Author Guidelines

Please read the guidelines below carefully to ensure that you have all the essential information you may need to know before submitting a manuscript. It is important to recognize that manuscripts that do not conform to these guidelines shall be returned to the author.

Language

Manuscripts submitted to the Pan-African Journal of Theology (PAJOT) are expected to meet international English language standards. Before submitting, it is recommended that the article should be edited for language, especially if English is not your first language. This process helps the editors and reviewers to objectively understand the academic content of your paper and provide assessment. Authors are required to use inclusive gender language, such as "humanity" rather than "mankind," "person," or "human being" instead of "man."

 Ethics

PAJOT is committed to the highest ethical standards for the conduct of biblical and theological research. Authors must therefore ensure that appropriate ethical standards for the preparation of their manuscripts are followed. Further, authors should also ensure that papers submitted to PAJOT have not been published or are not under consideration for publication in another journal.

Copyright

For any manuscript submitted to PAJOT, the authors must confirm that their submitted paper is their original work. Upon successful publication in the journal, the author(s) retain the copyright of the articles and grant PAJOT the right to publish the article, declare itself as the original publisher, and use it for indexing and storing on the journal website for public access.

Payment

PAJOT does not request any form or fees from authors nor does it grant honoraria to reviewers and authors whose are published in the journal.

Authorship

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 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.

Acknowledgment (optional)

Where authors believe that others have contributed considerably to the work, but not at a level that satisfies authorship, the first author may recognize this input through acknowledgment in 60 words or less. This should come before the bibliography.

Manuscript Submission Specifications/Guidelines

 Formatting Style

Manuscripts must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document in double-spaced format (except footnotes and indented quotations), have one-inch margins, left-aligned, and 12-point Times New Roman font style.

Title

The title of the manuscript should be informative, yet concise (75 characters or fewer). 

Abstract

After the title, the article should include an abstract of 150–200 words that succinctly summarizes the article's content. The thesis of the article should be clearly stated in the abstract. At the end of the abstract, list three to five keywords specific to the article yet reasonably common within the subject discipline for search purposes. 

Reference Style

The Journal uses the Turabian referencing style or the Society Biblical Literature (SBL) Handbook of Style. Follow Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 9th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018) for citations and references.

Article Length

PAJOT prefers articles of 5,000-10,000 words, including footnotes. Longer articles may occasionally be accepted if they are of particular significance and if space is available in the Journal. (It is recommended that authors check with the editor for such articles). PAJOT also solicits shorter articles of (2,000-3,000 words).

Headings

Throughout your manuscript, you can use different heading levels as deemed necessary. The levels ranging from one to five help structure the document. Heading levels two to five are used for subheadings. Each heading level is formatted differently. Below are the 9th edition Turabian heading guidelines:

  • First level: centered, boldface or italic type, headline-style capitalization

                                         Sanctification in the New Testament             

  • Second level: centered, regular type, headline-style capitalization

                                      Justification in the Lucan Writings

  • Third level: flush left, boldface or italic type, headline-style capitalization

Challenges to Mission in Africa

  • Fourth level: flush left, regular type, sentence-style capitalization

Exodus Motif in the Minor Prophets

  • Fifth level: run in at beginning of paragraph (no blank line after), boldface or italic type, sentence-style capitalization, terminal period

Abraham as an Expression of Faith. The faith of Abraham in responding to the command of God to sacrifice his son Isaac….

Tables and Diagrams

Formatting of tables, diagrams, charts, etc., should follow Turabian 9th edition.

Quotations

Quotations longer than five lines (block quotations) are indented one-half inch from the left, the same as the first lines of paragraphs and single-spaced. Spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and abbreviations must be reproduced exactly as the original, and care should be taken to preserve the original author's intent.

Footnotes

For footnote formatting techniques, see Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 9th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018). Indent Footnotes on the first line, font size 10-point, and double space between footnotes.

 Dates

The format of dates in footnotes should follow the day-month-year system with the name of the month spelled out (e.g., 23 September 2016). Inclusive dates should use all digits for all years (e.g., 1857–1868, rather than 1857–68). Abbreviations for chronological eras should follow Turabian, 23.3 (e.g., 457 BC or AD 325).

Biblical References

For biblical references, no period is used following the abbreviations; a colon is used between chapter and verse (e.g., Heb 9:3). Biblical references should be placed in parentheses in the text of the article rather than in footnotes.

