Cover of Journal of Catholic Social Thought

Journal of Catholic Social Thought

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Solicited Manuscripts

Papers presented at occasional conferences and invited lectures on Catholic social teaching by the Office for Mission and Ministry at Villanova University are solicited with a first right of refusal for publication in the Journal of Catholic Social Thought

  • Because we accept submissions from a variety of disciplines, authors may use any footnoting format with the exception of APA endnotes and references.
  • Number all pages.
  • Double space throughout.
  • Indent each paragraph.
  • Do not include headers or footers.
  • Type titles of paragraph or sections in bold upper- and lowercase letters.
  • When referring to the phrase Catholic social teaching or Catholic social thought, capitalize only the word Catholic, unless the phrase is used in a title, in which case all words are to be capitalized.
  • Scripture citations need not be footnoted but should be referenced in the body of the text and enclosed in parentheses.
  • Submit an electronic file in Word format.

More information for authors is available at villanova.edu/jcst.

Unsolicited Manuscripts

Unsolicited manuscripts may be submitted to the Journal of Catholic Social Thought, and are subject to anonymous review by the Editorial Board.

All unsolicited manuscripts must be submitted in the following format:

  • Because we accept submissions from a variety of disciplines, authors may use any footnoting format with the exception of APA endnotes and references.
  • The Editorial Board will consider manuscripts of any length. However, most successful submissions tend to be between 5, 000 and 10,000 words.
  • Number all pages.
  • Double space throughout.
  • Indent each paragraph.
  • Do not include headers or footers.
  • Type titles of paragraph or sections in bold upper- and lowercase letters.
  • When referring to the phrase Catholic social teaching or Catholic social thought, capitalize only the word Catholic, unless the phrase is used in a title, in which case all words are to be capitalized.
  • Scripture citations need not be footnoted, but should be referenced in the body of the text and enclosed in parentheses.
  • Submit an electronic file in Word format.

More information for authors is available at villanova.edu/jcst.

Upon Review

  • The Editorial Board will inform authors of its decisions as soon as possible. 
  • Manuscripts accepted for publication must be resubmitted with revisions in Word format.
  • Manuscripts will be edited according to The Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster.com.

Questions about Manuscripts

Please send questions concerning manuscripts to the managing editor, [email protected].


Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The editorial team of the Journal of Catholic Social Thought is committed to ensuring the integrity of the publication process. Conformance to standards of ethical behavior is therefore expected of all parties involved: Authors, Editors, Reviewers, and the Publisher.

Authors should present an objective discussion of the significance of research work as well as sufficient detail and referencesto permit others to confirm a chain of reasoning or experimental result. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable. Review articles should also be objective, comprehensive, and accurate accounts of the state of the art. The authors should ensure that their work is entirely original works, and if the work and/or words of others have been used, this has been appropriately acknowledged. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Authors should not submit articles describing essentially the same research to more than one journal. The corresponding author should ensure that there is a full consensus of all co-authors in approving the final version of the paper and its submission for publication.

Editors should evaluate manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit. An editor must not use unpublished information in the editor's own research without the express written consent of the author. Editors should take reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper.

Reviewers must treat received manuscripts as confidential documents. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments, so that authors can use them for improving the paper. Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the paper.

The Publisher will respond to alleged or proven cases of research misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism in close collaboration with the editors. The publisher will ensure that appropriate measures are taken to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question if necessary. This may include the publication of an erratum, clarification or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work. The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.