The Journal of Law and Religion editors encourage the submission of manuscripts by any person wishing to make a scholarly contribution to the study of the intersection and interaction of law and religion. The Journal publishes a diverse range of work from authors from all nations, faith traditions, and perspectives, bounded by its mission to explore the relationship of law and religion, including

• historical studies;
• articles that deal with theoretical questions of jurisprudence and theology;
• essays on the meaning of such concepts as justice and rights, power and authority, as they relate to the disciplines of law and religion;
• works focused on the vocation and interaction of clergy and lawyers; and
• studies on the interplay of law and religion in the social arena.

The Journal strives to publish work that is strong enough to be accepted in the best law reviews and journals in the discipline(s) in which the work is written e.g. history, theology, sociology, Jewish law, political science, Islamic law, etc. Articles should be accessible enough that well-educated professionals and lay people can learn from them, while also bringing new knowledge or insights to those who work extensively in the subject matter of the article. Because the Journal was founded, in part, as a home for interdisciplinary work, articles in American constitutional law are particularly scrutinized to determine whether they contribute truly novel or exceptional perspectives to the field.

 

ARTICLE SUBMISSION

Submitted articles are evaluated by academic and professional reviewers with expertise in the subject matter of the article. The Journal strives to keep both the identity of the author and the identity of the reviewer confidential during this process and after it is completed. As with standard law review practice, the Journal accepts simultaneous submissions, provided that the author agrees to notify the Journal immediately if he/she accepts another offer. Because the review process can take three (3) months or more, authors who are planning to submit to other law reviews are encouraged to submit their manuscripts to the Journal well in advance of their submission to other reviews, since expedited reviews are extremely difficult to obtain.

The Journal prefers to accept articles under 13,000 words.  Articles should be submitted as an electronic attachment. Copies should be in Word 2003, WordPerfect Office 11 or lower version (U.S. English format). Because the Journal does not currently have translation capabilities, articles must be submitted in English. Please do not submit a paper copy only, as it is then more difficult for Journal staff to prepare the manuscript to send to a reviewer. In order to ensure an anonymous and expedited review process, we request a copy with no headers or other author-identifying information (make sure tracking feature is turned off). Although published articles will appear in footnote format, manuscripts may be submitted in endnote format. Citations in each article should conform to the latest edition of The Blue Book: A Uniform System of Citation. Citations to Jewish/Christian Biblical sources should conform to the SBL Handbook of Style and the Jewish Law Annual. Unsolicited manuscripts will be returned only upon request.

 

REVIEW PROCEDURE

After an initial review of the article by the editors of the Journal to ensure that articles minimally meet the Journal's mission, standards and priorities, articles are referred to an outside peer reviewer. Final decisions on accepting or rejecting articles, or sending them back with encouragement to re-submit, are made by the editors. Upon acceptance, articles then undergo a thorough technical and substantive review, although authors retain full authority on editorial suggestions on the text. If technical deficiencies such as significant errors in citations or plagiarism are discovered that cannot be corrected with the help of staff, the Journal reserves the right to withdraw the manuscript from the publication process. Generally, the Journal publishes material which has not previously appeared, and does not publish material which has been accepted by or pledged to another legal periodical.

Articles in electronic format or disk, or author's requests for information should be addressed to:

Linda Berglin

Production Manager

Journal of Law and Religion

Hamline University School of Law

1536 Hewitt Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55104

lberglin@hamline.edu

 

BOOK REVIEWS

I. Purpose and Criteria for Publication

1. Purpose for Publishing Book Reviews and Review Essays: The Journal of Law and Religion(JLR) publishes book reviews and review essays for the purpose of bringing to our readers' attention notable works that form a conversation across the disciplines of law and religion. Conventional book reviews published by the JLR are typically modest in length. In some cases, however, deep engagement by a reviewer with the book under review, or several books by the same author, are published as review essays.

