Journal of Biblical Studies Instructions for Contributors

1. General Guidelines:
   1.  Follow The Chicago Manual of Style: Fourteenth Edition (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1993). For spelling, follow Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1994). Exceptions are listed below.
   2.  Use footnotes or endnotes.
   3.  Do not use the abbreviations of any book or journal title. Use the full name.
   4.  Authors attest that all work is their own, that all citations are accurate, and that anything quoted or paraphrased are properly cited.
   5.  Avoid words such as "Press" (except with university presses), words such as "in," number of volumes, the names of translators, or the names of series (such as SBLDiss or VTSupp).
    6.  Examples:
       1.  Dale Allison, Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet (Philadephia:  Fortress, 1998).
       2.  Krister Stendahl, "The Apostle Paul and the Introspective Conscience of the West," Harvard Theological Review 56 (1963), 199-215.
       3.  James Limburg, "Psalms, Book of," Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. David 4.  Noel Freedman, (New York: Doubleday, 1992) 5:522-536.
       4.  Moises Silva, "Is the Law against the Promises? The Significance of Gal 3:21 for Covenant Continuity," Theonomy: A Reformed Critique, ed. William S. Baker and W. Robert Godfrey (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990), 153-67.
   7.  For subsequent notes after the first entry, a shortened reference or Ibid., is appropriate:
       1.  Stendahl, "The Apostle Paul," 211.
       2.  Ibid., 211. [Do not italicize or underline Ibid.]
   
   
2. Format Guidelines:
   1.  Spacing – use double spacing throughout, even in notes and indented quotations.
   2.  Margins – provide ample margins, at least one inch on all edges of the page.
   3.  Font – do not use any font smaller than twelve (Times New Roman is preferred).
   4.  The abbreviations BCE and CE are to be preferred over BC and AD.
   5.  Authors should use gender-inclusive terminology.
   6.  Greek and Hebrew words may be used in transliteration. Conform transliterations to the Journal of Biblical Literature guidelines, published in the 1994 Society of Biblical Literature Membership Directory and Handbook, or available online at: http://www.sbl-site.org
   7.  Any foreign word used should be underlined and include an English translation.
   8.  An alternative to the transliteration method is to download and use one of the fonts provided on the website. If one chooses this method please submit your article in MS Word format are save your document in RTF (rich text format). Further information on the fonts may be obtained from the editor.
   9.  The use of dynamic fonts will be incorporated into the final presentation.
   
    
3. Citation Guidelines:
   1. Use abbreviations for biblical books. Note that no period follows the book abbreviation (example: Gen 1:1).
   2.  Titles of apocryphal/deuterocanonical books, Qumran works, as well as references to pseudepigraphal, Gnostic, patristic, rabbinic, and other ancient works should appear in Roman type. If the author of a book is known (also traditional appellations, such as Ps-Dionysius), the author's name should appear in Roman type and the title of the book in italics. An exception is made for the Apostolic Fathers, such as the letters of Ignatius, which are entirely in Roman type.
   
   
4. Further Guidelines:
   1.  Journal of Biblical Studies is an electronic journal, and copies of articles are distributed by a variety of means and in a variety of formats. JBS accepts full-length articles, shorter notes, and unsolicited reviews. All comments below regarding articles apply equally to shorter notes and reviews as well.
   2.  All articles submitted to JBS should be sent to the general editor in electronic form (e-mail or 3.5-inch diskette). Acceptable formats are Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, or ASCII, and material may be submitted in PC form. Submission of hardcopy along with the electronic copy is not necessary.
   3.  The journal and the author copyright all articles published in JBS. For a fuller statement of the copyright agreement to which authors must agree, see the copyright agreement.
   4.  All authors of articles accepted for publication will receive a copy of their article after the editorial process, but prior to publication. Authors are expected to review the copy carefully, check for mistakes, and promptly inform the general editor whether any corrections need to be made.
   5.  Authors are expected to follow the guidelines in this document to the greatest extent possible, and numerous deviations from the standards established here may result in the author being notified that revision is necessary prior to formal review. Matters of form and style that are not dealt with explicitly in this document are subject to the decision of the general editor. Because JBS is an international journal, and because some matters such as vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation vary to some extent from country to country, no attempt will be made to force artificial standards upon the articles, as long as they are internally consistent. The latest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style may be used to determine proper style if the matter in question is not addressed specifically in the present document.
   
   
5. Book Reviews
   1.   Books in the areas of JBS interest are assigned for review by the book-review editor. A person interested in reviewing a book should contact the book-review editor. Recommendations of books for review are welcome. A review should summarize the main content of the book and provide a critique, the latter usually being given the larger amount of space. The review should be critical, in the sense that it is evaluative. Comparisons with other books on the same or similar topics, as well as other works by the same author, and the place of the book in its special context, should be noted. Reviews must maintain courteous language, free from invectives of any kind. Book reviews should be about 500-1800 words on average. We have adopted the style standards of the Review of Biblical Literature. In JBS book reviews, footnotes may be included; otherwise include needed references in the text in parentheses. Any quotations from the book should be short and followed by the exact page reference in parentheses.
   
   
6. Headings:
   1.  Provide headings. If the author does not provide headings, the editors will add them. Primary section headings should be in capital letters, flush left of the page, are not enumerated, and do not end with a period. Secondary section headings should be in italics, may or may not be enumerated, should be in lower case with the first letter capitalized, and do end with a period.  Examples:
   
   PRIMARY SECTION HEADING
   Secondary section heading.

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