Level 1 (pre-survey, will most likely be revised)
Title and abbreviation | Years | Affiliation and/or publisher | What sort of paper does it publish? | Misc. |
Biblica (Bib) | 1920–present | Pontifical Biblical Institute | Broad, biblical studies in general (including extra-canonical Christian literature) | Quarterly. Maximum of 55,000 characters; articles published in “English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.” No author fees. Note: I have received pushback as to whether Biblica belongs in tier-1 or tier-2. |
Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research (BASOR). Multiple previous titles.[1] | 1919–present | ASOR; The University of Chicago Press | Ancient Near East archaeology, society, and languages | Bi-annual. Maximum of 12,000 words. |
Catholic Biblical Quarterly (CBQ) | 1939–present | Catholic Biblical Association of America | Broad, biblical studies in general (including extra-canonical Christian literature) | Quarterly. Maximum of 10,000 words. |
Dead Sea Discoveries (DSD) | 1994–present | Brill | “. . . the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and their cultural, historical, and archaeological contexts” (from website). | Three issues per year (one of them is a special issue) Only British or American English. |
Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses (ETL) | 1924–present | KU Leuven and Université catholique de Louvain | “all aspects of theology and canon law” (from website). | Quarterly. Publishes articles in English, French, and German. |
Harvard Theological Review (HTR) | 1908–present | Harvard Divinity School | “. . . the history and philosophy of religious thought in all traditions and periods, including Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Christianity, Jewish studies, theology, ethics, archaeology, and comparative religious studies” (from website). | Quarterly. 12,000 words is the upper limit (with some exceptions). Note that I am open to debate as to whether or not HTR belongs in tier-1, especially after the whole “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” issue. |
The Jewish Quarterly Review (JQR) | 1889–present | University of Pennsylvania Press | Jewish studies, but broad, including biblical, theological, philosophical, and cultural matters. | Quarterly 12,000 word limit. |
Journal for the Study of the New Testament (JSNT) | 1978–present | Sage Journals | New Testament studies, but broad. | Five issues per year, but one of these issues consists of book summaries. Generally prefers 5,000–10,000 words. |
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (JSOT) | 1976–present | Sage Journals | Old Testament studies, but broad. | Five issues per year, but one of these issues consists of book summaries. Generally prefers 5,000–10,000 words. |
Journal of Biblical Literature (JBL), formerly known as the Journal of the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis. | 1881–present, with a hiatus of 1 year (current title 1890–present) | Society of Biblical Literature | Very broad, anything connected to Old and New Testament studies, as well as discussions of the nature of modern biblical scholarship itself. | Quarterly. Upper limit of 10,000 words, including footnotes. |
Journal of Early Christian Studies (JECS), formerly known as The Second Century (SecCent). | 1981–present (current title 1993–present) | North American Patristics Society; John Hopkins University Press | Church History, from C.E. 100–700. | Quarterly Upper limit of 12,500 words (with endnotes). Adamantly declares that it does not charge author fees, and warns against websites claiming to represent Hopkins Press that charge a fee. |
Journal of Ecclesiastical History (JEH) | 1950–present | Cambridge University Press | “. . . all aspects of the history of Christianity” (from the website) | Quarterly Generally speaking an upper limit of 8,000 words (including notes), but in special circumstances willing to consider an article of up to 12,000 words. |
Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages (JNSL) | 1971–present | Stellenbosch University | Publishes “linguistic, translational, literary, text-critical, historical, religious and cultural issues related to Ancient Near Eastern texts and societies, as well as articles addressing theoretical issues underlying these fields” (from the website). Elsewhere clarifies that ANE “includes Nubian, Coptic and Ethiopian studies.” | Bi-annual. 6,000 words is considered the approximate maximum amount. |
Journal of Religious Ethics (JRE) | 1973–present | Wiley Online Library | Not limited to Christianity and Judaism; includes discussions on a variety of ethical issues including climate change and AI. Also includes “historical studies of influential figures and texts” (from the website). | Quarterly Prefers between 8,000–10,000 words, though willing to consider longer articles in special cases. |
Journal of the American Oriental Society (JAOS) | 1843–present | American Society for Premodern Asia (formerly the American Oriental Society) | Very broad, including studies on the culture, history, and religion of the Ancient Near East, Islamic Near East, South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and Eastern Asia. | Quarterly. “Preferably not exceeding 15,000 words, including footnotes . . .” The author retains the copyright for their journal article. |
