Submissions

Thank you for choosing to submit your article to the Journal for the Study of Religion (JSR).

Please note the following:

1. Only articles that fall within the scope of the JSR will be accepted. Articles that do not fall within the scope of the journal will receive desktop rejections. The journal’s main area of interest is the phenomenological and comparative study of the diversity of religions, religious traditions, and the religious movements and formations of Southern Africa. Since we foster the equal recognition of all religions, research on the prevalence, relevance, and practicing of World Religions in both local and global contexts is also encouraged. Research contributions may focus on any of the dimensions of religion, religiously shared, or specific values, and the historical and/or current problematization and contextualization of religions or religious discourse. Articles from a wide variety of academic fields such as philosophy, sociology, religion studies, anthropology, gender studies, theology and biblical studies, history, language studies, psychology, politics, economics, and related fields will be accepted as long as the primary concern of the research article explores the lived realities of religion(s). Transdisciplinary, multi-disciplinary, and cross-disciplinary articles are encouraged. Articles that primarily or only focus on promoting a theological position or examine the exegesis of a religious text will not be accepted for publication.
2. Articles must make a significant and original contribution to scholarship in the fields related to the study of religions.
3. For reasons of transparency, speed of reviewing, and typesetting, all articles should be submitted via the website of the JSR on the Open Journal System at the University of Johannesburg.
4. Articles should be submitted in Times New Roman, 1.5 spacing, and 12-pitch font. Headings should be in bold. The text must be justified but not the Reference list.
5. The submission of a research or review article implies that it has not been previously published and is not simultaneously considered for publication elsewhere. The responsibility for opinions expressed and for the accuracy of facts published in articles and reviews rests solely with the individual author(s).
6. Research articles must make an original contribution to the wider scholarship of religion in the social world.
7. Research articles must be between 5,000 and 6,000 words including the Reference list.
8. Article processing fees: Articles which are published in the JSR will be subject to an article processing fee at the cost of R8,000.00 per article. On acceptance of the article, the author(s) will receive an invoice for the amount due. Should the author(s) experience difficulties to afford these fees, they may contact the Editor-in-Chief. Payment must be made within 15 days after the paper is accepted and the proof of payment must be e-mailed to asrsafinances@gmail.com
9. Article and book reviews should approximately be 1,000 words. There are no APCs for review articles.
10. The following types of articles are also accepted: Letters, short communications, commentaries, and correspondence. APCs will not be charged for these.
11. All articles should be submitted in American English.
12. Essential author information that must be included for all authors associated with any article published with the JSR: The full name(s) of the author(s), the e-mail address of the author(s), detailed affiliation details of each author, and the ORCID IDs of the author(s).
13. For authors with multiple affiliations, their primary affiliation will be considered for institutional representation unless otherwise specified.
14. Where there is more than one author for an article, the authors must clearly outline the contribution of each author to the article. Only authors who have made a significant contribution to the article should be included. Language editing an article or offering advice on an article does not count as a significant contribution. A significant contribution should be one or more of the following: Substantive conceptual contribution; designing the article; data analysis; drafting the article; and/or critically reviewing the article.
15. Authors must agree on the contribution each of them has made to the article before it is sent through for the peer review process. The contribution of each author should be stated when the article is submitted to the journal for peer review.
16. All authors must provide final approval for the published version of the article.
17. Disclosure of conflicts of interest: During the submission process, authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, either in the cover letter or in a specific section of the journal’s submission system. This includes listing any financial or personal interests that could be perceived as influencing their work. Reviewers are also required to declare any potential or existing conflicts of interest before agreeing to peer review a manuscript. This ensures they are free from known biases related to the subject matter, facilitating a fair and objective evaluation.
18. Acknowledgment of funding must be stated if funding was received for any part of the research or writing process of the article. This acknowledgment should be included in a dedicated section at the end of the manuscript, before the References.
19. After the heading, a submitted article must include an abstract of approximately 100 words summarizing the main contentions of the article. It must also provide brief details about the author(s) and their e-mail addresses, and with at least five keywords added.
20. Articles must be submitted in full, containing all the relevant notes, bibliographical references, and tables. Titled tables and captioned figures must be done professionally and must be legibly cited in the text. (The Editors will not redraw any figure unless the author pays for the cost of such work.)
21. The JSR supports the use of gender-inclusive language.
22. Please use footnotes and not endnotes.
23. The Editors reserve the right to copyedit and proofread all articles accepted for publication. Authors will first receive their copyedited manuscripts in Word format and finally in PDF format.
24. Manuscripts must provide sufficient detail regarding the methods and materials used in the study to ensure that the work is reproducible or replicable by others. This level of detail is essential for transparency, verification, and the advancement of knowledge.
25. All references should be cited inside the text with a full stop following the closing bracket: (Chidester, 2000, p. 34).; or: According to Chidester (2000, p. 34). When referring to more than one author, write out all the authors when referring to them for the first time; afterwards use et al.: Richter, Flowers and Bongmba (2017, p. 13) argued; according to Richter et al. (2017, p. 14). Sources with four or more authors: Give all the authors in the Reference list, but use et al. in the text.
26. Reference list: The Reference list should be in Harvard style (please see below). This list should contain all the sources used inside the text in ascending alphabetical order.
27. Authors must submit a Turnitin or iThenticate report with their manuscript. Each manuscript will be submitted to Turnitin after it has gone through the review process and before it is language and copyedited. Should a Turnitin score of more than 10 be identified the article will be rejected for publication.
28. Use of AI in the research, analysis, and/or writing of a research article. Any use of AI and Generative AI must be declared according to the AI policy of the JSR. For more information, please see the AI policy of the JSR, outlined on the website.
29. For empirical research, submit your manuscript as well as the ethical clearance letter received from your institution to do the research you have done. For authors who have not received ethical clearance from their institutions, proof of consent from all the research participants will be required. There may be instances where empirical research has been done but ethical clearance was not required. If this is the case the authors are requested to add a short note to their article explaining why ethical clearance was not required for their empirical study.
30. All articles submitted to the JSR undergo a double-blind review process by expert reviewers on the topic of the article. The peer reviewers should not in any way be affiliated to any of the authors of the article either by being at the same institution, having previously co-authored with any of the authors, or have been a supervisor of any of the authors. Reviewers are not remunerated for reviewing articles in order to keep the APCs low and ensure the integrity of the review process. For these reasons it can take some time for the JSR to find suitable reviewers willing to review the article. The review turnaround time of the JSR is therefore approximately eight months.

