Skeptical Inquirer

The Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason.

CSI's mission statement is to "encourage the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminate factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public." The Skeptical Inquirer is an international magazine, but is not a formal scientific journal.

Content

The content consists of articles, columns, and book reviews that critically examine a variety of topics, such as extrasensory perception, homeopathy, astrology, SETI, the creation–evolution controversy, global warming, AIDS denialism, the historicity of legendary figures such as King Arthur, and controversial medical diagnoses like ADHD. In addition to topics that concern scientists and academics, the magazine also has a stated mission of examining subjects that interest the general public.^[2]

For the thirtieth anniversary of the Skeptical Inquirer in 2006, CSICOP founder Paul Kurtz listed four long-standing policies:

If an article criticizes a proponent of a paranormal claim, he or she is always given an opportunity to respond.^[3] Some have taken advantage of that opportunity (Suitbert Ertel and Michel Gauquelin, for example).

Cecil Adams of The Straight Dope calls the Skeptical Inquirer "one of the nation's leading antifruitcake journals".^[4]

History

The magazine was originally titled The Zetetic and was founded and originally edited by Marcello Truzzi. The first issue was in the Fall of 1976.^[3] About a year later there was a dispute regarding the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP): Truzzi wanted to include proponents of paranormal ideas in the group and the magazine. Following a no-confidence vote against Truzzi, he resigned, and the magazine was (starting with volume 2, issue 2) retitled Skeptical Inquirer and Kendrick Frazier (former editor of Science News) became the new editor.

It retained The Zetetic as a subtitle through volume four. The magazine was initially a bi-annual publication in digest size (15 cm by 23 cm). In about two years it changed to being a quarterly publication; then in 1994 it started being published bimonthly. In 1995 it became a full-sized publication (21 cm by 27 cm). Since January 1996, its subtitle has been: The magazine for science and reason. In 1998 the publication began printing on a glossy paper stock. As of 2010 Frazier is still the editor and Benjamin Radford is the managing editor. The magazine is headquartered in Amherst, New York.

On October 9, 2010 CSI met at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles to discuss future plans and to expand the Executive Council which is CSI's "official policy-making body". Organized by Executive Director Barry Karr the board announced the following members who also serve on the magazine's board. James Alcock, Kendrick Frazier, Ray Hyman, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Amardeo Sarma, Eugenie C. Scott, David E. Thomas, Leonard Tramiel and Benjamin Wolozin. (This list was expanded over subsequent months, adding Elizabeth Loftus and Karen Stollznow).^[5] It was also decided to resume CSI conferences, the next scheduled for Oct 27-30, 2011.^[6]

Collections

There have been several collections of articles from the Skeptical Inquirer, most edited by Frazier. A DVD and CD-ROM of all articles of the first twenty-nine years has been released. Books of collections of articles are:

• Paranormal Borderlands of Science (1981). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 0-87975-148-7.
• Science Confronts the Paranormal (1986). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 0-87975-314-5.
• The Hundredth Monkey: And Other Paradigms of the Paranormal (1991). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 0-87975-655-1
• The Outer Edge: Classic Investigations of the Paranormal (1996). edited by Joe Nickell, Barry Karr, and Tom Genoni, CSICOP. OCLC 37626835
• The UFO Invasion: The Roswell Incident, Alien Abductions, and Government Coverups (1997). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 1-57392-131-9
• Encounters With the Paranormal: Science, Knowledge, and Belief (1998). edited by Kendrick Frazier, Prometheus Books; ISBN 1-57392-203-X.
• Bizarre Cases: From the Files of The Skeptical Inquirer (2000). edited by Benjamin Radford, CSICOP. OCLC 45054771
• Paranormal Claims: A Critical Analysis, 2007, edited by Bryan Farha, University Press of America, ISBN 978-0-7618-3772-5. Five of the eighteen chapters are reprints of Skeptical Inquirer articles.

See also

• Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal)
• Skeptic (U.S. magazine)
• The Skeptic (UK magazine)
• The Freethinker (journal)
• Skepticism
• Scientific skepticism
• Critical thinking
• Freethought
• Pseudoscience
• Reason (magazine)
• The Skeptic's Dictionary
• Snopes.com
• The Straight Dope
• FactCheck

References

External links

• Skeptical Inquirer homepage
• CSICOP official site