Journal of Theological Studies (JTS) | 1899–present | Oxford Academic | Very broad, “the entire range of theological research, scholarship and interpretation” (from the website). Covers New Testament, Hebrew Scriptures, Church history, textual criticism, etc. | Biannual. “The length of articles in the Journal ranges from less than 1,000 to over 30,000 words” (from the website). |
Maarav: A Journal for the Study of the Northwest SemiticLanguages and Literatures (Maarav) | 1978–present | University of Chicago Press | The journal “is devoted to the texts and verbal objects of the ancient Levant featuring Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician, and related languages” (from the website). | Biannual. |
Mission Studies (MIST) | 1984–present | Brill; International Association for Mission Studies | The journal intends to be “a forum for the scholarly study of Christian witness and its impact in the world, and the related field of intercultural theology, from international, interconfessional and interdisciplinary perspectives.” | Triannual. Prefers articles about 6,000 words long, but with some “reasonable leeway,” including footnotes, etc., but not including “Tables and Figures” (from the website). |
New Testament Studies (NTS) | 1955–present | Cambridge University Press; Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas | Broad, anything related to New Testament studies and early church history. | Quarterly. Will publish articles in English, German, and French. Limit of 8,500 words, including footnotes. |
Novum Testamentum (NovT) | 1957–present. | Brill | Broad, anything related to New Testament studies and early church history. | Quarterly. Will publish articles in English, German, and French. Limit of 8,500 words, including footnotes. |
Old Testament Essays (OTE) | 1987–present | Old Testament Society of South Africa | Broad, anything related to the Old Testament, both Hebrew and Greek. | Triannual. Word limit of 7,000–10,000 words, including footnotes, etc. Publishes in English,, German. Requires that authors pay a fee of 400 Rand per page (equivalent, as of 9/10/2025, to $22.89 per page), if accepted for publication. |
Philosophy (no known abbreviation?) | 1926–present | Cambridge University Press; Royal Institute of Philosophy | Broad, anything related to modern and ancient philosophy, including overlapping concerns from language, religion, medicine, etc. | Quarterly Upper limit of 10,000 words. |
Revue biblique (RB), two other former names[2] | 1892–present (current name from 1946) | L’École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem | Very broad, virtually all matters relating to biblical studies, including Old Testament, New Testament, ANE archaeology, and church history. | Quarterly. Publishes articles in French, English, German, Italian, and Spanish. |
Scottish Journal of Theology (SJT) | 1948–present | Cambridge University Press | Covers “systematic, historical, and biblical theology” (from the website). | Quarterly. Prefers articles of 5,000–6,000, with 8,000 words as the upper limit. |
Theologische Zeitschrift (TZ) | University of Basel | The focus of this journal is on theology, but also how various “subfields of theology” can enter “into an interdisciplinary conversation” with other subfields, including subfields from non-theological disciplines. | Quarterly. Publishes articles in German, French, and English. Maximum of 60,000 characters (this would probably come out to a maximum of 10,000 words). | |
Vetus Testamentum (VT) | 1951–present | Brill; International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament | Broad, everything related to Old Testament studies. | Quarterly. Publishers in English, French, and German. Prefers articles less than 8,000 words, as well as “short notes” (2,000–3,000 words). |
Vigiliae christianae (VC) | 1947–present | Brill | Publishers material “of an historical, cultural, linguistic or philological nature on early Christian literature written after the New Testament, as well as on Christian epigraphy and archaeology” (from the website). | Five issues per year. Publishes articles in English, French, and German. |
Zeitschrift für alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (ZAW) | 1881–present | De Gruyter Brill | Broad, anything connected to the Old Testament and early Judaism. | Upper limit of 38,000 characters, including footnotes and spaces. Quarterly. Publishes articles in English, French, and German. |
Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft (ZNW) | 1900–present | De Gruyter Brill | Broad, anything connected to the New Testament. | Biannual. Publishers articles in English and German. |
**The intention is to eventually place the journals in levels 2–4 in a similar chart, with the same sort of information.**
Level 2 (pre-survey, will most likely be revised)
· Acta Patristica et Byzantina (?)
· Ancient Near Eastern Studies (ANES)
· Andrews University Seminary Studies (AUSS). Open access.
· Annali di Storia dell'Esegesi (ASE)
· Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)
· Aramaic Studies (?) Covers more than (but includes) biblical studies, and is probably the top journal in its field of the ancient Aramaic language.
· Augustinian Studies (AugStud)
· Augustinium (?)
· Baptist Quarterly (?) Partial open-access (click here). Covers a wide range of Baptist studies, and some significant scholars have contributed.
· Bibel und Kirche (BK)
· The Bible Translator (BT)--the premiere journal for Bible translation theory and practice. Contains both technical and practically-minded articles. Sometimes deals with issues of exegesis or discourse analysis.