OT

NT

Gen

1 Kgs

Eccl

Obad

Matt

Phil

1 Pet

Exod

2 Kgs

Song

Jonah

Mark

Col

2 Pet

Lev

1 Chr

Isa

Mic

Luke

1 Thess

1 John

Num

2 Chr

Jer

Nah

John

2 Thess

2 John

Deut

Ezra

Lam

Hab

Acts

1 Tim

3 John

Josh

Neh

Ezek

Zeph

Rom

2 Tim

Jude

Judg

Esth

Dan

Hag

1 Cor

Titus

Rev

Ruth

Job

Hos

Zech

2 Cor

Phlm

 

1 Sam

Ps (Pss)

Joel

Mal

Gal

Heb

 

2 Sam

Prov

Amos

 

Eph

Jas

 

 

References to Classical Literature

Citations and abbreviations for all classical and patristic literature, Dead Sea Scrolls and related texts, Targumic material, Mishnaic and Rabbinic literature, Nag Hammadi Tractates, etc., should follow SBL Handbook of Style, 2nd ed., 8.2–8.4.

Biblical and Ancient Languages

Greek and Hebrew fonts are generally preferred rather than transliteration. If Hebrew (or Aramaic) text runs to more than one line in a quotation, it should be presented as indented text in fixed lines of no more than three-quarters of a full-line length. The unpointed consonantal text of Hebrew or Aramaic should be used unless the argument calls for vocalized forms. Due to the problem of font compatibility, PAJOT accepts only Unicode fonts. Transliteration should be used for ancient nonbiblical languages. The transliteration of the nonbiblical languages should follow the SBL Handbook of Style, 2nd ed., 5.4–5.9.

Articles that include Hebrew or Greek, or any use of non-Roman scripts, diacritical marks, diagrams, illustrations, etc., which may not be clearly transmitted in a Word document, should be sent as a pdf file also.

 Book Review Guidelines

The Chief Editor assigns books in the areas of interest to PAJOT for review. Interested persons may contact the Chief Editor to request or recommend any book(s) for review.

Book Review Content and Method

A review should summarize the book's leading content and provide a critique, the latter usually being given a more significant amount of space. A brief reference to the author's background and qualifications is also helpful. The review should be evaluative. It may compare the book with others of a similar topic and other books written by the author. Endnotes are not to be used; any needed references must be incorporated into the text in parentheses. Long quotations from the book are discouraged. The exact page reference must follow all citations in parentheses. Reviews must maintain courteous language, free from invectives of any kind. The basic outline for a review should contain the following sections: introduction, evaluation, and conclusion.

Introduction. Begin with a complete bibliographical reference. Author (last name first). Title. Place of publication: Publisher, publication date, number of pages (Roman numerals + Arabic numerals). Hard (or soft) bound. Price.

Identify the author, and place both the author and the title in the context of earlier works in the same field of study. State the author's main argument briefly in precise terms.

Summary. Provide a summary of the book by chapters referring to pages on key issues or statements in the publication

Evaluation. Describe and evaluate the sources from which the author derived his/her information (primary or secondary, many or few). Then evaluate the development of the author's argument. How well does he/she succeed in carrying out the stated purpose of the book? What is the author’s theological persuasion? Does he/she achieve the objective of writing the book? How well does this compare with other writings if such exist? Identify and comment on the book's strengths and weaknesses.

Conclusion. Give your judgment on the general value of the book and the type of reader who will likely find it useful.

Book Review Style

Reviews should be no longer than 2 to 4 double-spaced pages. Typically, no more than half of the review should be used to describe the book's contents; the rest should be used for evaluation and comment. Reviewers should use precise language, clear syntax and should avoid unreasonably long and complex sentences.

Authors’ Placement and Affiliation

Authors must present their names, institutional affiliations, and country. Please list authors in the order in which you'd like them to be published.

Adjustment to Authorship

Before submitting an article, the author(s) must carefully verify the list and the order in which the authors' names appear on the manuscript. Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names after acceptance of the article must be approved by the journal’s Chief Editor. To request such a change, the Chief Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in the author list and (b) written confirmation (by email, or letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Chief Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Chief Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Chief Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Corresponding Author Information

The emails of corresponding authors must be presented at the time of submission of an article.

General Criteria for Manuscript Acceptance

Manuscripts selected for publication in PAJOT is based on the following criteria:

  1. Suitability of the subject matter and its significance to journal readership.
  2. Theological soundness and timeliness of the information.
  3. Compliance to recognized scholarly standards and the use of biblical-historical-grammatical methods in the interpretation of the Scriptures.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the standards and scope of PAJOT will be reviewed.

Submission and Checklist

The online submission system guides authors step by step through the process of entering the article details and uploading the source files. Before sending your paper to the journal for review, check the following:

  1. The submission has not been previously published and is not before another journal for consideration.
  2. The submission is in Microsoft Word format.
  3. The article length is between 5,000 and 10,000 words, or between 2,000 and 3,000 words.
  4. One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details (email, or full postal address)
  5. All necessary files (text and figures) are available. [Even if you have your figures (images) embedded in the paper, you are still required to provide the corresponding source files during the submission process]
  6. The manuscript has been “spell and grammar checked.”
  7. All sources cited in the work are listed in the bibliography.
  8. Permission has been obtained for the use of copyrighted material from other sources (including the Internet).