Submissions

Would you be interested in writing an article for the Nonreligion and Secularity blog? Below is some information you may find useful when writing for the blog, including criteria for your article and an explanation of our review process.

Guidelines

We publish four main types of articles: Event Reports, Publication Reviews, Media Response Articles and Research Related Articles.

If you are unsure which type of article you are writing or have any other questions, please contact your assistant editor in the first instance, or alternatively, the Deputy Editors (editor.nsrn@gmail.com).

 Articles should:

  • Be written in English (American or British does not matter as long as it is consistent).
  • Be 800 to 1200 words (unless you are writing about a recent news story, in which case we accept articles of 600-1000 words). This is to maximise readability and accessibility for our diverse readership.
  • Have one clear main theme or argument. No more or less. If you are writing a critical publication review, be sure to include a sufficient, comprehensive summary of the publication (no less than 20% of your article), followed by your own reflection.
  • Avoid academic jargon, complex sentences, long paragraphs, and overuse of acronyms. Definitions should be included for any technical terms. Authors may include relevant photograph(s) (copyright regulations apply). Use subheadings when appropriate. This helps make blogs accessible to readers, including non-academics such as policy-makers and practitioners.
  • Use the hyperlink function as much as possible. Links should direct readers to more detailed reports or other pieces of research/news items. References should be kept to a minimum; if necessary, use endnotes to provide full references rather than in-text citations.
  • Include a few keywords. Keywords should describe the topic and point of view of your article, and help our readers to find articles of interest to them within the blog. Try to avoid keywords that are too vague for this purpose, such as “nonreligion”.
  • Not be written with the exclusive aim of promoting or advocating a religious, nonreligious or secularist stance.

Submissions should be made by email; documents should be in Word. Please include a short biography and a thumbnail photo of yourself (or other relevant images if preferred) with your submission.

The Review Process

Blogs are either commissioned by an editor, selected from responses to an advertised call for submissions, or developed after unsolicited contact from author. In all cases, articles will be subjected to an editorial review process in order to maintain high standards, as follows:

  1. Initial contact

Assistant editors contact potential authors, asking if they would like to write for the blog or to select a proposal responding to an advertised call for submissions. For unsolicited submissions, authors may send enquiries to the Deputy Editors at editor.nsrn@gmail.com to ask if the blog will be able to pursue their proposed topic before submitting a full article.

  1. Secure commitment from author

Assistant editors and author agree on the topic and post, and set a deadline for submission of the first draft.

  1. Submission, review and edit

Authors send a draft to the assistant editors, by the agreed date, followed by a review and edit process. Your editors may ask you to re-submit your article before offering extensive editorial comments if draft does not conform to our requirements listed above. We aim to offer editorial comments and suggestions within 14 days. The author should then check through and approve any changes made and address any suggestions or concerns that the review editor(s) have raised before returning the article to the blog editor.

  1. Final approval by deputy editors

The assistant editor(s) checks the article and sends it to the deputy editors who will review the article and publish it if/when appropriate. Due to a high number of blog posts being commissioned and submitted, articles may take some weeks to appear on the blog.

Please note that approval of a proposal, or acknowledge of a submission, does not constitute a guarantee that any final articles will be accepted for publication. The editorial team also reserves the right to reject any proposals or final submissions.

Authors who publish with the blog agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright but grant the blog right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work’s authorship and initial publication on this blog.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the blog’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication on this blog.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).