· Biblical Interpretation (BibInt)
· Biblical Research (BR)--produced by the Chicago Society of Biblical Research (note that many of their articles are by members and invited guests, though they will still consider unsolicited manuscripts)
· Biblical Theology Bulletin (BTB)
· Bibleotheca Sacra (BibSac)--this is one of the oldest journals on the list, and as far as dispensational or pre-mil theology goes, it's probably the best (it's published by Dallas Theological Seminary). I waffle between placing this in 2nd tier or 3rd tier. It still produces some very high quality scholarly contributions, but is cited less by mainstream academia than it used to be. In terms of dispensational theology, though, this would be the most essential journal, though it publishes articles on a broad variety of topics. Traditionally one of the more conservative journals. In the 1800s, BibSac published some erudite anti-slavery articles, back when this was a controversial theological topic.
· Biblische Zeitschrift (BZ)
· Bulletin for Biblical Research (BBR).
· Bulletin of the John Rylands Library (BJRL). Open access.
· Christian Research Journal (CRJ)
· Christian Scholar's Review (CSR)
· Church History (CH)
· Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin (??). Open access, click here. A very narrow, specialized journal which occasionally intersects with biblical studies.
· Currents in Biblical Research (CBR)
· Currents in Theology and Mission (CurTM)--probably the premiere journal for missions
· Early Christianity (?)--although not listed in the SBL handbook (at least not 1st edition), this fairly new journal may soon become tier-1.
· Estudios bíblicos (EstBib)
· Evangelical Quarterly (EvQ)
· Ex Audito (ExAud)
· Expository Times (ExpTim)
· Faith and Philosophy (?)--while technically not for Biblical studies per se, this can still be helpful since it is the top journal for Christian philosophers.
· Fides et Historia (?)
· Filologia Neotestamentaria (FilNet)--a journal devoted exclusively to the study of the Greek of the NT and its textual criticism.
· Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel (HBAI). Note: according to their website, this journal "will publish only invited articles."
· Hebrew Studies (HS)
· Hebrew Union College Annual (HUCA)--published for over 100 years (including a name change)!
· Heythrop Journal (HeyJ)
· Horizons in Biblical Theology (HBT)
· International Journal of Christianity & Education (?)
· International Journal of Systematic Theology (IJST)
· Interpretation (Int)
· Irish Theological Quarterly (ITQ)
· Israel Exploration Journal (IEJ)
· Jewish Bible Quarterly (JBQ). Open access.
· Jewish Studies: An Internet Journal (JSIJ). Open access.
· Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods (JSJ)
· Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters (?)--brand new, not mentioned in the SBL handbook, but will probably go up to tier-2.
· Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha (JSP)
· Journal of Ecumenical Studies
· Journal of Hebrew Scriptures (JHebS). Open access.
· Journal of Jewish Studies (JJS)
· Journal of Near Eastern Studies (JNES)
· Journal of Reformed Theology (JRT)
· Journal of Religion **
· Journal of Religious History (JRH). Recently switched to online only (but does not seem to be open access).
· Journal of Pentecostal Theology (JPT)
· The Journal of Philosophy (JPhil) **should this be tier 1?**
· Journal of Semitic Studies (JSS)
· Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies (?)--This journal used to be known as the Bulletin of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; fortunately they switched their title from 24 syllables to 10 syllables!). Open access up through 2017. Click here.
· Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JAAR), formerly Journal of Bible and Religion (1937–1966) and Journal of the National Association of Biblical Instructors (1933–1936).
· Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia University (JANESCU). Open access.
· Journal of the Bible and Its Reception (JBRec)--a very new journal (first issue was 2014) published by the Society of Biblical Literature.
· Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS)--probably the #2 academic evangelical journal, at this point. Mostly open access.
· Journal of Theological Interpretation (JTI)
· Judaica (Jud)
· Kerygma und Dogma (KD)
· La nouvelle revue théologique (NRTh)
· Lešonénu: A Journal for the Study of the Hebrew Language and Cognate Subjects (?)
· Medioevo (?)
· Mennonite Quarterly Review (?)
· Modern Theology (MOTH)
· Near Eastern Archaeology (continues Biblical Archaeologist)
· Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionphilosophie (Neue Z. Syst. Theol. Relig. [?])
· Neotestamentica (Neot)
· Palestine Exploration Quarterly (PEQ)
· Perspectives in Religious Studies (PRSt)
· Philosophical Studies (?)
