Journal of Early Christian Studies

Hopkins Press does not require potential contributors to pay an article submission fee to be considered for publication in any of the scholarly academic Journals that we publish. The literary publications that we publish (The Hopkins Review, The Sewanee Review and The Yale Review) do require a submission fee. Websites that purport to be affiliated with a Hopkins Press Journal and that require payment of an article submission fee, other than the literary journals mentioned above, are fraudulent. Do not provide payment information. Instead, we ask that you contact William Breichner, Hopkins Press Journals Publisher: [email protected].[email protected].

Please send editorial correspondence to:

Professor Ellen Muehlberger
Dept. of History
2658 Haven Hall
435 S. State Street
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor MI 48109
email: [email protected]

All submissions to the Journal of Early Christian Studies must be original work that makes a substantial scholarly contribution to the study of early Christianity (100-700 C.E.) on the basis of wide engagement with the primary sources in the original languages and relevant scholarship on the topic in multiple languages. Submissions should not exceed 10,000 words, including notes and abstract. We expect authors to follow the JHUP Generative AI Policy for Authors, which requires authors to disclose any use of generative AI or Large Language Models; authors should describe any such use in their cover letters and acknowledge it in citation.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit your work online at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jecst. 
Anonymize your submission, removing your name and any identifying information from the manuscript and being sure to also remove identifying information from the properties of the file you submit. A PDF is preferred in general but is required if the submission includes non-English fonts; otherwise, an MS Word document is acceptable. Supply an abstract of 200-300 words.

Make your manuscript as plain as possible. All parts of your submission should be double-spaced, including your block quotations, poetry, and footnotes. Leave at least 1” margins on all sides. Use a standard font such as Times New Roman or Calibri and do not use boldface, small caps, or superscript except for footnote call-outs. Indicate headings in ALL CAPS and subheadings in italics in title case. The Journal uses B.C.E. and C.E., placed after the year, to mark eras.

When appropriate, use inclusive language (i.e., “humanity” rather than “man,” “people” rather than “men”), yet note that translations of ancient (or modern) texts should not be more or less gender-inclusive than the original language. Include any images when you first submit your manuscript for review; it is your responsibility to obtain all necessary permissions for images.

JECS Style

For general matters of style, please refer to the Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition. (The Journal uses footnotes, and you should follow the Notes-Bibliography style option in Chicago, not the author-date option; despite Chicago’s name for the style, we do not require a bibliography with submissions). Our Preferred Standard Abbreviations list includes many field-specific journals and book series. The title of other journals and series not on this list should be spelled out in full.

We also have the following guidelines for the kinds of sources used for the study of early Christianity:

Ancient Languages: Please type all non-latinate languages; we work with all Unicode fonts. If you wish to cite material in a language not frequently used in JECS (e.g., Georgian, Armenian, Ethiopic) please notify the editorial staff in advance; you may be asked to transliterate these languages instead. Transliteration should follow the standards set out in the JBL guidelines (JBL 117 [1998]: 558-59). We prefer that you not use circumflex (^) to indicate long vowels in Greek; rather, indicate a macron by coding before and after the letter as follows: <mac>o</mac>. In most cases, citations in Latin should be set in italics, and thus, quotation marks should not be used.

Ancient Texts: References to ancient texts should include author (when known), the title of the work (italicized), and relevant numerical reference separated by periods (books, chapter, verse, etc.). Use Arabic numerals, not Roman, throughout. References to biblical texts should use the abbreviation in our Preferred Standard Abbreviations. For other ancient texts, we follow the abbreviations in four sources. For Christian literature in Latin, consult the Dictionnaire Latin-Français des auteurs chrétiens; for Christian literature in Greek, use Lampe’s Patristic Greek Lexicon; for other ancient texts, please see the abbreviation lists in the Oxford Latin Dictionary and the Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek Lexicon.

Critical editions: You should cite critical editions of ancient texts when they exist. Give the full citation of the critical edition the first time you cite the ancient text, then use an abbreviated format afterward (conforming to our Preferred Standard Abbreviations when applicable). Example citations follow below.

Translations: Passages of primary sources used in a submission should generally be translated by the author of the submission. If someone else’s translation is used in a submission, that translation must be referenced in full as a modern work. In each subsequent citation, the author and title of the translation, with appropriate page number, may be placed in parenthetical notation with the critical edition.

Other details: Use American English spellings, and elide all page numbers as in Chicago, e.g., 116–17, 238–39, 200–201, 1005–7, 802–6.

