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Author Guidelines
FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS:
Deadline for submission to the June issue is January 31st. Deadline for the December issue is June 30th.
The text is single-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
When available, the URLs to access references online are provided, including those for open access versions of the reference. The URLs are ready to click (e.g., http://pkp.sfu.ca).
All submissions should follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, 2003.
Guidelines for Peer-reviewed Articles
To qualify for peer review, submissions should be based on literary and/or empirical research and make an original contribution to theological librarianship.
Length--3000-6000 words (5-10 single spaced typed pages); query editors before submitting manuscripts that do not fall within these parameters.
Manuscripts should be submitted as an MS Word file and in Times New Roman 12 point font. All notes should be footnotes (not endnotes).
Submissions must include a cover sheet with the author's full name, affiliation, credentials (degrees, experience, etc.) and contact information (mailing address, e-mail, fax and phone #s).
Submissions should be accompanied by an abstract highlighting the significance of the article and its implications for the practice of theological librarianship. Abstracts for articles based on empirical research should include the research objective(s), method(s), result(s), and conclusion(s).
Articles based on oral presentations are acceptable on condition that they meet the other requirements for peer review.
Articles should be divided into sections with section headings.
Guidelines for Essays
The main purpose of the Essays section is to present and
discuss matters of significant import to the profession of
theological librarianship.
Length--any length up to 3000 words (5-7 single spaced pages). Authors with essay manuscripts exceeding the maximum should query the editors before submitting the manuscript.
Items published in the Essays section of the journal are not peer-reviewed and need not be research-based or attempt to make an original contribution to the field of theological librarianship.
Essays may take the form of opinion pieces on issues relating to theological librarianship, descriptions of various library-related features (programs, resources, facilities, management, etc.), or some other approach.
Guidelines for Bibliographic Essays
Length – The manuscript should range from 2,500-3,000 words (7 single spaced pages) and treat a minimum of 7 to 10 resources.
Abbreviations – Please avoid abbreviations for key terms or publications in the field under discussion as the readership will be interdisciplinary. When it is necessary to use the nickname for an author, field of study, or method, please provide a definition or the full name.
Content – Essays generally should contain the following elements:
1) Title
2) Introductory sentences or paragraph to provide the reader with some of the following information:
an understanding of the importance of the topic for religious studies, the reason for interest in the topic, the unifying foci of the essay the organizational principles in the essay a sense of the type of patron who might find the resources of particular use (the novice, the graduate student, the librarian, upper level researcher, or a blend of readers from different levels if different levels are being treated.).
3) The central content in which the author describes and evaluates the resources with special attention to how they relate to each other and to the discipline or topic under discussion. Authors should be sensitive to the fact that the readership is interdenominational and inter-religious.
4) Summary paragraph.
5) Works cited list (which includes in list from all of the works discussed in the essay). This should be formatted in accordance with the conventions of the Chicago Manual of Style
Format & Style --
1) Cover Page: Please include a cover page that includes your name, title of the Bibliographic Essay, your institutional affiliation, and contact details (phone, e-mail, address). As the Essays will be submitted to a double blind peer review process in which neither reviewers nor authors will not be identified to each other, please do not include your name in headers/footers, or self-identify in the text or footnotes. This will help insure the integrity of the review process.
2) Foreign words and languages should be kept to a minimum. When it is necessary to render a word in a foreign language, please also provide an English translation. If the word is to be rendered in a special font (Hebrew, Greek, Cyrillic, Korean, etc, please also provide a transliteration in parenthesis should there be complications with typesetting.
3) Within the body of the essay, titles should be in italics. The City of publication, Publisher, and year should follow in parentheses. Hence:
Jane Jones’ treatment in Understanding Religious Ethics (New York: Trumpet Sound, 2003) is an excellent example….
4) A works cited list is required and should follow the conventions of the most current edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. Entries should be alphabetical by author’s last name. Only works explicitly treated in the essay should appear in the works cited list.
5) With regard to style, please be aware that autobiographical pieces (those with the pronouns “I / We / You”) are discouraged. Please recast any essays written from a first person perspective before submitting them for consideration.