· Pneuma (Pneuma)
· Princeton Seminary Bulletin (PSB)
· Pro Ecclesia (ProEccl)
· Prooftexts: A Journal of Jewish Literary History (Proof)
· Qumran Chronicle (?)
· Religion and Theology (R&T) (not to be confused with the more recent, and much broader, Journal of Religion and Theology).
· Religious Studies (RelS)
· La Revue de Qumrân (RevQ)
· Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament (SJOT)
· Science and Christian Belief (S&CB)--technically not biblical studies per se, but is probably the most prestigious journal to deal with the intersection of science and Christianity. Published by the Victoria Institute.
· Scripta Theologica (ScrTh)
· Semeia (Semeia)--a little bit of an avant-garde journal. It ceased publication after 2002.
· Semitica (?)
· Sixteenth Century Journal (SCJ)--for those interested in the era of the Reformation, Counter-Reformation, and Radical Reformation, this is a key journal. It publishes religious, political, and social studies.
· Sophia (?)
· Studia Patristica (StPatr)
· Studia Theologica (ST)
· Studies in Christian Ethics (?)
· Svensk exegetisk årsbok (SEÅ)
· Tel Aviv (TA)
· TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism (TC). Open access.
· Textus: A Journal on Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible
· Theological Studies (TS)
· Theologische Literaturzeitung (?)
· Theologische Rundschau (TRu)
· Theology Today (ThTo)
· Tyndale Bulletin (TynB)--the premiere evangelical academic journal, and apparently the most cited by mainstream scholarship. TynB is now once again open access, including its most recent issues.
· Zeitschrift für Althebraistik (ZAH)
· Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum (ZAC), a.k.a. Journal of Ancient Christianity
· Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte (ZRGG)--note that within humanities in general, ZRGG might be tier-1. It is rarely cited in biblical studies (having said that, I will be citing an article from this journal in a paper I am writing)
· Zeitschrift für Papyrlogie und Epigraphik (?)
· Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche (ZTK)
Level 3 (pre-survey, will most likely be revised)
· Acta Theologica (AcT)
· Annual of the Japanese Biblical Institute (SJBI)
· Anglican Theological Review (AThR)
· Asbury Theological Journal (AsTJ)
· Ashland Theological Journal (ATJ)
· Asia Journal of Theology (AsJT)
· Australian Biblical Review (ABR)
· Berlinzer Theologische Zeitschrift
· Biblical and Ancient Greek Linguistics (BAGL)--open-access, published by MacMaster Divinity College
· Biblische Notizen [Biblical Notes] (BN)
· Calvin Theological Journal (CTJ)
· The Canadian Journal of Philosophy
· Center for Pastor Theologians Journal (??)
· Christian Apologetics Journal (?)
· Churchman (Chm)
· Conspectus (?): accessible online here.
· Criswell Theological Review (CTR)
· Concordia Theological Quarterly (CTQ)
· Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal (DBSJ). Open access. I rank this journal at tier-3 instead of tier-4 because it has been cited by scholars.
· Didaskalia (Did). Published by Providence Theological Seminary.
· Eikon (?). Accessible here. Formerly known as the Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
· Emmaus Journal (?)
· Erasmus Studies (formerly Erasmus of Rotterdam Society Yearbook), 1981 to present, “. . . research and writing on Erasmus, his contemporaries, and their intellectual milieu.”
· European Journal of Theology (EuroJTH)
· Evangelical Review of Theology (ERT). ERT is now fully open access (click here).
· Foi et Vie (FoiVie)
· Grace Theological Journal (?). Sadly ceased publication in 1991, but did produce some notable articles in its short run.
· Hebrew Annual Review (HAR).
· Hermathena (?)—Note: this journal, published since 1873 by the Trinity College at Dublin, would be significantly higher (tier-2 if not tier-1) in the category of “Classical Studies.” For biblical and theological studies (especially church history), while most scholars may not be familiar with the journal, it will occasionally contain a relevant article (e.g., I counted two such articles in the Summer-Winter 2020 issue, though others would be relevant for the Greco-Roman background of New Testament studies.
· Hervormde teologieses studies, a.k.a. HTS Theological Studies or HTS Teologiese (HvTSt)--note that this journal is completely open access, including its most recent issues. However, unfortunately HvTSt now charges approximately $85 per page for an author publication fee (current as of 2/23/2023) and publishes a ginormous amount of articles per issue. These are two major red flags to what was once, in my opinion, a respectable journal.
· Hibbert Journal (HibJ). Although now not as well known, and ceased publication in 1968, it was influential in the beginning of the 20th century, covering a wide range of topics including theology, church history, and philosophy.
· Homiletic: The Journal of the Academy of Homiletics (?)
· In die Skriflig (IDS). This is another journal that is now charging authors to publish in it.
· International Bulletin of Mission Research (IBMR)
· International Journal for Philosophy of Religion (?). Although I have seen this journal cited in a respectable book, I cannot rank it very high because (a.) the approximate time for the first review decision is listed as 10 days (which is absurd, unless it is a cursory look by an editor, not peer review per se), and (b.) each author is charged $3,000+ dollars for their article (see this link, under “Fees and Funding”).
· International Journal of Homiletics (?)
· International Review of Mission (?)
· Jahrbuch für Biblische Theologie (JBTh)
· The Journal of Analytical Theology (?)
· Journal of Anglican Studies (?)
· Journal of Classical Theology (JoCT)
· Journal of Early Christian History (?)
· Journal of Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity (JEAC)
· Journal of the Evangelical Homiletics Society (?)
· Journal of Gospels and Acts Research (JGAR)--fairly new, first issue was 2017
· Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism (JGRChJ)
· Journal of Greek Linguistics (?)
· Journal of Language, Culture, and Religion (?)
· Journal of Latin American Theology (JLAT)
· Journal of Moravian History (?)
· Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics (JSCE)
· Journal of Translation (?)--the official journal of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL); I think (though am not positively sure) that this replaced their older journal Notes on Translation.
· Journal of Translation and Textlinguistics (JOTT)
· Journal of World Christianity (?)
· Kairos: Evangelical Journal of Theology (?) Note: I believe there are multiple journals named Kairos out there, and I'm still looking into how many of these are directly related to biblical studies. This particular journal seems to be based out of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Croatia.
· Kenwood Bulletin (?)
· *Kerux: A Journal of Biblical Theology. Open access, click here. (ceased publication in 2017).
· Kleine Untersuchungen zur Sprache des Alten Testaments und seiner Umwelt (KUSATU)
· Laval théologique et philosophique (LTP)
· Louvain Studies (?)
· Melita theologica (?)
· Methodist History
· Missio Dei (?)
· Missiology: An International Review (?)
· Neue kirchliche Zeitschrift (NKZ)
· New Blackfriars (NBf)
· Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (?)
· Philosophia Christi (?) (The journal of the Evangelical Philosophical Society)
· Philosophy and Theology (?)
· Philotheos (?), published by the Gnomon Center for the Humanities in Belgrade.
· Philosophical Topics (?)
· Phronema (?)--The official journal of St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College in Sydney, Australia.
· Presbyterion (Presb)
· Priscilla Papers (?).
· Puritan Reformed Journal (PRJ)
· Reformed Theological Review (RTR)
· Restoration Quarterly (ResQ).
· Review and Expositor (RevExp)
· Revista de interpretación
· Sacred Music (?)
· Scrinium: Journal of Patrology and Critical Hagiography, 2005 to present, Brill, focuses on “patristics, critical hagiography, and Church history.”
· Sémiotique et Bible
· Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology (SBET)
· Scripta Hierosolymitana (??). Published by the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
· Sewanee Theological Review (STRev)
· Southeastern Theological Review (SETR)--fairly new (replaces the older Faith & Mission).
· Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (SBJT).
· Southwestern Journal of Theology (SWJT)
· Stellenbosch Theological Journal (?)
· Stone-Campbell Journal (?)
· Studia Universitatis Babes (?)
· Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations (SCJR)
· Synthese (?)
· Themelios (Them).
· The Bible & Critical Theory (BCT)
· The Biblical Annals (BibAn)
· The Conrad Grebel Review (CGR)
· The Journal of Scriptural Reasoning (JSR)
· The Master's Seminary Journal (MSJ)--along with BSac, the best source for dispensational theology (though BibSac is still the best).
· The Princeton Seminary Bulletin (PSB).
· The Princeton Theological Review (?).
· The Southern Journal of Philosophy (?)--broader than just religious studies, but cited by those dealing with Christian philosophy.
· TheLogica (?) Published by the Catholic University of Louvain. Fairly new.
· Transformation: An International Journal of Holistic Mission Studies (?) Published by the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. [I'm wondering if this should be tier-2; could a specialist in missiology give me their informed-opinion?]
· Trinity Journal (TJ)
· Verbum et Ecclesia (?)
· Vida y Pensamiento (?)
· Wesleyan and Methodist Studies
· Wesleyan Theological Journal (?)
· Westminster Theological Journal (WTJ)
· Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly (?)
· Word and World (WW)
· Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie (ZKT)
Level 4 (pre-survey, will most likely revised)
· Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology (?)
