Review of Religious Research
Aims & Scope:
The Review of Religious Research (RRR) journal aims to publish manuscripts meeting these six scope criteria: (1) reports empirical research; (2) attends to religiosity and spirituality topics; (3) identifies religious groups and their adherents; (4) engages in interdisciplinary social science research practices; (5) describes methods and analytical techniques; and (6) applies research with relevance for practitioners. Criteria are described below.
Empirical Research
Manuscripts meet the empirical social science research scope criteria by reporting on observable behaviors, actions, orientations, and more of social groups. The goal is to understand and analyze rather than seeking to propagate a religion, proselytize, evangelize, or in other ways directly represent a religious view. Valuing the goal of replicability and peer review, empirical research typically includes a methods section that explains how data were collected, why, using what procedures, under which conditions, and toward what types of analysis.
Relevant Topics – Scroll below for an expanded list of specific topics.For a full list of topics please click here.
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Religious leaders, services, programs, participation, practices, beliefs, organizations, changes, movements
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Religion & civics, family, gender, sex, race, youth, education, science, poverty, crime, attitudes, wellbeing
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Spirituality, spiritual practices, spiritual communities
Applied Practitioners
The journal is particularly interested in publishing applied research with implications for:
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Clergy, pastoral leaders, lay leaders, other religious leaders
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Professionals, staff, volunteers in faith-based organizations, NGOs, INGOS, international networks
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Grantmakers, funders, grant program officers
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Fundraisers, major gifts officers, donor prospect researchers
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Volunteer coordinators, social movement community engagers
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Service providers, program delivery coordinators
Religious Groups
1. Islam, Muslims
2. Buddhism, Buddhists
3. Hinduism, Hindus
4. Judaism, Jewish
5. Confucianism, Confucians
6. Sikhism, Sikhists
7. Daoism, Taoism, Daoist, Taoists
8. Catholicism, Catholics
9. Christianity, Christians
10. Protestantism, Protestants
11. Evangelicalism, Evangelicals
12. Mainline Protestantism, Protestants
13. Pentecostalism, Pentecostals
14. Orthodoxy: Eastern, Catholic, Judaism, Christianity
15. Folk religions: Chinese, African; Ethnoreligious
16. Spiritism, Spiritists
17. Bahá'í, Bahaism, Bahá'ís
18. Jainism, Jainists
19. Shintoism, Shintoists
20. Zoroastrianism, Zoroastrians
21. New religions, new religious movements
22. Atheism, Agnosticism, Atheists, Agnostics
23. Religious unaffiliated, disaffiliated, non-affiliated, or religious “nones”
Interdisciplinar
Valuing multiple approaches in the empirical study of religion, the journal typically publishes research from disciplines such as: sociology, psychology, social psychology, political science, economics.
Methods & Analysis
1. Surveys
2. In-depth interviews
3. Ethnographies
4. Case studies
5. Quantitative analysis
6. Qualitative analysis
7. Content analysis
8. Mixed methods analysis
| Patricia S. Herzog | Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA |
| David E. Eagle | Duke University, Durham, NC, USA |
| Gabriel A. Acevedo | Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA |
| Amy Adamczyk | John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, New York, NY, USA |
| Feyza Akova | University of Notre Dame, IN, USA |
| Christopher D. Bader | Chapman University, Orange, CA, USA |
| Joseph O. Baker | East Tennessee State University, USA |
| John P. Bartkowski | University of Texas at San Antonio, USA |
| Kraig Beyerlein | University of Notre Dame |
| Alex Bierman | Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Canada |
| Matt Bradshaw | Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA |
| R Khari Brown | Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA |
| Tricia C. Bruce | University of Notre Dame, USA |
| Ryan P. Burge | Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL, USA |
| James Cavendish | University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA |
| Deborah L. Coe | Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Chicago, IL, USA |
| Katie Corcoran | West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA |
| Melinda Denton | University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA |
| Di Di | Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA |
| Paul A. Djupe | Dennison University, Granville, OH, USA |
| Erica Dollhopf | Center for Analytics, Research and Data (UCC), Cleveland, OH, USA |
| Christopher Ellison | University of Texas at San Antonio, USA |
| Todd Ferguson | University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, Belton, TX, USA |
| Tom Gaunt | Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., USA |
| Kerby Goff | Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA |
| Conrad Hackett | Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C., USA |
| R David Hayward | Ascension St. John Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA |
| Terrence D. Hill | University of Arizona |
| Becky Y. Hsu | Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., USA |
| Jong Hyun Jung | Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea |
| Courtney Ann Irby | Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, USA |
| Blake Victor Kent | Westmont College, Santa Barbara, CA, USA |
| Mark P. Killian | Whitworth University, USA |
| Kristina I. Lizardy-Hajbi | University of Denver, USA |
| Kyle Longest | Furman University, Greenville, SC, USA |
| Annette Mahoney | Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, PA, USA |
| Nicolette D. Manglos-Weber | Boston School of Theology, Boston, MA, USA |
| Loren Marks | Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA |
| Gerardo Martí | Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA |
| Brandon C. Martinez | Providence College, Providence, RI, USA |
