Papers from the December 2016 special issue of IJE are now all available online. Several are open access, and I attach these.

Philosophers who want to engage with real life science, on topics relating to causation, epidemiology, and medicine, will find these papers a great resource. So will epidemiologists and other scientists who want or need to reflect on causal inference. Most of the papers are not written by philosophers, and most do not start from standard philosophical starting points. Yet the topics are clearly philosophical. This collection would also form a great starting point for a doctoral research projects in various science-studies disciplines.

Papers 1 and 2 were first available in January. Two letters were written in response (being made available online around April) along with a response and I have included these in the list for completeness. The remaining papers were written during the course of 2016 and are now available. Many of the authors met at a Radcliffe Workshop in Harvard in December 2016. An account of that workshop may be forthcoming at some stage, but equally it may not, since not all of the participants felt that it was necessary to prolong the discussion or to share the outcomes of the workshop more widely. At some point I might simply write up my own account, by way of part-philosophical, part-sociological story.

1. ‘Causality and causal inference in epidemiology: the need for  a pluralistic approach‘ Jan P Vandenbroucke, Alex Broadbent and Neil Pearce. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyv341
2. ‘The tale wagged by the DAG: broadening the scope of causal inference and explanation for epidemiology.’ Nancy Krieger and George Davey-Smith. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw114
   1. Letter: Tyler J. VanderWeele, Miguel A. Hernán, Eric J. Tchetgen Tchetgen, and James M. Robins. Letter to the Editor. Re: Causality and causal inference in epidemiology: the need for a pluralistic approach.
   2. Letter: Arnaud Chiolero. Letter to the Editor. Counterfactual and interventionist approach to cure risk factor epidemiology.
   3. Letter: Broadbent, A., Pearce, N., and Vandenbroucke, J. Authors’ Reply to: VanderWeele et al., Chiolero, and Schooling et al.
3. ‘Causal inference in epidemiology: potential outcomes, pluralism and peer review.’ Douglas L Weed. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw229
4. ‘On Causes, Causal Inference, and Potential Outcomes.’ Tyler VanderWeele. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw230
5. ‘Counterfactual causation and streetlamps: what is to be done?’ James M Robins and Michael B Weissman. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw231
6. ‘DAGs and the restricted potential outcomes approach are tools, not theories of causation.’ Tony Blakely, John Lynch and Rebecca Bentley. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw228
7. ‘The formal approach to quantitative causal inference in epidemiology: misguided or misrepresented?’ Rhian M Daniel, Bianca L De Stavola and Stijn Vansteelandt. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw227
8. ‘Formalism or pluralism? A reply to commentaries on ‘Causality and causal inference in epidemiology.’ Alex Broadbent, Jan P Vandenbroucke and Neil Pearce. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw298
9. ‘FACEing reality: productive tensions between our epidemiological questions, methods and mission.’ Nancy Krieger and George Davey-Smith. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyw330