Call for Papers on the 100th Anniversary of the Scopes Trial
The Scopes trial, in which a young teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, was tried for violating a statutory ban on teaching evolution, took place one hundred years ago, and controversies over the teaching of evolution in the public schools of the United States have raged ever since. As recently as 2025, a bill in the North Dakota legislature sought to require the teaching of “intelligent design” — the latest incarnation of creationism — in the state’s public schools. The United States is not unique in experiencing such controversies, which are a concern to the global biological sciences community.
Bioscience will publish a special collection in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Scopes trial and invites contributions that address relevant topics in evolution, the teaching of evolution at the K–12 level and the college level and in informal education, and the surrounding historical and contemporary controversies.
Of particular interest are contributions that discuss the scientific testimony offered during the Scopes trial and review subsequent advances in the relevant fields, such as psychology, soil science, biological anthropology, geology, paleontology, zoology, developmental biology, comparative anatomy, biogeography, and experimental evolution.
We are also interested in contributions that discuss historical aspects of the Scopes trial or similar episodes, including the origin, variety, and development of individual and social attitudes causing resistance to the teaching of evolution, ways of defusing them, and ways of overcoming obstacles to evolution education and of teaching evolution more effectively at the K–12 level and the college level and in informal education.
The submission deadline is September 1, 2025, with publication by December 2025. We seek to have a wide range of topics that will inform a broad range of biologists, educators, and stakeholders about the historical and continuing importance of, and controversies over, the teaching of evolution.
We envision that most submissions will not be intended to present original scientific research. Authors should therefore consider submitting in the categories of Biologist’s Toolbox, Professional Biologist, Thinking of Biology, Biology in History, and Viewpoint, depending on the focus of their articles. Submissions in the Education and Citizen Science categories are encouraged to use evidence-based research to inform the questions posed by the article. For a full description of the BioScience submission categories with guidelines, please see our Author Guidelines.
Prior to submission, please send an email including a working title, author list, and brief description of your proposed submission to any of the Editorial Board members listed below, and cc BioScience Editor-in-Chief, Charles Fenster
Glenn Branch: [email protected]
Eric Fischer: [email protected]
Ross Nehm: [email protected]
Ali Whitmer: [email protected]
J. Arvid Ågren: [email protected]
Charles Fenster: [email protected]
