WWDD? (What Would Darwin Do?)

We have just celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. While I hope we all rejoiced in the success of evolutionary biology and its continued growth, we should not become complacent. Although these are indeed events to celebrate, we still face the real threat of general ignorance of Darwin’s ideas. World leaders (or would-be world leaders) still promote superstition, stories and unthinking acceptance of dogma over scientific evidence. Evolutionary biologists have succeeded in investigating the magnificence, the wonder, the complexity, and the detail of evolution and its role in generating biodiversity. Evolutionary biologists have been less successful in making this relevant to those who are not biologists (and even, alas, some biologists). Is evolutionary biology likely to thrive when governments demand an immediate return on their research investment? How do we begin to educate others as to the value and importance of evolutionary research? I do not begin to claim that I can fathom the mind of Darwin, but I cannot help wondering – what would Darwin do today? Would he respond? How would he respond? And, what would be the form of his response? All of the Darwin biographies that I have read suggest two things. First, although Darwin may not have engaged directly, he would not avoid the debate. He might not have presented television shows detailing the value of understanding evolution as a way of interpreting our world, but Darwin would have defended his ideas in the way he knew best – by pursuing science and gathering evidence to be presented at scientific meetings and in publications. This work would have been viewed first by trusted peers, to ensure that the arguments were clear and to avoid misinterpretations. Darwin clearly recognized the potentially inflammatory and challenging nature of his ideas on natural and sexual selection. And while Darwin left the public engagements to others, he did respond and defend his ideas in writing. Ultimately, it is scientific evidence that will win. Basic research is still the best argument for evolution. The value of evolutionary biology may need promotion, we may need to popularize, but the popularization of evolution and the development of applications for evolutionary biology will rest on basic research. The question then becomes where to publish this research. Darwin is best known for his books, but he was publishing his work 150 years ago. For the most part, today, we write scientific peer-reviewed papers. So if he wrote papers, where would Darwin publish? This is actually what I want to debate. I certainly do not suppose to suggest the specific journal or journals he would choose (even I am not so arrogant to suggest that the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, fondly known as JEB, would be the journal of choice for Darwin)! Rather, I am interested in thinking about the particular forum he would select. Darwin was shrewd and he recognized the value of putting ideas to the proper audience. Today, the accepted forum that ensures peer-reviewed or vetted publications is journals. While this could certainly change in future, there really is not a serious contender in 2009–2010. However, the sorts of journals that are available are undergoing changes. What sort of journal would Darwin choose? Would Darwin choose to publish in open access journals? Would he publish indiscriminately? What would Darwin do (Fig. 1)? I like to think that Darwin would choose Society-based journals to promote his ideas. I think he would want the support of other learned individuals that is implied by a Society, that he would want the Society to help in promoting his ideas. I believe he would support the other efforts of Societies to promote evolution and to debate the science at Congresses or meetings. I think this because in fact publishing is just one facet of scientific