It’s here! Faith & Flourishing: A Journal of Karam Fellowship, whose founding editorial board includes some of the world’s leading scholars, is pleased to release its Call for Papers. Send us your scholarly articles on issues related to the flourishing of human beings and the whole creation. We’re looking for articles in any academic discipline – inside or outside the theological academy – that develop theological knowledge for the life of the world.
Read the Call for Papers below (here’s a PDF) and then send us your submission!
And please share this with colleagues and peers who might be interested. We appreciate your help spreading the word!
In addition to scholarly articles, we’re also soliciting “essays.” These are theological reflections that are shorter than the traditional peer-reviewed article (maximum 2,000 words) and don’t need to be heavily laden with footnotes. You could consider the implications of a recent scholarly book, or go back to a classic historical text and consider its implications for flourishing in a new light, or propose a possible way forward on some sticky scholarly problem. Reach out to us with your essay ideas!
Issues of Faith & Flourishing will be available to members of Karam Fellowship. We rely exclusively on the support of our Fellowship members (thank you!) to launch this journal and to fuel all our work, including this newsletter. If want to help ensure our work continues, and if you don’t want to miss out on this important new journal, consider joining the Fellowship today. In addition to a subscription to Faith & Flourishing, you’ll enjoy benefits like discount tickets to Karam Forum, our weekly email The Grapevine, webinars with theological leaders and access to all articles in the Oikonomia Network newsletter.
We’re grateful for the Lord’s providence in bringing Faith & Flourishing to launch. Look for our first publications coming this spring.
Faith & Flourishing: A Journal of Karam Fellowship invites scholars to submit articles and essays to be considered for publication in our peer-reviewed journal.
We publish material in three categories:
- Articles: Traditional peer-reviewed journal articles contributing to scholarly knowledge
- Essays: Curated reflections that contribute to theological insight in light of scholarly knowledge
- Conversations: Cultivated exchanges among contributors on important theological questions
F&F accepts submissions for articles and essays. Conversations are solicited by the editors.
Faith & Flourishing Founding Editorial Board
- Uche Anizor, Talbot School of Theology
- Chris Armstrong, Christian History
- Darrell Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary
- David Buschart, Denver Seminary
- Lynn Cohick, Northern Seminary
- Matthew Croasmun, Yale Divinity School
- Denise Daniels, Wheaton College
- Greg Forster (chair), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
- P.J. Hill, Wheaton College
- Abson Joseph, Wesley Seminary
- Jennifer Powell McNutt, Wheaton College
- Richard Mouw, Fuller Theological Seminary
- Jonathan Pennington, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Scott Rae, Talbot School of Theology
- Michael Thigpen, Phoenix Seminary
- Brent Waters, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Below are our criteria for review and the process for submission. If you have any questions, please contact Greg Forster at gbforster@tiu.edu. We look forward to reading your submissions!
Articles: Criteria for Review
F&F publishes articles if they are satisfactory on all of the following criteria.
- Does the article contribute to academic knowledge, as opposed to being exclusively practical in focus, or only “translating” scholarship for popular use? Identifying possible practical applications is valued and welcomed where it can be done, but it is not necessary. We want to contribute to scholarship in ways that are informed by the real, practical needs of the church and the world, but contributing to scholarship is the purpose of our journal.
- Does the article interact meaningfully with existing theological scholarship in one or more academic disciplines? Articles should reflect knowledge of the current state of relevant academic scholarship. Articles may work within the theological disciplines, and/or interact with theologically-informed scholarship in liberal-arts and professional disciplines.
- Does the article meet the high intellectual standards appropriate to a professional scholarly audience, making a clear and rigorous argument that is supported by appropriate evidence and acknowledging possible counterevidence or contrary views? Articles are reviewed by scholars in the academic disciplines appropriate to their subject matter, who apply the scholarly standards of their disciplines. In unusual cases (e.g. an interdisciplinary article that challenges existing paradigms), we reserve the right to consider that overly rigid adherence to the established standards of one disciplinary “guild” may become a hindrance to genuine intellectual rigor. But we prioritize adherence to high scholarly standards in all our work. As appropriate, additional reviews may be sought on an article to ensure this priority is upheld.
- Is the flourishing of human beings and/or the whole creation, whether perennially or in the specific context of the contemporary world, part of the core topic of the article? F&F does not impose a precise definition of what is meant by “flourishing,” because the issue of what constitutes flourishing is one of the questions whose consideration we wish to facilitate. Articles should consider flourishing perennially (examining questions that are relevant at any time, including historical work on how perennial questions have been addressed in the past) and/or in contemporary context (examining questions of special relevance today).
- Is the article consistently charitable and hospitable throughout? F&F is committed to “good disagreement.” Our goal is not to remove disagreement but to embody it in a Christlike way. “Charitable” in this context means demonstrating respect and goodwill toward all potential participants in the discussion of the article’s topic. “Hospitable” in this context means writing in a way that implies the intended audience of the article includes readers with a wide variety of cultural, ideological and political viewpoints.
Essays: Criteria for Review
If you are interested in submitting an essay, we strongly recommend contacting the editor as a first step to discuss your topic. Email Greg Forster at gbforster@tiu.edu.
