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Authors are required to comply with the following items or their submission may be returned.
This submission:

All submissions must meet the following requirements.

  • Has not been published and is not under consideration at any other publication.
    • Note: prior conference presentation or posting of drafts on a site dedicated for open peer review is not considered ‘publication’ for these purposes
  • Is in Microsoft Word (DOCX), Open/Libre Office (ODT), or rich text (RTF) format.
  • Uses only Unicode fonts only.
  • Includes an abstract of 100–150 words.
  • Conforms to Chicago Manual of Style in-text author-date format for citations.
    • Endnotes are only included for commentary or other ancillary, discursive, or explanatory content.
  • Includes a byline consisting of the name, position, and institution for each contributing author.
  • Image formats comply with the Atla Open Press Visual Materials Guidelines.
  • Image placement and captions are included within the text in compliance with the Atla Open Press Visual Materials Guidelines.
  • Filenames
    • Use the first few words of the article title
      Example: The title “The Future of Theological Libraries” would be Future_of_Theological_Libraries.docx
    • Include material type and a number for supporting files
      Example: FutureTheologicalLibraries_Image3.png
  • Conflicts of Interest have been declared.
  • Personal information has been removed if necessary: If the submission is intended for peer review, it has been stripped of personally identifying authorial information in headers/footers, references, or embedded metadata. You must review our guide to anonymizing your document prior to submitting your manuscript.
  • Any AI generated content has been disclosed to the editor in submission comments according to the Atla Open Press AI policy.

Essays

Essays address trends, technologies, and practices affecting libraries and librarianship and discuss matters of significance to the profession.

Essays may take the form of:

  • opinion pieces on issues relating to theological librarianship and scholarly religious communication
  • profiles that highlight the life and work of long-time theological librarians who have shown special leadership and/or have made significant contributions to the library profession
  • descriptions of various library-related features (programs, resources, facilities, management, etc.)

Any length up to 6,000 words.

Research articles

Research articles make an original contribution to research and scholarship in theological librarianship and are subject to peer review.

Research articles may take the form of:

  • articles based on original research (using any methodology)
  • bibliographic essays discussing significant bodies of literature of interest to theological librarians and placing these in a broader intellectual and/or bibliographic context

Typically range from 4,000-12,000 words. These limits are not fixed, and authors are encouraged to consult with the editorial board if their articles fall outside this range.

Special forums

Special forums are periodically announced by the editors through a call for papers. Past forums have been organized around distance learning, exhibiting library collections on African Christianity, providing theological library services to the incarcerated, and other topics. 

Forum submissions:

  • are reviewed and curated by the editorial board and by the guest editor when there is one
  • are not subject to formal peer review 
  • do not need abstracts
  • may take the form of first-person narrative - sharing personal experiences or reflections or reporting of projects or initiatives at the author's institution
  • may take the form of third-person critique and analysis, theoretical treatments, or other conventional forms

Typically 750–1,000 words. Longer submissions will be accepted at the discretion of the editorial board or guest editor.

Critical reviews

Critical reviews primarily cover reference material in theology/religious studies (both print and electronic), electronic databases, professional library literature at the intersection of librarianship and theology/religious studies, and other items deemed appropriate by the editorial board of the journal.

Reviews typically range from 1,200-1,600 words.

Critical reviews instructions

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
  • identify whether the work has a particular perspective or presents all sides of an issue objectively
  • note whether you would recommend it for purchase
  • Include at the end the reviewer’s name and institutional affiliation 
  • Include the citation information at the beginning of the review in the following form:
    • For a book
      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. Hardcover. ISBN: 0313328285 (set).)
    • For an electronic resource
      Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Full title of the website. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site. Date of resource creation (if available). URL, DOI or permalink. Date accessed. (Example: Cooperative Digital Resources Initiative. American Theological Library Association and Association of Theological Schools. 2003-2015. https://www2.atla.com/digitalresources/. Accessed June 2, 2017.)

Reviews must be submitted within two months of receiving the book or the book must be returned.

When you receive your review copy, please send a short confirmation notice to the critical reviews editor at editors-tl@atla.com.

 

Deadlines

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. However, we offer the following deadlines for consideration of publication in a specific issue. Receipt of a submission by the below deadlines does not guarantee publication in a particular issue but will ensure consideration for a particularl issue. 

For the April issue, submissions must be received by:

  • November 1 - research articles, essays, and forum submissions
  • January 4 - book reviews

For the October issue, submissions must be received by:

  • June 1 - research articles, essays, and forum submissions
  • July 1 - book reviews

 

Submission Instructions

To submit a manuscript: 

  1. Register and log into our Open Journal Systems (OJS) submission system.

  2. On the Submissions page click “Make a New Submission” in the blue box.

  3. In the Submission form that opens:
    1. select the type of submission you are making from the "Section" dropdown
    2. review and acknowledge the submission checklist
    3. upload your files
    4. add details about your submission

NOTE:

  • If there are multiple authors, only one needs to complete the submission process.
  • Please be sure to include: 
    • the complete author, presenter, or submitter name 
    • the institutional affiliation for this person
    • the role for this person where appropriate 
  • Accurate and complete information is the responsibility of the submitter. Atla is not responsible for any spelling errors or for the omission of names of presenters or authors. 
  • Presentation slides, posters, and similar materials cannot be accepted for direct publication, but are encouraged to be linked in the submitted manuscript if available online.

 

Costs

Atla Open Press is committed to a peer-reviewed open access publication model without article processing charges, article submission charges, or other author fees.