· American Theological Inquiry (?)
· Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies (?)
· Babelao (?) Published by the Belgian Academy for the Study of Ancient and Oriental Languages, very broad but also includes articles on biblical textual criticism.
· Bíblica Latino Americana (RIBLA)
· Bolyai - Theologia Catholica (?)
· Bulletin of Ecclesial Theology (?).
· Canadian-American Theological Review (CATR)
· Canadian Journal of Theology (?). Ceased publication in 1970.
· Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health, and Disability (?)
· Caribbean Journal of Evangelical Theology (?)
· Central Bible Quarterly (1958–1979), formerly known as Central Conservative Baptist Quarterly (changed to Central Bible Quarterly in 1966).
· Chafer Theological Seminary Journal (?).
· Church History and Religious Culture (?)
· Conservative Theological Journal (?)
· Denver Journal (?). Focuses on book reviews.
· Eleutheria (??). The journal of Liberty University's divinity school.
· Eos (?)
· Études théologiques et religieuses
· Evangelical Journal (EvJ). Ceased publication 2016.
· Grace Journal (?). Ceased publication in 1973.
· Henoch Journal (Hen) A broad journal, but prioritizes text-critical issues.
· Il Mulino (?) Covers the history of Christianity.
· Imaginatio et Ratio: A Journal of Theology and the Arts (?)
· International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church (?)
· Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology (JJA). Brand new (2021), and open access.
· Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry (JBTM)--a bit more practically-oriented than many in this list (and I'm not sure to what degree it's peer-reviewed), but it still includes some solid scholars as contributors.
· Journal for Faith and Ministry (?) Published by Campbellsville University.
· Journal for Semitics (??).
· Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament (JESOT)--Update (6/24/24): The journal is now defunct, sadly (thanks to Dr. Timothy Yap for notifying me of this). Individual issues can be purchased on Wipf & Stock's website, and the journal is available through Logos, but I do not believe the journal is accessible for free anymore.
· Journal of Analytic Theology (?).
· Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections (?).
· Journal of Ancient Judaism (?)
· Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies (?)--fairly new, produced by Grand Canyon Theological Seminary
· Journal of Biblical Theology & Worldview (?)--brand new (2020), published by Bob Jones University. I would love to see this journal ranked in tier-3, just as soon as I notice it being cited by scholars.
· Journal of Dispensational Theology (?)
· Journal of Inductive Biblical Studies (?)
· Journal of Ministry and Theology (JMAT)
· Journal of Pastoral Theology (?)
· Journal of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity (?)
· Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research (?)
· Judaica: Neue Digitale Folge (?)
· Judaica Ukrainica (?)
· Kirche und Israel (?)
· Laval théologique et philosophique
· Lectio difficillior: European Electronic Journal for Feminist Exegesis (?)
· Lexington Theological Quarterly
· Midwestern Journal of Theology (?)
· Missionalia (?) Unfortunately, this journal charges an author processing fee.
· Newman Studies Journal (?)
· Nigerian Journal of Christian Studies
· Nova et Vetera (?)
· Pharos Journal of Theology (?) Another “pay to publish” journal.
· Polish Journal of Biblical Research (?)
· Practical Theology (?)
· Reformation (?)
· Reformed Baptist Theological Review (?)
· Reformed Presbyterian Theological Journal (?)
· Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception (?) (online: here). This journal focuses mostly on book reviews.
· Religions (?). Note: although this journal occasionally has articles published by legitimate scholars, it charges authors 1,400 Swiss Francs per article as stated here (this is almost $1,600; this is absurd!!). Other red flags are that this journal is not listed in the SBL handbook, I don't think I've ever seen an article from here cited in a respected scholarly work, and their website brags that peer-review takes about 20 days, and publication after that takes about 5 days. I have seen anecdotal evidence that an article can be published in this journal that was actually rejected by the reviewer. That's a lot of red flags.
· Revista Hermenêutica (Cachoeira-BA)
· Revue Théologie Évangélique (?)
· Rivista biblica
· Scriptura (?)
· Studies in World Christianity (?)
· The Journal of Biblical Storytelling (?) 1989, I think now defunct?
· Theoforum (?)
· Theology and Ministry (?). Published by St. John's College of Durham, accessible here.
· Toronto Journal of Theology (TJT)-- more known for its book reviews than articles.
[1] Initially Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem, then Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (1922). Current title from 2022 onward.
[2] Began as Revue Biblique in 1892, switched to Vivre et Penser in 1941, then returned to Revue Biblique in 1946.
Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal is DBSJ
ReplyDeleteThanks, I've made the addition
DeleteHere is another list by Peter Head (2010): http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.se/2010/05/journal-rankings-for-new-testament.html?m=1
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! Not surprised to see NTS at the very top; from what I understand they have a very wide readership.
DeleteYou left out Perspectives in Religious Studies, which could be put under level 2.
ReplyDeletegood call, I've added it in.
DeleteAnd it is Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal, not Detroit Seminary Journal.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this list. I will be adding a permanent hyperlink to this, and the other post covering Evangelical Journals, on my own blog. Very helpful. Especially when one is considering journals for article submission.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm hoping to do a post in the future where I discuss which journals provide the most helpful feedback when you submit an article. I highly recommend Tyndale Bulletin in that regard; although I've never been published with them, each time I've submitted something I've always gotten constructive feedback.
DeleteI was surprised to see JPT (Journal of Pentecostal Theology) and Pneuma not listed.
ReplyDeleteGood point; no excuse for Pneuma, since I've seen them around (I'm less familiar with JPT). I've put them both up at Level 2, since they're published by Brill.
DeleteWhere would the Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies (Wipf and Stock) fall?
ReplyDeleteA good question; I'd forgotten about them since they're fairly new. I've added them at Tier 3. I've seen some legitimate scholars publish material in the journal, but I have not yet seen material from the journal itself cited in an academic publication. We'll have to wait and see.
ReplyDeleteI believe you're correct about Tier 3. Thanks!
DeleteJECS is the journal of NAPS (North American Patristics Society) and is tier 1. I would also include JSNT in tier 1. Many, many important articles have been published there.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I've bumped up JECS to tier #1. I'm still debating JSNT. I would definitely agree that it's a step above almost all of the journals that I have listed in Tier 2, I just don't feel it's quite there with NTS and NovT, but I'm willing to reconsider. I'll start reviewing the secondary literature again and see how often it occurs compared to the others (keeping in mind how often each one is published yearly)
ReplyDeleteA couple of journals worth considering, though they are more systematics and philosophy of religion journals.
ReplyDelete1. Religious Studies (at least tier 2)
2. Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie (I would say tier 2. Check out the editorial board).
3. Churchman (Probably a tier 3, maybe a 2. It’s had some really strong publications, and it’s been around, though by different titles, since the late 19th century).
Two other notes.
1. I did not see the Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry listed though it was in post 1. Wasn’t sure if it was intentional or an oversight.
2. The abbreviation for Modern Theology is MOTH.
3. I think International Journal of Systematic Theology ranks as a tier 2. Many, I dare say most, theologians rank it on level with Scottish Journal of Theology.
Be try informative list. I greatly appreciate this.
The abbreviation for International Journal of Systematic Theology is IJST.
ReplyDeleteThanks, that was very helpful. Systematic theology is my weakness, so I'm less informed of the top journals. I've added those you mentioned, added in the abbreviations, and bumped IJST to tier-2 (also added in JBTM to tier three; not sure why I had forgotten about that).
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ReplyDeleteThe spelling needs to be corrected for the Zeitschrift für neutestamentliche Wissenschaft.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I've made the correction.
DeleteThese are trivial, but a couple more typos: (1) "Estudios Biblicos" needs an "s" at the end of the noun; (2) "Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods" needs an "s" at the end.
ReplyDeletethanks, I've made the changes
DeleteThanks, this is immensely helpful! You might add the Canadian American Theological Review (CATR), the journal of the Canadian American Theological Association (CATA).
ReplyDeleteThanks, I've added it to the list.
DeleteJournal of Ministry and Theology is abbreviated as "JMAT" and is published by Baptist Bible Seminary (Clarks Summit, PA). It is dispensational and frequently publishes papers presented at the Council of Dispensational Hermeneutics (generally for the Spring issue).
ReplyDeleteThank you for this journal list! I've found this to be very helpful
Thanks! I've added in the abbreviation, and I've also added a link to the journal's webpage, since anything before 2019 can be read without a paywall.
DeleteYou forgot The Watchtower… publishing Bible truth consistently since 1879.
ReplyDeleteand I trust that you're being just a bit sarcastic . . . :)
DeleteI'm wondering if the Answers Research Journal would make this list as possible Tier 3. Their instructions ask authors to name three potential reviewers (I'm supposing no blind peer-review) "who are competent creationists." They do seem to have a helpful process for producing higher-quality work, but also seem to fall short of typical academic rigor for well-established and highly-regarded journals.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very good question that I hadn't thought about. I need to take a look at ARJ. In theory there's no reason why it couldn't be Tier 3. I, personally, am sympathetic to their general perspective, while wondering if such a very narrowly-focused perspective could produce quality peer-review (i.e., how often would they reject a paper with a basic-level competency? If I remember correctly Science and Christian Belief, for example, had a 33% acceptance rate a few years back). I am going to make a mental note to look into their editorial board and some recent articles sometime.
