The Northern Plains Ethics Journal (NPEJ) is the first peer-reviewed ethics and philosophy journal in North Dakota. NPEJ is an effort of the Northern Plains Ethics Institute (NPEI) at the North Dakota State University (NDSU) to enhance the work of the NPEI in promoting the awareness and discussion of ethical and social issues affecting North Dakota and elsewhere.

The NPEJ’s three objectives and structure encourages wide participation in ethics and humanities discussions.

By creating a journal with three sections – peer-reviewed academic, community, and student scholarship - each stakeholder group can present their ideas to a larger audience than they otherwise could. As a result, scholars will have greater resources in publishing and research, in addition to the valuable resource base students and the general public with an interest in ethical issues can find online. More importantly, the NPEJ allows people to engage in humanities discussions that they might not otherwise encounter. The journal also provides an avenue for interested parties from out-of-state to gain an insight into ethical and social issues affecting North Dakota and elsewhere.

The NPEJ is timely for scholars and researchers within the North Dakota University System, as well as for other scholars in and out of North Dakota. Given the drive by the state’s university and college presidents and the Chancellor of Higher Education for research excellence, there will certainly be an increase in the level of research activity related to humanities, especially because of the economic growth and social transformation in the western part of the state. The NPEJ provides a valuable in-state opportunity for publishing North Dakotan research or research on issues affecting North Dakota, and making it widely available, as well as creating venues in which ethics can be published, researched, and discussed by local communities.

The Editors and the Editorial Board will be comprised of a diverse group of individuals, which will include NPEI members and people from the academic and local communities. The goal is to incorporate a variety of viewpoints so that the journal creates a marketplace of ideas that will allow the journal to be successful in its mission.