| Matthew May | Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA |
| Jennifer M. McClure | Samford University, Birmingham, AL, USA |
| Paul K. McClure | University of Lynchburg, Lynchburg, VA, USA |
| Amy D. McDowell | University of Mississippi |
| Stephen M. Merino | Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO, USA |
| Mark Mulder | Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA |
| Ann W. Nguyen | Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA |
| Stephen Offutt | Asbury Theological Seminary, Wheaton, IL, USA |
| Oneya Okuwobi | University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA |
| Daniel V. A. Olson | Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA |
| Jenell Paris | Messiah College, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA |
| Samuel L. Perry | University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA |
| Miray Philips | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA |
| Aida Ramos | University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Belton, TX, USA |
| Roberta Ricucci | University of Torino, Italy |
| Christopher P. Scheitle | West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA |
| Cyrus Schleifer | University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA |
| Landon Schnabel | Cornell University |
| Jason Shelton | University of Texas, Arlington, USA |
| Darren E. Sherkat | Southern Illinois University, USA |
| Corwin E. Smidt | Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA |
| Jörg Stolz | University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Lisa Weaver Swartz | Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY, USA |
| Kati Tervo-Niemelä | University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland |
| Joel Thiessen | Ambrose University, Calgary, AB, Canada |
| Scott Thumma | Hartford Seminary, Hartford, CT, USA |
| Joshua Tom | Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, USA |
| Jeremy Uecker | Baylor University, USA |
| Laura Upenieks | Department of Sociology, Baylor University, USA |
| Meredith Withnah | Westmont College, USA |
| Patricia Wittberg | SC, Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Washington, D.C., USA |
| Stuart A. Wright | Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, USA |
| Xiaohe Xu | The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA |
| Fenggang Yang | Purdue University, USA |
| Miriam Zimmer | Leitung Kompetenzzentrum Pastorale Evaluation, Bochum, Germany |
Manuscript Submission Guidelines: Review of Religious Research
This Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics.
This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rrr to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.
Sage Publishing disseminates high-quality research and engaged scholarship globally, and we are committed to diversity and inclusion in publishing. We encourage submissions from a diverse range of authors from across all countries and backgrounds.
Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Review of Religious Research will be reviewed.
Publication fees
The submitted manuscript will be initially screened to see if it suitable for publication in the Review of Religious Research. The corresponding author will be contacted about the manuscript’s suitability.
If the manuscript is found to be suitable, a modest processing fee must be paid before the manuscript can be processed further, unless one of the authors is a member of the Religious Research Association (RRA). The processing fee includes a 1-year annual membership in the RRA.
By submitting the manuscript, the authors agree to pay the processing fee.
To pay the submission fee and become a member, visit the RRA website.
Also see section 5.2 below, Information Required for Submitting your Manuscript.
Originality
As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Review of Religious Research will consider submissions of papers that have been posted on preprint servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines) and include the DOI for the preprint in the designated field in the manuscript submission system. Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the Journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the Journal's author archiving policy.
If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.
If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal.
- What do we publish?
1.1 Aims & Scope
1.2 Article types
1.3 Writing your paper - Editorial policies
2.1 Peer review policy
2.2 Authorship
2.3 Acknowledgements
2.4 Funding
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
2.7 Reporting guidelines
2.8 Research data - Publishing policies
3.1 Publication ethics
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
3.3 Open access and author archiving - Preparing your manuscript
4.1 Formatting
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
4.3 Identifiable information
4.4 Supplemental material
4.5 Reference style
4.6 English language editing services - Submitting your manuscript
5.1 ORCID
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
5.3 Permissions - On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
6.2 Online First publication
6.3 Access to your published article
6.4 Promoting your article - Further information
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Before submitting your manuscript to Review of Religious Research, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope [https://rraweb.org/journal-review-of-religious-research/aims-and-scope/].
Original Research Articles
Original research articles present scholarly and methodologically rigorous empirical analysis. Sections: Introduction, Literature Review (typically labeled by topical headings), Data and Methods, Results, Discussion (including limitations, implications, conclusions). Before submitting a manuscript, authors should read the journal’s Aims & Scope for more information. Maximum 10,000 words, 40 double-spaced manuscript pages, including references.
Research Notes
Research notes are similar to original research articles in presenting scholarly and methodologically rigorous empirical analysis. Notes are briefer than articles and typically provide less theoretical framing and literature reviewing than articles. The focus is on the study design and results. Sections: Introduction, Data and Methods, Results, Discussion (including limitations). Maximum 7,500 words, 30 double-spaced pages, including references.