Deletethanks for your work but do you have a list of the classical articles?
ReplyDeleteHello, I'm quite sure what you mean by "classical articles." Do you mean journals that focus more narrowly on classical studies? For the most part, these don't have too much interaction with Biblical studies, unless somebody is studying, for example, 1st century Greco-Roman philosophy in comparison or contrast with the Apostle Paul. So I'm not too familiar with which journals focus on classical studies. In a couple papers I wrote relatively recently, however, I did cite from a couple journals, specifically Latomus (https://www.latomus.be/) and Glotta (a German journal: https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=glotta) and Illinois Classical Studies (https://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/?id=ics).
Deletehttps://jat-ojs-baylor.tdl.org/jat/index.php/jat
ReplyDeleteThere's the Journal of Analytic Theology
Thanks! I've added it to tier 3 for now, but I see some solid scholars involved in it, so hopefully it will get noticed and move up
DeleteBiblica as a "big five" doesn't square with what most other scholars and indexes show (e.g., https://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2010/05/journal-rankings-for-new-testament.html). Many of the first-tier publications are more likely to be second-tier. Neotestamentica and JSNT are more likely to be on the same level. Does anyone really believe that HTR and JSNT are on the same level as JTS? So, it seems that many in the first tier should probably be moved down to the second tier, while many in the second tier should probably be moved down another rung on the ladder.
ReplyDeleteSo, T1: NTS, JTS, JBL, CBW, ZNW, RB, SJT, Novum, etc.
T2: JSNT, JSOT, NeoT, Harvard, etc.
T3: EQ, Expository Times, etc.
Thank you for the dialogue, I will certainly take what you say into consideration as I continue to revise.
Delete1. The primary question that drives this discussion is, "What journals are scholarly works most likely to cite from?" On that basis, from what I've seen in the "Abbreviation Section" and bibliographies of scholarly works, Biblica seems to have earned a high place, though I am certainly open to revising my opinion.
2. I used to have JSNT in tier two, but one of the previous commentators, above, made a case for it being higher, and after a year or so I decided that too many key scholars seemed to value JSNT at a high level, not quite on par with JTS, but close. My own biases would tend to keep JTS higher than JSNT, because they accepted a paper of mine (forthcoming) that JSNT rejected, lol :) !!
3. In light of the whole "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" scandal, I am inclined to agree that HTS should be lower. I will probably demote it soon.
4. Our biggest point of disagreement, I think, would be NeoT. I cannot see that as on the same level as JSNT, on the basis of which journal major scholar works are more likely to cite. Case in point, John M. G. Barclay's classic Paul and the Gift cites articles from both JSNT and Biblica, but not Neotestamentica (that I could see via the search function in GoogleBooks). Similarly, the recent commentary on 1 Peter by Ruth Anne Reese cites JSNT but not Neotestamentica.
In other words, I simply do not see NeoT being cited that often by key scholarly works, compared to JSNT.
JSNT and JSOT have grown in popularity over the past several years and confidently should be in tier 1. Since your main criterion is readership/impact factor, HTR, despite the Mary controversy, should probably be placed in tier 1 since it has a decent impact factor of 0.5. Side note, I believe in your last comment, HTS was mistaken for HTR. Also, I think HTS Teologiese Studies was accidentally removed at some point. Based on readership alone, I am not confident whether ETL, Vigiliae Christianae, HTS Teologiese Studies, and JECS should be placed in tier 1 since they are less read than other journals. I would argue that BibSac and AUSS should probably be placed in tier 2 rather than 3. BibSac's reputation is lower than in the past, but qualifying it in the lowest tier seems questionable based on its reputation. I've cited them on occasion, which cannot be said for most of tier 3. Although denominationally backed, AUSS publishes broadly, has a strong peer-review process, is often cited in certain fields (esp. studies on prophecy and sanctuary-related topics), and I've oddly heard them mentioned in mainstream podcasts more than once.
ReplyDeleteThank you for those helpful thoughts. I will bump up BibSac and AUSS to tier-2 for now, contingent on how my broader survey goes. I will put a bit more thought into ETS, VC, and JECTS. HTS Teologiese Studies is currently in tier-3, and I am definitely opposed to putting them higher in light of the massive set of retractions they had, among other things.
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