics of clinical research and physician-patient relations, but soon broadened its perspective to include moral issues in emerging medical technologies like human embryonic stem cell research and genetic testing. More recently, the journal’s purview has expanded to include normative aspects of human health and well-being, such as public health ethics and environmental justice, as well as ethical and social issues in science practice. Today, the editorial team continues to expand the journal’s horizons to keep the journal at the forefront of further developments in the discipline: only fitting for a journal which has for so long been a leader in the field.

Mission Statement

The KIEJ seeks to publish philosophically rigorous and empirically informed articles that explore the conceptual foundations and complexities of bioethical issues. The editorial team construes ‘bioethics’ maximally broadly, so as to include ethical, social, and political issues concerning public health, medicine, the environment, the natural sciences, nutrition, human embodiment, and sustainability and development, along with all standard bioethical topics.

We solicit in-depth articles (average 8,000-12,000 words) that combine detailed conceptual analysis with practical engagement. While we accept papers in all areas of bioethics, we are especially interested in publishing papers that explore ethical and social issues in science practice, and/or philosophical approaches to health, environmental, and science policy. We encourage articles that situate philosophical and ethical issues in a global context.

Prospective authors should feel free to contact the editorial team for advice concerning whether their manuscripts are suitable for submission to KIEJ and how to bring them in line with the journal’s mission.

Editorial Team

Rebecca Kukla, Editor-in-Chief

Rebecca Kukla, PhD, is a Senior Research Scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. Professor Kukla’s research interests include reproductive ethics and the culture of pregnancy and motherhood, public health ethics, the ethics of health communication, research ethics, methodological issues in medical research, and the social epistemology of medicine. Much of her research bridges bioethics, epistemology, and philosophy of language. Of late, she has particularly been interested in ethical and epistemological issues surrounding risk reasoning and communication. She explores these issues at all levels of medical practice, from trial design and the interpretation of scientific results, to evidence-based medicine guidelines, to physician-patient communication, to health promotion campaigns and media representations of risk, to laypeople’s judgments and discussions about risk.

Michael Barnes, Managing Editor

Michael Barnes, MA, is a PhD candidate in the Department of Philosophy at Georgetown University. His research interests in bioethics include the ethics of medical research (especially issues of exploitation), associative duties, and the framework of the capabilities approach. Originally from Canada, Michael received a BA from York University in Toronto, an MA in philosophy from Carleton University in Ottawa, as well as a BEd from the University of Toronto.

McKay Holland, Assistant Managing Editor

McKay Holland, MA, is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at Georgetown University. Before joining the department at Georgetown, McKay earned an MA at Brandeis University focusing on moral psychology. He is currently writing a dissertation on the social and environmental bases of agency, selfhood, and social belonging.

Sara Kolmes, Book Review Editor

Sara Kolmes, MA, is a PhD student in the Department of Philosophy at Georgetown University. Her research interests in bioethics focus on analyzing clinical bioethical consults from an epistemological lens. Before joining the department at Georgetown, she earned MAs in both Philosophy and the History and Philosophy of Science at Florida State University, focusing on the structure of bioethical analysis and the history of the development of modern clinical ethics respectively.

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Editorial Board