2. Length of Book Reviews and Review Essays: In the case of conventional book reviews, in light of the purpose of publishing such reviews, it is recommended that JLR book reviews normally be no less than 6 and no more than 25 typed double-spaced pages (roughly 5-10 printed pages) for a review of one book. Shorter reviews (3-5 typed double-spaced pages, roughly 2-4 printed pages) may be called for in three cases: (a) special book review issues; (b) bibliographies; or (c) if warranted by the nature of the book.

Should a reviewer determine that a lengthier treatment of the book is warranted, or decide to convert the review into an article or essay in which the book itself is engaged only as a point of departure for the essay, the reviewer is welcome to write a review essay which will be refereed in our regular article manuscript system.

3. Deadlines for Book Reviews: Generally, the JLR seeks to publish reviews about work that has staying power, so reviews may be published regarding books that have been published in previous years. The letter of invitation to submit a book review will give a proposed deadline for the review. If you are unable to complete a review by that time, we would ask that you contact Book Review Editor Leslie Griffin, lgriffin@uh.edu, 713.743.1543 to set a new deadline. Reviews will be published in the next open issue after they are received in final form and accepted for publication.

4. Scope and Character of Book Reviews and Review Essays in Light of the JLR's Audience: To secure the purpose of the JLR in publishing book reviews, draft manuscripts of reviews submitted for possible publication will be carefully evaluated to determine whether they have potential for inviting further conversation between author, reviewer and JLR reader. To achieve this goal, reviews should be written so that the discussion set out in the review (a) is accessible to JLR readers in light of their diverse interdisciplinary backgrounds, (b) includes a direct engagement, by the reviewer, with part or all of the work under review in a way that makes the reviewer's position (positive, negative or mixed) and the reasons supporting that position clear, and (c) is sufficiently elaborated so that readers might be able to make an independent preliminary judgment about the matters under discussion without reading the book.

II. Procedures for Soliciting, Review and Substantive Editing

Book reviews and review essays may be submitted by authors without any request from the JLR, or solicited by the editorial staff. Book reviews under 25 double-spaced, typed pages may be accepted or rejected by the book review editor or sent out for review, within the editor's discretion. Reviews over this length will be handled as review essays using the JLR's regular article review process.

Currently, our book review editor, Leslie Griffin, contacts proposed reviewers to determine their interest in reviewing books received by the JLR or determined to be of interest to JLR subscribers. When a complimentary copy is available to the JLR, it will be sent to the reviewer; and when it is not and the reviewer does not have one available to him/her, the JLR will attempt to secure a complimentary copy from the publisher if possible.

If the reviewer determines that a review is not warranted, either because the book does not relate to the mission of the JLR, or because of its quality or format, the reviewer should contact Leslie Griffin to inform her of that decision. However, if the reviewer is unable to complete a review of the book deemed appropriate for review by the JLR, the JLR would appreciate return of the book so that it can be sent out for review to another person.

After a review is submitted, Leslie Griffin, Book Review Editor, will make a decision on publishing the review. As with JLR manuscripts, reviews will be accepted outright, declined on the basis of quality or lack of fit with the mission of the JLR, or returned to the reviewer with suggestions for changes that would make the review acceptable. (If changes are minor editorial ones i.e., minor organization, style, minor citation issues, etc., reviews will likely be accepted and a proposed edit will be returned to review authors. It is the policy of the JLR, once an article or review is accepted, that any proposed changes are the decision of the author, with the exception of issues that would compromise the academic integrity of the JLR, such as failure to give proper attribution to the ideas of another.) Our book review editor and the JLR technical staff will work with the author on any minor edits, authority checks, page proofs and other technical editing of the review.

Authors will receive a set of "author's proofs" to review and make changes prior to publication. Any substantive editorial changes proposed by the JLR staff will be included in the "author's proofs" for review and approval by the author before the final proofs go to print.