Review Articles
Review articles provide a comprehensive summary of relevant existing studies, including a synthesis of their relevant theory, methods, and findings on topic(s) of interest to the journal (see Aims & Scope). Sections: Introduction, Background, Data and Methods (describe sources, inclusion and exclusion criteria), Results, Discussion (limitations, implications, conclusions). Maximum 10,000 words, 40 double-spaced pages, including references.
Applied Research Abstracts
Applied research abstracts briefly present the results of an applied study. Sections: Background, Purpose, Methods, Results, Conclusions, and Implications. Applied abstracts are 350-550 words and should include a footnote explaining to readers how to access the report, data, or additional information on the study.
Contexts of Religious Research
Contexts include award announcements, memoriams, commentaries about the process of conducting research (e.g., applications of research methods to topics relevant to the journal), profiles of denominational research organizations, or invited addresses from the Religious Research Association. It is rare that a manuscript of this type would be unsolicited; authors should consult the editor before submitting this type of manuscript. Max 1,000 words.
Book Reviews
Book reviews provide a summary of a scholarly book that identifies the purpose and central themes, highlights important claims or contributions, and offers critical evaluation of thetheories, methods, approach, or limitations (about 800 words). If you would like to review a book for the journal, contact the Book Review Editor, David Eagle, PhD david.eagle@duke.edu
The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.
1.3.1 Make your article discoverable
For information and guidance on how to make your article more discoverable, visit our Gateway page on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.
Review of Religious Research is a refereed journal with an anonymized peer review policy.
Review of Religious Research adheres to an anonymized peer review process in which the reviewer’s name is routinely withheld from the author unless the reviewer requests a preference for their identity to be revealed.
Sage does not permit the use of author-suggested (recommended) reviewers at any stage of the submission process, be that through the web-based submission system or other communication. Reviewers should be experts in their fields and should be able to provide an objective assessment of the manuscript. Our policy is that reviewers should not be assigned to a paper if:
- The reviewer is based at the same institution as any of the co-authors.
- The reviewer is based at the funding body of the paper.
- The author has recommended the reviewer.
- The reviewer has provided a personal (e.g. Gmail/Yahoo/Hotmail) email account and an institutional email account cannot be found after performing a basic Google search (name, department and institution).
The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the Journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be managed by alternative members of the Board and the submitting Editor/Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.
All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.
Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.
All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.
Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.
Per ICMJE recommendations, it is best practice to obtain consent from non-author contributors who you are acknowledging in your paper.
2.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:
- Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
- Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
- Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.
Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.
2.3.2 Writing assistance
Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance. It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.
Review of Religious Research requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
Review of Religious Research encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.
2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant ethics committee or institutional review board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.
For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.
Information on informed consent to report individual cases or case series should be included in the manuscript text.
Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants.
The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.
Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.
The Journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.
Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:
- Share your research data in a relevant public data repository
- Include a data availability statement. This should:
- Indicate if data is available and shared
- In certain cases, indicate if research data is available but not shared, and why. For example, if the data are drawn from qualitative, in-depth interviews that cannot be de-identified, please provide this explanation in the data availability statement. Or, if the data are available upon request, please describe this in the data availability statement.
- Cite data in your research
Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.
3.1.1 Plagiarism
Review of Religious Research and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the Journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.
3.1.2 Prior publication
If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.
3.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information, please visit the Sage Author Gateway.
3.3 Open access and author archiving
Review of Religious Research offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.
The preferred format for your manuscript is Word.
4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.
Where a journal uses double-anonymised peer review, authors are required to submit:
- A version of the manuscript which has had any information that compromises the anonymity of the author(s) removed or anonymized. This version will be sent to the peer reviewers.
- A separate title page which includes any removed or anonymised material. This will not be sent to the peer reviewers.
See https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/Manuscript-preparation-for-double-anonymized-journal for detailed guidance on making an anonymous submission.
Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.
This Journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc.) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplemental files.
Review of Religious Research adheres to the ASA Style Guide. View the guide here to ensure your manuscript conforms to this style.
If you use EndNote to manage references, you can download the ASA output file. If you use Zotero to manage references, you can download the ASA Style Repository.
4.6 English language editing services
Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the Journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.
Review of Religious Research is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rrr to login and submit your article online.
IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the Journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.
As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.
The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.
If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.
5.2 Information required for completing your submission
Cover Letter
The Cover Letter must contain the following information (No other information should be included in the letter.):
(1) A statement confirming that all the authors have read the final version of the manuscript and agreed to submit it to Review of Religious Research. (Do not submit your manuscript unless this is true.)
