Author Guidelines
1. At the beginning of the article, include an abstract of the article (150 words or less).
2. At the beginning of the article, include your name, professional title (if any), and current institutional affiliation.
3. Notation Guidelines:
a. Use footnotes rather than endnotes.
b. Ordinarily, do not include any notational references in the text. However, where an article is devoted exclusively to a single work or a single author, or otherwise includes repeated reference to the same work, parenthetical citations to page numbers in the text may be used to avoid excessive endnotes.
c. In the initial citation to a work, use the full name (not abbreviations) for any book, journal title, author, etc.
d. State the publishing place and when citing articles or essays, the abbreviated series-name and number of volumes, or the names of series (such as SBLDS or VTSupp), indicating it with “, in:”
Examples:
(i) Nicolas Thomas Wright, Following Jesus. Biblical Reflections on Discipleship, Grand Rapids (MI) 1994.
(ii) Walter Brueggemann, “Preaching: A Sub-Version”, in: Theology Today 55 (1998), 196–212.
(iii) Duane Priebe, “Theology and Hermeneutics”, in: Studies in Lutheran Hermeneutics, ed. John Reumann, Philadelphia (PA) 1979, 297–301, 299.
e. For subsequent notes after the first entry, a shortened reference, “idem,”/”eadem,” (for the same author but a different title) or “ibid.,” is appropriate:
(i) Wright, Following Jesus, 47.
(ii) Ibid., 64. [Do not italicize or underline ibid.]
4. Format Guidelines:
a. Line Spacing. Use 1.5-spaced lines for the continuous text, and single-spaced lines for footnotes and indented quotations.
b. Word Spacing. Use one space between each word and after periods or other punctuation.
c. Font. Use a 12-point font throughout the document, and 10-point for footnotes.
d. Page Numbers. Do not number pages. Numbers will be added in final pdf of the journal.
e. Other than mentioned above please do not use any other or pre-set style.
5. Foreign Words:
Greek and Hebrew words may be used sparingly, in transliteration. Conform transliterations to The SBL Handbook of Style. Any foreign word used should be italicized and should include an English translation in brackets.
6. Scripture Citations:
a. For all citations, use the New Revised Standard Version. A different translation may be used to make a specific point. If another translation is used, include the standard abbreviation for the version in the citation (or give a full citation if no standard abbreviation exists).
b. Use the following abbreviations for biblical books. Note that no period follows the book abbreviation (example: Gen 1:1):
Gen Exod Lev Num Deut Josh Judg Ruth 1-2 Sam 1-2 Kgs 1-2 Chr Ezra Neh Esth Job Ps (pl: Pss) Prov Eccl Cant Isa Jer Lam Ezek Dan Hos Joel Amos Obad Jonah Mic Nah Ha Zeph Hag Zech Mal Matt Mark Luke John Acts Rom 1-2 Cor Gal Eph Phil Col 1-2 Thess 1-2 Tim Titus Phlm Heb Jas 1-2 Pet 1-2-3 John Jude Rev
7. Please include, with the manuscript, a brief biographical note about the author (1-2 sentences is sufficient) with current title, institution, email address, and most recent publication. The author’s name should also appear on the first page of the manuscript.
8. Headings: Provide headings for every main section of the article. If headings are not provided by the author, they will be added by the editors. Primary section headings should be in bold with the first letter of each word capitalized, flush left on the page, enumerated, and without any period. Secondary section headings should be in lower case with the first letter of words capitalized, in italics, flush left on the page.
Peer Review Process
The International Journal of Homiletics is a peer-reviewed journal. All submitted manuscripts are read by the Editor. Only those papers that are deemed most likely to meet our editorial criteria are sent for formal review. Those papers judged by the Editor to be of insufficient general interest or otherwise inappropriate are rejected promptly without external review.
The criteria for this initial judgment are threefold:
- content (the submission falls within the scope of the journal),
- quality (the submission has the minimum required academic level),
- formal (the submission is between the 6,000-8,000 words and is sufficiently anonymized).
Manuscripts judged to be of potential interest to our readership are sent for formal double-blind peer review to one or two external reviewers. Reviewers will anonymously fill in a peer review form, make suggestions and comments on the submitted manuscript, and suggest ‘acceptance’ (with minor or major revisions) or ‘rejection’. The editors make a subsequent decision based on the reviewers'
assessment.
The Editor will make every effort to reach a decision on a manuscript within two months of the submission date. Authors of accepted articles will receive a “Review Report” detailing any revisions that are required. Revised articles should be submitted within one month of acceptance.
Authors may indicate the names of reviewers by whom they do not want their articles be reviewed.
