 | |
Type of site | Online encyclopedia |
|---|---|
| Created by | James Fieser |
| Editor |
|
| URL | www |
| Launched | 1995 |
| ISSN | 2161-0002 |
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) is a scholarly online encyclopedia, dealing with philosophy, philosophical topics, and philosophers.[1] The IEP combines open access publication with peer reviewed publication of original papers. Contribution is generally by invitation, and contributors are recognized and leading international specialists within their field.[2][3]
The IEP was founded by philosopher James Fieser in 1995, operating through a non-profit organization with the aim of providing accessible and scholarly information on philosophy.[4] The current general editors are philosophers James Fieser and Bradley Dowden, with the staff also including numerous area editors as well as volunteers.[5][6] The entire website was redesigned in the summer of 2009, moving from static HTML pages to the open-source publishing platform WordPress.[7]
The intended audience for the IEP is philosophy students and faculty who are not specialists within the field, and thus articles are written in an accessible style.[8] Articles consist of a brief survey or overview, followed by the body of the article, and an annotated bibliography.[9] Articles are searchable either by an alphabetical index or through a Google-power search mechanism.[9]
Similarweb analytics suggest that the IEP website is accessed worldwide between two and three million times per month.[10] Some 75% of this usage is through internet searches, 18% is through direct access, and 5% through referral, with the referring websites including other reference websites and university library guides.[10]
The IEP is included by the American Library Association in its listing of Best Free Reference Sites;[11] listed as an online philosophy resource by the Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations;[12] listed by EpistemeLinks as one of the "outstanding resources" in philosophy on the internet;[13] and listed as a reliable resource in many university philosophy guides.[14]
