Author Guidelines

Scope & Article Types

JCAL publishes research on non‑canonical Christian texts and their receptions, from antiquity to the present. We accept the following categories:

  • Research Articles: 6,000–9,000 words (including footnotes). Double‑blind peer review by two readers.
  • Notes & Translations: 2,000–5,000 words (including footnotes). Double‑blind peer review by two readers.
  • Topical Forums: Multi‑author themed clusters or proceedings; internal (non‑anonymized) editorial review. Length arranged with the Forums Editor.
  • Book Reviews: 800–1,200 words; internally reviewed by the Book Review Editor; typically by invitation or prior arrangement.

Submission Files

  • Manuscript: Submit a single .docx (Microsoft Word) file. Use a Unicode font for all non‑Latin scripts; provide DOIs where available.
  • Figures/Images: Upload high‑resolution files separately and secure permissions as required; include credit lines in a caption list.
  • Supplementary Materials: Appendices such as extended tables, images, or ancillary textual materials; reference them in‑text (e.g., “see Supplement A”).

Style & Formatting

  • Reference Style: Follow the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) Handbook of Style, 2nd ed. (2014), including abbreviations and citations.
  • Notes: Use footnotes (not endnotes) and keep them concise and relevant to the argument.
  • Scripts & Transliteration: Use Unicode (e.g., polytonic Greek, Syriac, Coptic). Follow SBL transliteration conventions as applicable.
  • Layout: Standard academic formatting (readable serif font, double‑spaced main text, and consistent heading levels and captions).
  • Any image within an article should be accompanied by alt text for accessibility purposes. For guidelines on creating alt text, please see the Describing Visual Resources Toolkit.

    There's no specific formatting required in the manuscript, but treating the alt text description as an additional caption is a common approach. We recommend embedding the figures (or placeholders like "[insert fig1.jpg here]") at the appropriate locations in the document, each one followed by the caption (labeled with "Figure #"), and then followed by the alt text (labeled "Alt text").

Anonymized (Double‑Blind) Review

For Research Articles and Notes & Translations:

  • Remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and self‑identifying references from the manuscript file.
  • Mask self‑citations that would reveal identity where necessary (e.g., “Author”).
  • Upload a separate title page containing author names and affiliations.

Topical Forums and Book Reviews are not anonymized; they undergo internal editorial review.

Length

  • Research Articles: 6,000–9,000 words.
  • Notes & Translations: 2,000–5,000 words.
  • Book Reviews: 800–1,200 words.

Longer submissions should be discussed in advance with the Editors‑in‑Chief (Forum lengths are set with the Forums Editor).

Translations & Textual Materials (for Notes/Articles)

  • Identify base text(s): edition used and/or manuscript shelfmark(s) and sigla, and justify major textual decisions.
  • Provide a brief translation statement (principles; handling of lacunae; bracket conventions).
  • Ensure permissions for reproduced images or substantial textual excerpts; include required credit lines.

Book Reviews

  • Supply full biographical information on the book in the following format: Author, Title, Series, Number (Publisher, Date). ISBN. For example:

Andrew S. Jacobs, The Life of Thecla: Apocryphal Expansion in Late Antiquity, Early Christian Apocrypha, 11. Cascade Books, 2024. ISBN: 9781666746402 (Paper).

  • Provide a concise and comprehensive description of the work being reviewed.
  • Provide a balanced evaluation of the book.
  • Do not include footnotes. Include any citations or page references internally to the body of the review in parentheses.
  • For longer review essays, consult with the Book Review Editor.

References

  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of citations.
  • Provide DOIs where available.
  • Format bibliography and notes according to SBL Handbook of Style.

Generative Artificial Intelligence

  • For Research Articles and Notes & Translations, the use of generative AI systems (e.g., large language models such as ChatGPT/Gemini/Copilot), AI paraphrasers, machine-translation engines, or image generators is not permitted at any stage (idea development, drafting, revising, translating, summarizing sources, or figure creation).
  • All prose, translations, annotations, and figures must be the authors’ own scholarly work. AI systems may not be listed as authors or coauthors.
  • Non-generative utilities that do not introduce new content—e.g., spell-checkers, grammar flaggers, reference managers, citation-formatting tools, OCR for scans, and file-format conversion—are acceptable.
  • Submissions found to have used generative AI will be desk-rejected; post-publication violations may result in retraction or correction at the Editors’ discretion.
  • These guidelines apply to all submission types unless explicitly stated otherwise by the appropriate editor.

Correspondence

All correspondence should be addressed to the editors.