Additional questions or for assistance in developing a topic for an essay, please contact Beth Sheppard (847-866-3877).
Critical Reviews
Reviews in Theological Librarianship will primarily cover reference type material (both print and electronic), electronic databases, professional library literature of interest to theological librarians, and other items deemed appropriate by the reviews editor. All submissions in this category undergo an internal editorial screen and review process and must conform to our style guide. When you receive your review copy, please send a short confirmation notice to the critical reviews editor, Melody Layton McMahon. Please refer to the following guidelines as you write your review.
Please include at the beginning of the review (in the following format):
Author. Full title of the book. Place: Publisher, Date. Number of pages, Price. ISBN.
Example: Michael McClymond, ed. Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007. 2 vols: 1178 pp. $225.00. Hardbound. ISBN: 0313328285 (set).
The review should begin with a brief description of the book or online resource. Describe the intended audience of the resource. Discuss its strengths and weaknesses. Assess whether the author's aims are achieved. Provide an analysis of the author's style and presentation. Does it have a particular perspective or does it present all sides of an issue objectively. Note whether you would recommend it for purchase.
Do not use end notes. Any references should be included in parentheses in the body of the review.
The average review should be approximately 1500 words (reviews of monographs on topics of professional interest to theological librarians may be shorter).
List your name and affiliation at the end of the essay.
Reviews should be submitted using the Online Submission form on the journal website within two months of receiving the book or the book must be returned. Reviews should be single-spaced, using a 12-point font; and employing italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses).
Questions should be directed to the critical reviews editor.
Submission Preparation Checklist
As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
- The submission file is in Microsoft Word format and has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration.
If the submission is for a peer reviewed section of the journal (articles or bibliographic essays) and is based on an oral presentation, it has been revised as necessary. - Submission includes a cover sheet with author's full name, affiliation, mailing address, e-mail, and phone #.
Submissions for peer-review should include author's qualifications (degrees, experience, etc.) - Article submissions are accompanied by an abstract (100-200 words) highlighting the significance of the article and implications for theological librarianship. Abstracts for articles based on original research may be longer (200-400 words) and include objective(s), method(s), result(s), and conclusion(s). Abstracts are not required for book reviews or bibliographic essays.
- The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
- If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.
Copyright Notice
This is an agreement between the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) and the author for the publication of the submitted article in the online journal “Theological Librarianship.” By submitting this agreement, the author and the ATLA agree as follows:
1) The author grants to the ATLA the exclusive right of first publication in the article, as well as the ongoing and perpetual non-exclusive right to reuse and republish the article for any purpose, including, but not limited to, the right to copy, migrate or convert the article, without alteration of the content, to any medium or format to ensure continuous access and preservation. The author agrees that the article may be used and published by the ATLA in electronic or printed format and/or in any other medium now in existence or that may be created hereafter.
2) The ATLA will publish and distribute the article worldwide in the online journal “Theological Librarianship” using a Creative Commons “Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works” license. The author understands and agrees that this license permits users of the journal to print and/or copy the article for noncommercial purposes. The ATLA will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the author’s name remains clearly associated with the article.
3) Except for the rights granted to the ATLA in this agreement, the author retains ownership, including all other copyrights, in the article and may republish the article in any format and at any time subsequent to publication in “Theological Librarianship.” The author agrees, however, to acknowledge in all subsequent publications that the article was first published by the ATLA in “Theological Librarianship.”
4) The author represents and warrants that the article is his or her original work and that it either has not been published or submitted for publication in any prior forum, or that it has been substantially revised and updated from a prior version. The author further represents that he or she has the right to grant this license to the ATLA and that, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the article is neither defamatory of any persons or products nor infringing upon any third party’s copyrights. If the article contains material for which the author does not hold the copyright, the author represents that such material is clearly identified and acknowledge within the text and that such use is either with the permission of the copyright holder or authorized by Title 17 of the United States Code.
5) In the event of any subsequent dispute over the copyrights to material contain in the article, the author agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the ATLA and its employees and agents for any uses of the article authorized by this agreement.
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