Peer Review

Submissions to State, Religion and Church may be rejected outright or selected for further consideration. At this stage, submissions will be judged for their quality, originality, importance, and thematic fit within the journal's purview. Submissions that pass this initial screening will undergo double-blind peer review. Authors will be informed if their submission is being sent on for peer review, and the anonymous referees are expected to provide their reviews within approximately four weeks.

Reviewers are asked to suggest one of the following three options: (a) the manuscript should be definitely accepted in the submitted version, with only insignificant changes; (b) the manuscript should be definitely rejected; (c) the manuscript can be accepted only with significant revision.

Reviewers are asked to address the following criteria:

  1. The broad and/or theoretical significance of the contribution made by the manuscript to the scholarship in the field;
  2. The empirical contribution, in terms of introducing new primary sources;
  3. The relevance of the sources used for questions treated in the paper (are there other important sources that have been omitted or ignored?)
  4. The quality of the research: its design, methodology, analysis and interpretation;
  5. The logic and clarity of the paper’s organization;
  6. The author’s ability to adequately situate the study within the scholarly field.

All reviews are sent to the authors. If the reviewers strongly diverge in opinion, another review may solicited, or the editors may use their own judgment. If significant revisions are necessary before proceeding with publication, authors will be expected to resubmit their revised manuscripts within four weeks. Upon receipt of a revised manuscript, the editorial staff will make its final decision within two weeks.