My intention in putting together IPNOSIS is to stimulate a series of conversations about the varieties of psycho-practice that IPN encompasses and IPN as an institution. I intend to be an editor, though not an Editor. While I hope to be inundated with unsolicited material. I also intend to seek it out, to commission articles that redress a particular imbalance and to stimulate forms of conversation that are neglected. An example would be interviews, a much neglected form in the psycho-practice field.

Journals often have an informal board of worthies who lend a publication a spurious authority. Not IPNOSIS. However I'd welcome the development of an informal, credited, editorial board of people who contribute through writing regularly, suggesting or following up topics or writers, doing interviews, writing reviews, progress-chasing reviewers, collecting cuttings etc etc. If you think that includes you, get in touch.

I see IPNOSIS as having two audiences, the internal IPN audience of participants, group members and interested others, and parallel with this, the world of psycho-practice outside IPN and indeed outside the UK. I look forward to including material from and about IPN that has an eye to the world beyond it, and I will try to ensure that material from outside IPN has relevance for the network.

IPN is a possibly unique social innovation it is held together by glues of many kinds and consistencies and I hope that IPNOSIS will be one of them. While IPNOSIS is an initiative from within IPN, it does not speak for IPN.

Editorial scope
IPNOSIS expects to publish several distinct kinds of material:

• Articles written with IPNOSIS in mind, or relevant articles that have not been able to find a home elsewhere. I expect there will be four strands of these:
  • The political aspects of psycho-practice.
  • The theory and practice of sustaining social arrangements such as IPN
  • Developments in psycho-practice itself.
  • Personal experiences ie witness, testimony that shed light on IPN's purposes.
• Reports of events and developments in the field of psycho-practice, including interviews.
• Reviews of books and other media, including other psycho-practice journals.
• Press cuttings and snippets of gossip or rumour.
• Basic information about IPN and how to participate in it.

PEER REVIEW. As befits the self and peer validating nature of IPN, please have at least two other people read and comment on your text and take account of their feedback before sending it for inclusion. Expect some editorial dialogue about the article with possibly a request for additions or modifications. Except by agreement. I don't anticipate making any changes to IPNOSIS material.

LENGTH. There is no limit on length, however all articles should have a short summary/abstract and a contents listing. Each article should include, or be accompanied by, a brief statement of the author's background ie 'where they are coming from'. Articles which draw significantly on sources other than the writer's experience should include adequate references.

LEGALITIES. As the person legally responsible for this internet site, I reserve the right to reject material which is abusive or which may be defamatory. However, I hope that IPNOSIS will attract vigorous, direct, clear, whole-hearted writing.

TECHNICALITIES. The preferred format for IPNOSIS articles is rich text format .rtf files. Most word processors can produce them otherwise Word document format, or html if you know how to do it, is OK. In the worst case send a .txt text only file. nb obsolete formats cost £25 per disk to convert. While I am willing to correspond by post, please use e-mail where possible.

Non-Internet distribution
Many, even most people, do not have Internet access. I look forward to the emergence of informal local distribution arrangements for printing the items that participants want. IPNOSIS recognises this in its presentational style which is designed to be easy to print out and the IPNOSIS contents page will be included in the 'network communication'. If you have any suggestions about how distribution of IPNOSIS can be improved, please let me have them.

Copyright
Most psycho-practice journals not only don't pay for submissions, they require that you assign all rights to the journal. IPNOSIS doesn't pay for submissions and it seeks only the right to retain use of your submission for as long as IPNOSIS is in circulation. Authors retain the right to have their material published elsewhere. However, it is a fundamental part of IPNOSIS that visitors to the site be free to download material for their own personal non-commercial use If you are unwilling or unable to support that then IPNOSIS is not for you. If any IPNOSIS item infringes your copyright, let me know.