Submissions

Author Guidelines

Except as noted below, follow the directives of:

• Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition (University of Chicago Press, 2010) for general style and editing matters; and
• The SBL Handbook of Style, 2nd edition (SBL Press, 2014) for matters specific to religion or theology not otherwise covered in the Chicago Manual.

Articles

Covenant Quarterly articles are approximately 6,000 words. If your article exceeds this limit, query editor before submitting. In writing, be mindful of our intended audiences: (1) an educated clergy and (2) interested laypeople. All articles should ultilize gender inclusive language.

Punctuation & capitalization

• Separate sentences by a single space only.
• Do use a serial comma; do not make use of the ampersand.
• Use italics for book titles and emphasis rather than underlining.
• The word "Scripture" is capitalized; "scriptural" is not (so Bible, biblical).
• Divine pronouns are not capitalized.

 Biblical references & languages

• The New Revised Standard Version is the Quarterly's standard biblical translation. Other versions, including the author's own translations, are noted in parentheses.
• Spell out titles of biblical books in text: Genesis, not Gen.
• Foreign language words and phrases should be italicized and followed by an English translation in parentheses. Greek and Hebrew words are transliterated; Hebrew should use the SBL informal style.

 General formatting

• Submit your article in 12 point Times New Roman font, single-spaced, left justified.
• Place biographical information (name, professional title in lower case, employer(s), city, and state) below the article title in italic type, as in the following example: Paul Koptak, Paul and Bernice Brandel professor of communication and biblical interpretation, North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois
• With the exception of page numbers, do not include headers or footers.
• Authors will provide their own headings. First level headings use bold type, left margin, and initial capital letters. Second level headings are indented on the first line of the paragraph as a sentence, using bold type, capital letter for the first word, and a period at the end.

Example of a First Level Heading
        Example of a second level heading at the start of a paragraph.

• Your submitted work should use footnotes, keeping explanatory comments to a minimum. 

In submitting an article, you'll be asked to provide additionally (1) a high resolution photo of yourself and (2) a brief biographical statement. With your permission, we will use these to promote your work on forum.covquarterly.com. The Covenant Quarterly does not charge article processing or submission fees.

Book Reviews

We also welcome contributions to our book reviews section. Consistent with our intended audiences, the Covenant Quarterly publishes reviews of the following:  

• Books relevant to pastoral ministry and practical theology;
• Books authored by Covenant academics, clergy, and laity;
• Books related to Covenant history and theology, including contributions to Pietist studies. 

Reviews are usually 600-700 words. When writing a book review, be sure to include all of the following components:

• Summary of contents
• Evaluation/critique
• Recommendation: Would pastors want to devote their time to this book? Why or why not?
• Your personal and professional information 

Before writing a review, you may wish to contact the book reviews editor to ensure the text is not already assigned. If you wish to review a book that is not on the above list, please contact the book reviews editor to request a review copy. With some exceptions, books should be published within the last two to three years.

All inquiries should be directed to the book reviews editor at [email protected].

 Copyright Guidelines

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

• Authors retain copyright and grant The Covenant Quarterly right of first publication 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, to any medium or format to ensure continuous access and preservation. The author agrees that the article may be used and published by The Covenant Quarterly in electronic or printed format and/or in any other medium now in existence or that may be created hereafter.
• The Covenant Quarterly will publish and distribute the work under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial. The author understands and agrees that this license permits users of the journal to print and/or copy the article for noncommercial purposes and allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
• 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 or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
• 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 form, or that (1) it has been substantially revised and updated from a prior version or (2) the author has secured the rights to republish the work in The Covenant Quarterly. The author further represents that he or she has the right to grant this license The Covenant Quarterly 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.
• 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 Covenant Quarterly and its employees and agents for any uses of the article authorized by this agreement.