F&F publishes essays if they are satisfactory on all of the following criteria.
- Does the essay cultivate insight and understanding of important theological questions related to flourishing? Essays will be evaluated for their originality, relevance and intellectual significance in light of the current academic “state of the conversation” about the flourishing of human beings and the whole creation. Successful essays will be those that leave the reader better equipped to think carefully as scholars about theological issues related to flourishing.
- Does the essay interact meaningfully with a scholarly subject? The topic of the essay should focus on a subject of core interest to scholars. Examples of suitable subjects might include a fresh consideration of a theme in a classic text, evaluating an important claim made in a recent academic work, or commenting on the implications of a widely used scholarly conceptual framework.
- Does the essay meet the high intellectual standards appropriate to a professional scholarly audience, making a clear and rigorous argument that is supported by appropriate evidence and acknowledging possible counterevidence or contrary views? Essays are reviewed by scholars with relevant knowledge to evaluate their rigor. Direct interaction with secondary literature is not necessarily expected in an essay, but essays should be written by authors whose thinking is formed by relevant scholarly knowledge.
- Is the flourishing of human beings and/or the whole creation, whether perennially or in the specific context of the contemporary world, part of the core topic of the essay? F&F does not impose a precise definition of what is meant by “flourishing,” because the issue of what constitutes flourishing is one of the questions whose consideration we wish to facilitate. Essays should consider flourishing perennially (examining questions that are relevant at any time, including historical work on how perennial questions have been addressed in the past) and/or in contemporary context (examining questions of special relevance today).
- Is the essay consistently charitable and hospitable throughout? F&F seeks to practice “good disagreement.” Our goal is not to remove disagreement but to embody it in a Christlike way. “Charitable” in this context means demonstrating respect and goodwill toward all potential participants in the discussion of the topic. “Hospitable” in this context means writing in a way that implies the intended audience of the essay includes readers with a wide variety of cultural, ideological and political affiliations.
Technical Issues
By submitting material to F&F, you affirm that each of the following is true:
- You have already secured permissions and paid all required fees for any copyrighted material your submission uses.
- Your submission does not plagiarize or make use of anyone else’s work without proper citation.
- Your submission does not contain any unlawful material.
- Your submission has not been published anywhere else, in whole or in part.
- Your submission is not currently under consideration for publication anywhere else, and will not be submitted for publication anywhere else while it is still under consideration at F&F.
Content Requirements
For Articles
- Articles should begin with an abstract of 150-200 words, and up to six topical keywords.
- All citations to modern sources should be in footnotes and conform to Chicago style.
- Ancient texts should be handled in conformity to the SBL Handbook.
- Articles should include a bibliography of works cited, in Chicago style.
- Articles should not contain endnotes.
- Articles should not exceed 10,000 words (including notes).
For Essays
- Essays should be accompanied by up to six topical keywords.
- Any citations to modern sources should be in footnotes and conform to Chicago style.
- Ancient texts should be handled in conformity to the SBL Handbook.
- Essays should not contain endnotes.
- Essays should not exceed 2,000 words.
Preparing Your File
- All submissions should be Microsoft Word files.
- The file’s name should be the author’s full name, then a hyphen, then the date of submission in this format: “01-31-22” for January 31, 2022.
- All information that might identify the author must be removed both from the content of the submission (e.g. self-referential remarks in notes) and from the computer file metadata (e.g. username). Only the file name should identify the author.
- All main text should be Calibri font, 11 point, double-spaced, style “Normal.”
- All notes should be Calibri font, 10 point, single-spaced, style “Normal.”
- All bibliographies should be Calibri font, 11 point, single-spaced, style “Normal.”
- All Hebrew and Greek text should be in SBL fonts.
- All submissions must contain page numbers, inserted in the bottom center.
- Page margins should be “Normal” (one inch on each side).
- Main headings, subheadings and sub-subheadings should be clearly differentiated.
- Submissions should contain no double spaces (one space only between sentences).
Submission Process
- Email your submission to Greg Forster at gbforster@tiu.edu.
- You should receive an initial acknowledgement of our receipt of your submission within two weeks. Feel free to follow up if you do not.
- Submissions are subject to an initial desk review by the editor, followed by double-blind peer review, conducted by reviewers in the discipline(s) appropriate to the submission. Both stages of review are conducted according to the criteria specified above.
- Please allow up to three months for an editorial decision on your submission, which will be one of the following possibilities:
- Accepted: The submission is accepted for publication as is. We may send you comments and suggestions from our reviewers in case you find them helpful, but it is your choice whether to make any revisions to your submission in response to these comments before we publish it.
- Conditionally Accepted: The submission is accepted for publication, on condition that you make specific changes to it. We will be as precise as we can be in specifying the needed changes, to make the process of getting to final acceptance as efficient and painless as possible for all.
- Declined: We cannot accept all submissions, and we are concerned that “revise and resubmit” processes can lead to inefficient investments of time and effort. So if we cannot specify in a precise way what changes you could make that would get us to final acceptance quickly, we will decline your submission so you can consider other options for your piece in a timely way.
- Submissions that are accepted for publication are subject to copy editing. We will send you the final version after copy editing to give you a chance to check it over for any problems before it is published.