JSR Referencing

The JSR uses an adapted Harvard referencing system.

Referencing Inside Text (Academic Articles)

All data, program codes, or anything else used inside the article must be cited appropriately, using the Harvard Method as adapted by the JSR. The citation must be done inside the text as well as in the Reference list – both indicated below. Each listed source in the Reference list must have (if available) a DOI. The easiest way to obtain a DOI is on https://apps.crossref.org/SimpleTextQuery

 Referencing inside the article

•  

• One author: (Settler, 2022); Settler (2022).
• Two to three authors: (Simmonds and Roux, 2023, p. 28); Simmonds and Roux (2023, p. 28).
• Four authors and more: (Davis et al., 2019); Davis et al. (2019) (Please give all the authors in the References.)
• Multiple citations: (Singh, n.d., pp. 23-24; Davidson, 2015; Harding, 2018).
• Original date: (Luther, [1725] 2022); Luther ([1725] 2022).
• Online source: (Zille, 2011); Zille (2011).
• WhatsApp messages: (Sunni Ulema Council, 2023); Sunni Ulema Council (2023).
• Any direct quote needs a page number inside the text. Also, if the author includes the ideas of another scholar from a specific page or page range in a source, rather than direct quotation, Harvard also requires the author to include a page number. For the other quotes they only need an author and a date.
• Sources with no page numbers: If the author needs to indicate a page number, they may use an alternate locator such as a subheading or paragraph number: (Cronjé, 2024, para. 4).
• Short quotations (up to 3 lines):

It was reported that ‘findings show children have a high level of enjoyment, while exercising with the system as indicated by the positive responses to all three questions’ (Fitzgerald et al., 2008, p. 66).

