The Oates Journal (ISSN: 1098-1446) is a publication of the Wayne E. Oates Institute addressing issues related to spirituality, ethics, and healing from the perspective of pastoral care and counseling.

What the Oates Journal is:

The Oates Journal is an online professional journal published by the Wayne E. Oates Institute to address issues of spirituality, ethics, and health for pastoral care givers and health care professionals. This publication is designed to share new information and facilitate dialogue and learning from colleagues.

Target Audience:

The Oates Journal is targeted toward professional caregivers, including practitioners from the medical, social, psychiatric, religious, and therapeutic fields. The Oates Journal is provided as a service to all members of the Wayne E. Oates Institute.

What We Seek to Publish:

The types of articles we are looking for include: discussion, research (qualitative and quantitative), descriptive, interview, case study, personal reflection, narrative, artistic, review, professional development, report, and bibliography. We seek to be the original publisher. Topics we seek to address include: mind/body/spirit relationships, care giving rituals, end of life care and decision making, critical pathways, spiritual assessments, wellness programs, multicultural and interfaith issues, pastoral care in practice and theology, medical ethics, models for ministry and practice, and spirituality.

Within the context of reviews we seek to cover books and other media resources including film, new media, and computer software deemed to have relevance for caregiving professionals. Reviewers should make the relevance clear and identify to whom the resource is primarily helpful; i.e, the pastoral counselor, the social worker, the physician, the client/patient, the clergy.

Publication Style:

Articles and reviews submitted for publication are expected to follow the style and standards described in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Article Review Process:

Article and review submissions will be reviewed by two or more members of the Editorial Committee and the editors of the Oates Journal. Reviewers may recommend that the article be: (1) accepted for publication, (2) accepted if specified changes are made, (3) revised for reconsideration, (4) rejected, or (5) referred to another publication. The final decisions will be made by the editors based on these recommendations. Questions we address when evaluating whether a submission fits our publication include: Does it have something important to say? Is it well written? Does it reflect the Oates heritage and mission? Does it make a contribution to the field of knowledge? Does it facilitate an interdisciplinary and interfaith dialogue?

In the case of editing revisions, we will send a copy of the edited manuscript to the author for approval before publication. The author will have ten (10) days to disapprove of the changes.

Publication Mode and Frequency:

The Oates Journal publishes online utilizing the resources of the Internet. This allows us to follow a dynamic publishing approach in which we directly publish articles and reviews as they are ready rather than gathering them in periodic issues of articles. The table of contents for the Journal constantly changes to reflect the latest articles and reviews published. Once an article is published it will remain current for approximately two months, then become a recently published article, and finally be archived within the annual volume. Once published articles and reviews will remain accessible at the permanently assigned URL (Uniform Resource Locator). We seek to publish 2-4 new articles each month, and we will publish reviews as quickly as they are available. As new articles are published we post an email notice to our membership and those who have subscribed to the Journal Update notifications.
Occasionally, we seek to gather a series of articles around specific topics. These articles will be published simultaneously and indexed as a group.

Copyright:

The Oates Journal copyrights the articles it publishes. In order to acknowledge the transfer of rights, the originality of the material, and the acquisition by the author of appropriate permissions required for the use of others' materials, the attached copyright release form must be signed and enclosed with the submission of articles and reviews.

Information to Include:

Title and Author(s). The first page of the manuscript should include the proposed title of the article and the author's name(s), including applicable title or position, organization or institution and location, and highest academic degree. Book reviewers should include the title of the book, the author of the book, the publisher of the book, and the name of the reviewer.

Summary Description. Please include a brief (less than 25 words) description of your article. This will be used for indexing purposes.

Abstract. Next, please include a 75-150 word abstract of your article.

Key Words. You may also list up to six key words that will be used by our database and by various Internet search engines for topical searches.

Biographical Info. Please include a short biography of the author(s) or reviewer(s). We also like pictures whenever possible. We prefer photos be 200 x 300 pixel GIF or JPEG files on diskette or by email attachment. We can use hard copy photos, but please include a SASE if you want them returned.

Length Guidelines:

We encourage a form and function approach--use the number of words you need to communicate but no more. For articles we look for 2,000-3,500 words. For book, film, and media reviews we seek 600-1,500 words.

Photos and Illustrations:

Using photos, illustrations, and graphics to enhance the presentation of the article is encouraged. Please note where these are to be inserted within the manuscript by using [insert photo #], and follow the submission guidelines below.

Footnotes:

Placement of footnotes should be identified by the use of superior numerals enclosed by brackets within the text, e.g., [1]. The footnotes themselves should be typed separately at the end of the manuscript.

Special Options Offered By Online Publication:

Being an online publication presents authors with several options not available in traditional forms. We will be glad to work with authors in learning to take advantage of these opportunities.

Audio Clips. Web publishing offers the opportunity to use audio clips in various ways to enhance the presentation of a topic. Interview segments and specific quotes from presenters are two examples. Also the inclusion of audio recitation of poetry by the author is also desirable and will be included in the publication if available.

Sidebars and Secondary Pages. One of the advantages of online publishing is the opportunity to provide readers more detailed or additional information by linking to secondary pages. These pages should be typed separately from the primary manuscript and clearly identified. The placement of the hyperlink within the manuscript should then be marked with [ ] around the word or phrase to be linked with clear identification of the secondary page being linked. Sidebars will also be treated as secondary pages with links placed at the side, head, or end of the article as appropriate.

Hyperlinks. Another advantage of online publishing is the opportunity to link to other sites, resources, and information on the Internet. To include hyperlinks within your article, clearly mark the placement of the link using [ ] around the word or phrase signifying the link and clearly identify the name of the site and the complete URL to be linked. Please obtain appropriate prior permission to establish this link, and include evidence of that permission with your submission.

Submissions:

Manuscripts. We prefer that articles and columns be submitted as email text or as a Microsoft Word, Wordperfect, ASCII text, or html file as an email attachment. Diskette submissions are acceptable and must be on an IBM-format DSDD diskette or Iomega-compatible IBM-formatted zip disk. Be sure to label the diskettes with your name, title of the piece, type of file, and a way to contact you if we have problems. Manuscripts may also be submitted in traditional, hard copy form. These should be double-spaced with 1 ½" margins on the right and left sides of the page.

Photos, Illustrations, and Audio Clips. Include any pictures, artwork, or audio clips that you feel would enhance the presentation of the article. Pictures and artwork should be no greater than 400 x 400 pixels in GIF or JPEG format. These should be submitted in Real Audio format or submitted on a standard audiocassette. Please do not send an uncompressed WAV file.

E-mail submissions to: chris at oates.org or surface mail them to:

The Oates Journal
Wayne E. Oates Institute
1733 Bardstown Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40205

Notification:

We will do our best to respond to authors within two months of receiving a submission. Please include your e-mail address or Web site address (if available), your telephone number, and your mailing address so we may inform you whether we will be able to use your submission and when, or follow-up with you in terms of revisions, rewrites, and redirects.

Return of Submissions:

If you would like to have your submission returned, indicate that by enclosing an SASE with sufficient postage.