Example Citations

Articles in JECS are published with footnotes and follow the Notes and Bibliography style outlined in the Chicago Manual of Style (despite Chicago’s name for this style, JECS does not require a bibliography at the end of the article). The following examples show how to format the most frequently used types of references in early Christian studies scholarship. Repeat citations below demonstrate how to conform to the general rule that first citations are full, while second citations are shortened.

1. Jennifer Barry, Bishops in Flight: Exile and Displacement in Late Antiquity (University of California Press, 2019).
2. Barry, Bishops in Flight, 9.
3. Thomas Graumann, Die Kirche der Väter: Vätertheologie und Väterbeweis in den Kirchen des Ostens bis zum Konzil von Ephesus (431), Beiträge zur historischen Theologie 118 (Mohr Siebeck, 2002).
4. Graumann, Die Kirche der Väter, 119–41.
5. Philippe Blaudeau, Alexandrie et Constantinople (451–491): De l’histoire à la géo-ecclésiologie, BEFAR 327 (École française de Rome, 2006).
6. Blaudeau, Alexandrie et Constantinople (451–491), vii–xv.
7. Bradley K. Storin, ed., Community, CEECW 5 (Cambridge University Press, 2025).
8. Storin, Community, 12n41.
9. Ellen Scully, “Universal Salvation as a Soteriological Implication of Marius Victorinus’ Cosmology” in New Narratives for Old: The Historical Method of Reading Early Christian Theology, ed. Anthony Briggman and Ellen Scully (Catholic University of America Press, 2022).
10. Sabine Panzram et al., eds., Noheda: Überschwang der Bilder und hispanisch-spätantike Villenkultur / La opulencia de las imágenes y las grandes villae de la Hispania tardoantigua, Iberica Selecta 1 (Franz Steiner Verlag, 2024).
11. Emily R. Cain, “Tertullian’s Precarious Panopticon: A Performance of Visual Piety,” JECS 27 (2019): 611–33.
12. Cain, “Tertullian’s Precarious Panopticon,” 612.
13. Mark DelCogliano, “Basil of Caesarea’s Homily On Psalm 115 (CPG 2910): Origen and Anti-Eunomian Polemic,” Sacris Erudiri 56 (2017): 7–32.
14. Athanasius, v. Anton. 20 (G. J. M. Bartelink, ed., Athanase d’Alexandrie: Vie d’Antoine, SC 400 [Éditions du Cerf, 1994], 186–92).
15. Athanasius, v. Anton. 20 (SC 400:190).
16. Athanasius, v. Anton 20 (SC 400:190; Robert C. Gregg, trans., Athanasius: The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus [Paulist Press, 1980], 46–47).

This is the key to what each note exemplifies:

1. Monograph
2. Shortened reference to a monograph already cited once in full
3. German-language monograph with series information
4. Shortened reference to a German-language monograph already cited once in full, demonstrating how to cite a page range
5. French-language monograph with series information, for a series in the JECS Preferred Standard Abbreviation list
6. Shortened reference to a French-language monograph already cited once in full, demonstrating how to cite pages with Roman numerals
7. Edited volume with a single editor
8. Shortened reference to an edited volume with a single editor already cited once in full, demonstrating how to reference a specific note on a page
9. Essay drawn from edited volume (NB: no page range required)
10. Edited volume with more than two editors, also demonstrating how to cite a title with two languages
11. Journal article in a journal with an abbreviation in our Preferred Standard Abbreviation list
12. Shortened reference to a journal article already cited once in full
13. Journal article in a journal that does not have an abbreviation in our Preferred Standard Abbreviation list
14. Primary source with edition information from series on our Preferred Standard Abbreviation list (NB: give full edition information at this first reference)
15. Subsequent reference to same primary source
16. Subsequent reference to same primary source, now with an English translation credited

Preparing Your Accepted Article

Along with the revisions you make based on the comments from the reviewers of your article and your own changes, you should be sure to:

• Incorporate the abstract for your article into the final document, placing the abstract between the title/your name and the body of the article. Do not use a smaller font for the abstract; it should appear in the same size type as your article. See this example.
• Add, if you wish, a short acknowledgement as an unnumbered note before the first endnote. See this example.
• At the end of your article text, please indicate your name, location, and position (e.g., “Jane Doe is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at State University”).
• Proofread everything carefully, but double-check, word-by-word, every passage or citation that is not in English.
• Conform your article to JECS house style, following in particular the style requests sent to you by the editorial assistant, who is your guide to having a formally correct article. Please note that articles are not given an expected publication date until the final version is accepted as correct.