• Long quotations (longer than 3 lines): 

The fourth question collected some feedback from children and while most provided positive comments a small number of children (n=13) mentioned that the wobble board was ‘difficult to control’ or ‘hard to use’. We must therefore investigate some easier methods to control the game as an option for some children. Future research is needed to investigate the benefits of the system as an exercise intervention for children and to examine how training using Wobbleball could be integrated into the existing physical education curriculum in schools (Fitzgerald et al., 2008, p. 66).

• The text is justified, but not the References. Paragraphs follow on each other with 1 cm indentation.

 

Format for References in Reference list (not justified)

• A bibliography is a list of all sources used in research, even if an author did not cite them.
• A Reference list is a list that only includes sources cited inside the text. We work with a Reference list.
• List all sources alphabetically by author surname.
• List multiple works by the same author chronologically.
• Provide names for all listed authors, no matter how many there are.
• Use italics for titles of standalone works, such as books and journals

Journal article by one author

Settler, F.C. (2022) ‘Frantz Fanon’s ambivalence towards religion and politics,’ Journal for the Study of Religion, 25(2). 8 pages. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2010.527639

Journal article by two authors

Simmonds, S. and Roux, C.H. (2023) ‘Engaging with human rights and gender in curriculum spaces: A religion and education (RaE) perspective,’ Alternation Special Edition, 10(4), pp. 76-99. https://doi.org/10.1081/03257070.2023.527638

Book by one author

Chidester, D. (1997) Savage systems: Colonialism and comparative religion in Southern Africa. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press. https://doi.org/10.1280/03257070.1997.527439

Book by two or more authors

MacKinnon, M.H., McIntyre, M. and Blantyre, D.T.M. (n.d.) Readings in ecology and feminist theology. Kansas City: Sheed and Ward.

Book by one editor

Webb, G.M., ed. (2000) Windows of faith: Muslim women’s scholar activists in North America. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. https://doi.org/10.1080/03457070.2000.52469

Book by two or more editors

Eaton, H. and Lorentzen, L.A., eds. (2003) Ecofeminism and globalization: Exploring culture, context and religion. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1057/03367870.2003.516789

Chapter in an edited book

Ter Haar, G. (2011) Religion and development: Introducing a new debate. In: Ter Haar, G. and Ter Haarem, G.M. eds. Religion and development: Ways of transforming the world. 5 vols. London: Hurst & Company, pp. 88-101. https://doi.org/10.1256/03476070.2011.547839

Translated book

Foucault, P.-M. ([1945] 1977) Discipline and punish. Sheridan, A. (trans.) New York: Pantheon.

Edited book

Luther, M. (1725) Sola Scriptura. Wolff, A. (ed.) New York: Pantheon.

Book or Article in press

Settler, F. (2023) ‘Frantz Fanon’s ambivalence towards religion and politics,’ Journal for the Study of Religion. In press.

Dissertation or thesis

Amaechi, K.E. (2019) Violence and political opportunities: A social movement study of the use of violence in the Nigerian Boko Haram. Thesis (or Dissertation), Department of Religious Studies and Arabic, UNISA, Pretoria.

Conference paper

Politis, Y. (2024) The blueprint for success: Action mapping in curriculum development. Paper presented at the 16th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies, Palma, Spain. 1 July 2024.

E-book

Levine, L.E. and Munsch, J. (2021) Child development: An active learning approach. 4th ed. London: Sage. Available at: https://books.google.ie/books?id=zlrZzQEACAAJ&dq. (Accessed March 25, 2022).

Online source

Zille, H. (2011) The case against appointing Judge Mogoeng CJ – Helen Zille. PoliticsWeb. June 26, 2022. Available at: https://www.politicsweb.co.za/news-and-analysis/the-case-against-appointing-judge-mogoeng-cj--hele. (Accessed March 20, 2023).

Album or YouTube

Badenhorst, N. (2019) FOR SA Roadshow May 2019 – Part 1. YouTube. June 12, 2019. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VkQwVyS57I&feature=youtu.be. (Accessed October 11, 2022).

WhatsApp Message

Sunni Ulema Council, Gauteng. (2023) Press release: Adherence to the lockdown. April 7, 2023. WhatsApp message. (Accessed April 9, 2023).

Webpage

Dundalk Institute of Technology. (2022) Research support. Available at: https://www.dkit.ie/research/research-support.html. (Accessed March 25, 2022).