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About
The Journal of Christian Apocryphal Literature is a peer-reviewed, open-access publication dedicated to the study of non-canonical Christian texts from antiquity through the modern period. It provides a venue for cutting-edge scholarship across disciplines, with a focus on texts, traditions, and media that are often overlooked in the study of early Christian literature.
Focus and Scope
The Journal of Christian Apocryphal Literature (JCAL) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to the study of non-canonical Christian texts from antiquity through the modern period. It offers a unique scholarly platform for research that sits at the intersection of biblical studies, religious studies, history, and literature. JCAL responds to a growing need in the field for a dedicated venue focused on apocryphal Christian texts—literature that has traditionally been marginalized in New Testament and patristics-focused journals.
The journal welcomes contributions that explore a wide range of materials: early gospels, apocryphal acts, apocalypses, and letters; medieval and early modern adaptations of these works; and even contemporary cultural receptions of apocryphal narratives. Authors are encouraged to submit work that is philologically rigorous, theoretically innovative, and methodologically diverse. JCAL is particularly interested in articles that draw attention to underrepresented texts, communities, and traditions, and that push the boundaries of what counts as “Christian Apocrypha.”
JCAL publishes four primary types of content: full-length research articles (6,000–9,000 words), shorter notes and translations (2,000–5,000 words), topical forums (multi-author conversations or panel proceedings), and book reviews (800–1,200 words). Research articles and notes undergo double-blind peer review; forums and reviews are reviewed internally by the editorial team.
The journal’s target audience includes scholars and advanced graduate students working in Christian apocrypha, early Christianity, ancient and medieval religious culture, and related fields. Librarians will find JCAL a valuable addition to collections supporting research in religion, theology, classics, and historical literature. As a fully open-access journal committed to rapid, continuous publication, JCAL makes cutting-edge scholarship immediately and freely available to a global academic community.
Submission Checklist
To prepare your manuscript for submission, follow these guidelines.
- Comply with submission-specific requirements delineated in the Author Guidelines.
- All submissions should be formatted according to the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) Handbook of Style (2nd edition, 2014), including but not limited to:
- Manuscript submission via a compatible document format (e.g., Word, PDF)
- Abbreviations for ancient and secondary sources (for abbreviations not included in the SBL Handbook, authors should consult the e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha, maintained by the North American Society for the Study of Christian Apocryphal Literature)
- Unicode font used for all non-Latin characters
- Provide DOIs for all referenced materials (where available)
- Ensure all materials borrowed from third-party sources are appropriately credited, and permission has been secured from the copyright holder.
- Ensure that article length conforms to the following parameters: research articles (6,000-9,000 words), shorter notes (2,000-5,000 words), and book reviews (800-1,200 words). Submissions that exceed these parameters should be discussed with the editors. Length for topical forums should be discussed with the forums editor.
- Please provide up to six keywords that best describe the main topics or themes of your article.
Copyright Notice
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms. If a submission is rejected or withdrawn prior to publication, all rights return to the author(s):
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA), Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC), or Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) 4.0 International license that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Provided they are the owners of the copyright to their work, authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, in a journal or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process.
- Submitting to the journal implicitly confirms that all named authors and rights holders have agreed to the above terms of publication. It is the submitting author's resonsibility to ensure all authors and relevant institutional bodies have given their agreement at the point of submission.
- It will be the responsibility of the authors to secure all necessary copyright permissions for the use of third-party materials in their manuscript. Authors will be required to provide written evidence of this permission upon acceptance of their manuscript.
Peer Review
All scholarly content published in the Journal of Christian Apocryphal Literature undergoes a rigorous review process to ensure academic quality and integrity. The journal employs a double-blind peer review process for all full-length research articles and notes. Each submission is reviewed by two expert scholars in the relevant field. In cases of conflicting recommendations, a third reviewer may be consulted.
Forum contributions and book reviews are reviewed internally by the editorial team or designated editors and are not anonymized. While these contributions are not peer-reviewed in the traditional sense, they are still held to a high standard of scholarly excellence.
Licences
The following licences are allowed:
- CC BY 4.0
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
- CC BY-SA 4.0
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
- CC BY-NC 4.0
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. - CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Publication Fees
The Journal of Christian Apocryphal Literature does not charge any publication fees. There are no article processing charges (APCs), submission fees, or fees of any kind for authors. The journal is committed to supporting open, equitable access to scholarly publishing without placing financial burdens on contributors.
Publication Cycle
The journal will follow a continuous publication model, with articles published online as they are accepted and finalized. All content will be organized into a single, annual volume, allowing for timely dissemination of scholarship while maintaining a coherent publication structure. Special collections, such as themed forums or panel proceedings, may be grouped and released together within the annual volume.
Sections
| Section or article type | Public Submissions | Peer Reviewed | Indexed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Article | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Notes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Topical Forum | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Book Review | Yes | Yes | Yes |