What to Expect in Production

Once an article has entered production, the author will receive one (1) set of proofs to check for any errors (by either the author or the typesetter). Please be prepared to respond promptly with your suggested changes. This stage of production is when we catch inaccuracies or mistakes; we do not accommodate stylistic changes or polishing in proofs, so please make sure your final version of the article is exactly as you would like it before you send it to JECS.

The Hopkins Press Journals Ethics and Malpractice Statement can be found at the ethics-and-malpractice page.

Peer Review Policy

All submissions to the Journal of Early Christian Studies must be original work that makes a substantial scholarly contribution to the study of early Christianity (100-700 C.E.), on the basis of wide engagement with the primary sources in the original languages and relevant scholarship on the topic in multiple languages. We follow the JHUP Generative AI Policy for Authors. Simultaneous submissions with other journals are not allowed, and the Journal does not publish reprints or translations.

Submissions are initially reviewed by the editorial staff—the Journal’s editor and associate editors—to determine whether these basic criteria have been met. If so, then the submission is sent to two readers, who are asked to return their reviews within two months. Reviews for the Journal of Early Christian Studies are double-blind. We ask reviewers to evaluate submissions specifically for their 1) originality and contribution to the field; 2) engagement with the primary sources; and 3) presentation of the argument and quality of writing. Once the two initial reviews are obtained, the editorial staff decide whether the submission should be accepted, rejected, or the author offered an opportunity to revise and resubmit for a second review.

If an author is given a revise and resubmit, they should return the new version of the manuscript within six months. The manuscript will be sent for another round of double-blind review, and reviewers are again asked to return their reviews within two months. Once these are received, a final decision is made whether to publish or reject: there is no subsequent revision and resubmission at this stage. The timetable for review can vary considerably, from as little as month or two for a manuscript that is quickly reviewed and accepted after the first review, to as much as a year, if the author takes six months to revise and resubmit and reviewers are not as prompt in delivering their reviews as they have promised.

View the Preferred Standard Abbreviation List

Editor

Ellen Muehlberger, University of Michigan

Associate Editors

Jennifer Barry, University of Mary Washington
Andrew Crislip, Virginia Commonwealth University
Brian Dunkle, Boston College
Morwenna Ludlow, University of Exeter
Laura Nasrallah, Yale University
Caroline T. Schroeder, University of Oklahoma

Advisory Board

Todd S. Berzon, Bowdoin College
David Brakke, The Ohio State University
Mark DelCogliano, University of St. Thomas
Elizabeth DePalma Digeser, University of California, Santa Barbara
Geoffrey D. Dunn, Catholic University of Lublin
Benjamin H. Dunning, Harvard Divinity School
Reyhan Durmaz, University of Pennsylvania
Susanna Elm, University of California, Berkeley
Georgia Frank, Colgate University
David G. Hunter, Boston College
Andrew S. Jacobs, University of Virginia
Robin M. Jensen, University of Notre Dame
Rebecca Krawiec, Canisius College
Peter W. Martens, Saint Louis University
Candida R. Moss, University of Birmingham
Luis Josué Salés, Scripps College
Ellen Scully, Seton Hall University
Bradley K. Storin, Louisiana State University
Lily C. Vuong, University of Oregon
Robin Whelan, University of Liverpool
Jeff Wickes, University of Notre Dame

Book Review Editor

Young Richard Kim, University of Illinois Chicago

Editorial Assistant

Natalie M. Reynoso, Fordham University

Send books for review to: 

Prof. Young Richard Kim
Department of Classics and Mediterranean Studies
School of Literatures, Cultural Studies, and Linguistics
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UIC
601 S. Morgan St.
Chicago, IL 60607
USA
 

Please send book review copies to the contact above. Review copies received by the Johns Hopkins University Press office will be discarded.

Abstracting & Indexing Databases

• Clarivate
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Abstracting & Indexing Sources

• New Testament Abstracts (Print) (Active) (Print)
• Family Index (Ceased) (Print)
• International Review of Biblical Studies (Ceased) (Print)
• Religion Index One: Periodicals (Ceased) (Print)
• Religion Index Two: Multi-Author Works (Ceased) (Print)

Source: Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory.

0.3 (2024)
0.5 (Five-Year Impact Factor)
0.00054 (Eigenfactor™ Score)

Rank in Category (by Journal Impact Factor):
176 of 538 journals, in “History”

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Published quarterly

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