Style, Citation, and Formatting Guides

Journal Articles

1. Article submissions must deal primarily with consecrated religious life, secular religious institutes, or third order/oblate religious life.
2. The normal length for an article is 2,000 to 6,000 words, although other lengths will be considered.
3. Articles must have a thesis and provide evidence appropriate to the field being written for their thesis.
4. Theological submissions are the primary focus of RfR, but we welcome interdisciplinary or other non-theological submissions about religious life. These may include sociological, psychological, canonical, historical, biographical, anthropological, literary, or other research.
5. All articles should be prepared for blind review. Do not type your name or affiliation on the manuscript. If you reference your own previous work in your initial submission, do it in such a way that it is not obvious you are the author of the article. If there are footnotes in which you cannot avoid such a reference, omit the footnote and substitute language in its place such as “Citation withheld for purposes of review.”
6. All articles should be original research not published elsewhere or currently being considered by another journal.
7. Please review and use the detailed guidelines on this page.

Possible topics for articles include, but are not limited to:

• Theology of religious life
• Social science studies of religious life
• Historical studies of religious orders, institutes, or personages
• Third-order religious life, such as oblates and consecrated virgins
• Philosophical questions related to religious life, and

Submissions for general consideration may be made at any time during the year. Submissions for special topics will have deadlines attached. We aim to notify authors within three months of submission whether their article has been accepted.

Online Essays

1. Essay submissions must deal primarily with consecrated religious life, secular religious institutes, or third order/oblate religious life.
2. The normal length for an essay is 1,800 to 2,100 words, although other lengths will be considered.
3. Essays may concern a spiritual insight, community life, leadership/governance, interviews with religious, respond to a previous article in RfR, or otherwise deal with a topic not appropriate for an article format.
4. Essays should be coherent, well-written, and primarily focused on a single insight or point, but may be conversational in tone and narrative-driven.
5. Essays should not simultaneously be submitted to another outlet for publication.