(2) A statement confirming that the manuscript has not been published previously and that it is not currently being reviewed for publication by another journal. (Do not submit your manuscript unless this is true.)
(3) A statement explaining how the manuscript fits into one or more of the topical areas listed in the journal’s Aims & Scope. This statement should also briefly identify at least one of the empirical research methods and analysis listed in the Aims & Scope, or specify an additional empirical method or analysis that is not listed.
(4) The full name, institution, and email address of at least one author of the manuscript who is currently a member of the Religious Research Association, OR; A statement acknowledging the authors agree to pay the fee for the manuscript to be peer-reviewed (if it is initially assessed to be potentially suitable for publication), if no author of the manuscript is a member of the Religious Research Association. See the Fee section below for more details. The waiver of the fee only applies to manuscripts that are authored or co-authored by a member of the Religious Research Association. The fee will not be waived for any other reason.
Sample Letter 1
Dear Editor:
All the authors have read the final version of the manuscript and agreed to submit it to Review of Religious Research. The manuscript has not been published previously, and it is not currently being reviewed for publication by another journal.
The authors think the manuscript fits within the topical areas of Religious Leaders and Religion & Civics because it investigates the ways that people in faith-based organizations draw upon religious language in volunteer recruitment efforts. This is an empirical research study that utilized surveys to collect data for the quantitative analysis and in-depth interviews to inform the qualitative analysis.
[Name of Corresponding Author] of the [Affiliated University or Organization] (email@university.edu) is the corresponding author of the manuscript and a current member of the Religious Research Association.
Sincerely,
[Name of Corresponding Author]
Sample Letter 2
Dear Editor:
All the authors have read the final version of the manuscript and agreed to submit it to Review of Religious Research. The manuscript has not been published previously, and it is not currently being reviewed for publication by another journal.
The authors think the manuscript fits within the topic area of Religious Beliefs because it reviews how scholars attend to Muslim, Christian, and Jewish religious texts in published research. Although the manuscript does not appear to fit into any of the methods listed in the Aims & Scope, the authors think the manuscript is consistent with the Aims & Scope because the study employs bibliometric techniques to inform a quantitative and qualitative analysis of existing publications.
As none of the authors currently belong to the Religious Research Association, [Name of Corresponding Author] agrees to pay the fee for the manuscript to be peer-reviewed if it is initially assessed to be potentially suitable for publication via the Religious Research Association website (payment will be confirmed with the RRA before proceeding with peer review).
Sincerely,
[Name of Corresponding Author]
Affiliations
You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).
Title Page
The title page should include:
- The name(s) of the author(s)
- A concise and informative title
- The affiliation(s) of the author(s), i.e. institution, (department), city, (state), country
- A clear indication and an active e-mail address of the corresponding author
- If available, the 16-digit ORCID of the author(s)
- If address information is provided with the affiliation(s) it will also be published.
- For authors that are (temporarily) unaffiliated we will only capture their city and country of residence, not their e-mail address unless specifically requested.
Abstract (150-200 words)
Abstracts should further describe the contents of the manuscript. Begin the abstract by stating the central purpose or aim of the paper. Next, describe the objective and approach of this particular study. The majority of the abstract should summarize the methodological design. Name whether the data were collected through a survey, interview, experiment, ethnography, or other mode. Provide an overview of the sample size and characteristics. It is common to use the notation n=x to indicate the sample (n) equals size (x). Specify that the analysis techniques were quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, or some other type. Briefly state the primary results. Interpret the contributions for theory, research, and/or practice. The readership of RRR is particularly interested in applications for practice, especially for the practitioner sets in the Aims & Scope.
Please also clearly identify in the abstract the religious group(s) that was studied, the relevant topic(s) from the journal Aims & Scope, and the country(ies) in which the data were collected. If relevant, please indicate for which set(s) of applied practitioners the study has implications.
Keywords
Please provide 4 to 6 keywords which can be used for indexing purposes. At least one of the keywords must be selected from the topics list in the Aims & Scope.
Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway.
6. On acceptance and publication
6.1 Sage Production
Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.
Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.
6.3 Access to your published article
Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.
Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.
Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Review of Religious Research editorial office as follows:
Patricia Snell Herzog, PhD relig@iu.edu
7.1 Appealing the publication decision
Editors have very broad discretion in determining whether an article is an appropriate fit for their journal. Many manuscripts are declined with a very general statement of the rejection decision. These decisions are not eligible for formal appeal unless the author believes the decision to reject the manuscript was based on an error in the review of the article, in which case the author may appeal the decision by providing the Editor with a detailed written description of the error they believe occurred.
If an author believes the decision regarding their manuscript was affected by a publication ethics breach, the author may contact the publisher with a detailed written description of their concern, and information supporting the concern, at publication_ethics@sagepub.com.