“Editors are pleased to receive death threats on the third Thursday of the month:” A new journal launches

There’s a new journal in town.

Inference’s first issue includes a lengthy review of a laboratory by a tennis instructor, a set of caricatures, and an exchange of emails from 1996 that is “perhaps, less remarkable for what it says than for the fact that it took place at all.”

In short, its editors — who “would prefer to remain anonymous” — seem to share a sense of humor with the editors of the Journal of Universal Rejection or the Proceedings of the Natural Institute of Science:

Although the editors appeal to experts for advice, Inference is not peer-reviewed. Writers must please the editors. They need please no one else.

A list of appropriate topics for the journal is best described as random, ranging from “The difference between plants and animals” to “The principle of mediocrity.” The editors also taught us a new word, “objurgation,” in their guidance on letters:

Inference welcomes letters addressed to its various essays. Letters must be addressed to issues of fact or argument. Expressions of indignation are unwelcome unless they are from correspondents with a marked talent for objurgation. Phrases such as “tired old playbook,” “denialism,” “overwhelming consensus,” “spew,” “smoke and mirrors,” “cherry picking,” “credential mongering,” “quote mining,” “God of the gaps,” “citation dump,” “tired old argument,” “selective misunderstanding,” “cognitive dissonance,” “rehash,” “litany of tediously fallacious arguments,” “red herrings,” and the like are, even if merited, overused to the point of rhetorical exhaustion. Letters will be edited to conform to house style. All French nationals wishing to send a letter must first apply in writing. Thirty to forty pages of supporting documents must accompany each application. The precise nature of the required documentation is subject to constant change and thus will not be specified at the time of application. Applications must be handwritten in Afrikaans. Due to industrial action of an unspecified and ongoing nature, we will not be able to accept any applications for the foreseeable future.

Tomorrow being the third Thursday of October, take note:

Editors are pleased to receive death threats on the third Thursday of the month.

Hat tip: John Mashey