III. Procedures for Production Formatting, Citation and Technical Editing

1. Electronic Format of Book Reviews: Book reviews should be submitted by email attachment or diskette in Microsoft Office Word '03, or Wordperfect Office 11 or below to Leslie Griffin, Book Review Editor, and Linda Berglin, Production Manager, at the addresses below. Hard copies may be submitted in addition to the electronic copy.

a. Book Review manuscripts should be double-spaced, with the following information at the top whenever it is available:

1. Name of book

2. Book's author or editors

3. Publisher with date

4. Number of pages and price

5. ISBN Number

EXAMPLE: THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND

POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGION

By Stephen L. Carter. Basic Books 1993. Pp. 328. $25.00.

ISBN: 0-465-02647-8

b. Review Essays may have a title (which is not necessary) which should be placed immediately above the identifying information above.

2. Reviewer's Name

a. Reviewer's Name for Book Reviews should appear at the end of the review, together with a footnote giving the reviewer's title(s), if any, and institutional affiliation(s) together with the institution's location.

EXAMPLE: John Keown(footnote)

(footnote)University Lecturer in the Law & Ethics of Medicine,

Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge; Fellow & Tutor, Queens'

College, Cambridge, England.

b. Reviewer's Name for Review Essays should appear immediately under the title of the book on the first page of the manuscript, with a footnote giving pertinent biographical information.

EXAMPLE: Reviewed by Elliot Dorff(footnote)

(footnote)Elliot Dorff is currently Rector and Professor of Philosophy

at the University of Judaism, as well as vice-chair of the Conservative

Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards.

3. Citation style for Footnotes within Book Reviews and Review Essays: Citations to the book under review should appear after the quotation or sentence to be cited, in parenthesis:

EXAMPLE: "Imposed law is of limited use in answering the question." (127)

Otherwise, extensive footnoting in conventional book reviews is discouraged. However, if footnotes are required, footnote citation style of the JLR conforms to Association of Legal Writing Directors & Darby Dickerson, ALWD Citation Manual (Aspen L. & Bus. 2003), as supplemented by the JLR staff. Typical examples of those citation forms most often used in footnotes are as follows:

a. Book (author, title, pinpoint page cites if appropriate, (publisher, date)).

EXAMPLE: Sogyal Rinpoch, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying 310, 376 (Rider 1992).

b. Articles in Periodicals: (author, title of article, volume and name of periodical, first page of article, pinpoint page cites if appropriate, (year)).

EXAMPLE: Ze've W. Falk, Jewish Perspectives on Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia,

13 J. L. & Relig. 379, 381 (1988-89).

c. Essays in an Anthology Edited by Someone Other than the Essay Author: (title of essay, anthology title, first page of essay, pinpoint page cites if appropriate, (editor, publisher, date)).

EXAMPLE: L. de La Vallee Poussin, Suicide (Buddhist), in XII The Encyclopaedia

of Religion and Ethics 24, 26 (James Hastings ed., Clark 1922).

d. Other Sources, including Legal Sources: Please give full details including, as appropriate, author, titles, page(s), publisher, date, and we will edit to conform to our citation style.

Technical corrections, to conform to the citation style manual of the JLR, will be made throughout the production process. The JLR staff strives to include such corrections in the edited production manuscript prior to sending the "author's proof" out to the author for review. However, in the case of non-substantive, technical corrections that must be made after the author has completed review of the author's proofs, no additional review by the author is undertaken.

For Further Information about the JLR Book Review Policies and Procedures, or to submit your name as a reviewer, or an idea for a book to be reviewed, please contact:

Professor Leslie C. Griffin University of Houston Law Center 100 Law Center Houston, TX 77203-6060 713.743.1543 lgriffin@uh.edu

To Submit a Review by Email, please send to Professor Griffin at the address above, AND TO

Linda Berglin

Production Manager

Journal of Law and Religion

Hamline University School of Law

1536 Hewitt Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55104

lberglin@hamline.edu