ISSN

1018-6441 (PRINT)
2305-0853 (ONLINE)

Focus and scope

In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi is a theological and acclaimed Open Access journal that serves as the official journal of the Reformed Theological Society (Gereformeerde Teologiese Werksgemeenskap). The focus is on the development of Reformed Theology and its significance for faith and life today. The angle of approach is the assumption of the classic reformed confession that God reveals Himself in Creation and Scripture. The self-revelation of God can be investigated scientifically, and the journal operates within this paradigm. However, the journal also operates in view of the foundational Reformed principle of Semper Reformanda, which entails a critical engagement with the classic Reformed traditions, as well as a discourse with other theological traditions with the aim to enrich and apply Reformed Theology in a changing public domain. Therefore, the journal encourages research within all the disciplines in theology and is specifically interested in innovative and original research that engages critically with the basic tenets of reformed theology and contributes to its development both in terms of theological depth and application to modern public contexts. All contributions are peer-reviewed anonymously by at least three scholars who are recognised as specialists in the particular field of study. English, Afrikaans and Dutch are the general languages of publication, but articles in German will also be considered.

Historic data

In 1965 the Reformed Theological Society decided to publish a scientific journal aimed at critically evaluating and expanding reformed theology. This endeavour culminated in the establishment of In die Skriflig in 1966. The journal appeared promptly every quarter until it went online in 2012 under the management of AOSIS. The name of the journal at that time changed to include the Latin version of the title. Currently articles still appear frequently on a rolling basis. In this way In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi has promoted theological research in the Calvinist reformed theological tradition since its inception in 1966. The journal focuses on high quality Biblical-theological research within this tradition, as well as on the impact this tradition has. Through the years a great number of articles have appeared that critically analysed and applied the foundational principles of the Biblical theology within the reformed tradition to the role and the meaning of the Christian faith in modern society. Publications in this journal aim to participate in the extensive Biblical-theological, ecclesiastical and ethical discourses within contemporary Christianity from a reformed perspective. Special attention is paid to research regarding the original text of the Bible, the ancient Biblical languages and the meaning of the cultural environment of Biblical times. Other themes that are frequently addressed include the further development of Biblical theology and its application to the thought and actual world of modern people; the contribution that Christian ethics can make with regard to the moral issues of the day; the edification of the church as an important role player in society and the way in which ecclesiastical ministry can be streamlined and relevantly applied. The authors are expected to deliver recent and well-considered research results that are relevant and applicable. All articles are presented to three international or national selectors before publications – experts in the relevant field – for recommendations regarding the quality and relevance of the article. Although the journal functions within the reformed paradigm, articles from other religious traditions are also considered if the article contributes and is applicable to the expertise in the relevant field. In this manner In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi attempts to be of service to the reformed theological tradition, the Christian church and the development of human societies. The journal has an active corps of cooperating researchers and a growing readership. The articles have increased drastically since the change to online publication. In this way they have and increasing impact factor. In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi has indeed grown from a small start fifty years ago to an internationally known journal that delivers lively and relevant discussion on the role and meaning of reformed theology and that inspires churches to dynamism. 

Publication frequency

The journal publishes at least one issue each year. Articles are published online when ready for publication and then printed in an end-of-year compilation. Additional issues may be published for special events (e.g. conferences) and when special themes are addressed.

Types of articles published

Read full details on the submissions guidelines page.

Open access

This is an open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. Learn more about the journal copyright, licensing and publishing rights.

Review process

The journal has a double-blinded peer review process. Manuscripts are initially examined by editorial staff and are sent by the Editor-in-Chief to two expert independent reviewers, either directly or by a Section Editor. Read our full peer review process.

Marketing

AOSIS has a number of ways in which we promote publications. Learn more here.

Membership

AOSIS is a member and/or subscribes to the standards and code of practices of several leading industry organisations. This includes the Directory of Open Access Journals, Ithenticate, Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, CrossRef, Portico and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Learn more here.

All articles published in the journal are included in:

• ATLA Religion Database
• Bibliographical Information Bank in Patristics
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• EBSCO Host
• GALE, CENGAGE Learning
• Google Scholar
• Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals, Series and Publishers, Level 1
• Old Testament Abstracts, Catholic University of America
• ProQuest
• Religious and Theological Abstracts
• SciELO SA
• Web of Science Other Coverage, Emerging Sources Citation Index, ESCI

We are working closely with relevant indexing services to ensure that articles published in the journal will be available in their databases when appropriate.

The full text of the journal articles is deposited in the following archives to guarantee long-term preservation:

• AOSIS Library
• Portico
• SA ePublications, Sabinet
• South African Government Libraries

AOSIS is also a participant in the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) initiative. LOCKSS will enable any library to maintain their own archive of content from AOSIS and other publishers, with minimal technical effort and using cheaply available hardware. The URL to the LOCKSS Publisher Manifest for the journal is, https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/gateway/lockss. Please inform us if you are using our manifest as we would like to add your name to the list above.

A journal's Impact Factor was originally designed in 1963 as a tool for libraries to compare journals, and identify the most popular ones to subscribe to. It was never intended to measure the quality of journals, and definitely not the quality of individual articles.

The Impact Factor is a journal-level measurement reflecting the yearly average number of citations of recent articles published in that journal. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field; journals with higher Impact Factors are often deemed to be more important than those with lower ones. Therefore, the more often articles in the journal are cited, the higher its Impact Factor.

The Impact Factor is highly discipline-dependent due to the speed with which articles get cited in each field and the related citation practices. The percentage of total citations occurring in the first two years after publication varies highly amongst disciplines. Accordingly, one cannot compare journals across disciplines based on their relative Impact Factors.

We provide several citation-based measurements for each of our journals, if available. We caution our authors, readers and researchers that they should assess the quality of the content of individual articles, and not judge the quality of articles by the reputation of the journal in which they are published.