You are here

Currents in Biblical Research

Currents in Biblical Research

Other Titles in:
Biblical Studies

eISSN: 17455200 | ISSN: 1476993X | Current volume: 22 | Current issue: 1 Frequency: 3 Times/Year

"Currents in Biblical Research has handsomely fulfilled the vision we had for it when it was launched in 1993. It has become the most indispensable guide to recent biblical research. Its articles are always authoritative, its range is remarkable, and its bibliographies are carefully chosen. No library should be without it." David J. A. Clines, Emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield, UK

"Currents in Biblical Research is one of the most important research tools in biblical studies. No one is able to keep up with all of the publications in the different branches of biblical studies. The thorough and judicious articles in Currents provide invaluable orientation to the major elements of recent scholarly conversation. Whenever I need to catch up on developments in a particular area of biblical studies, I turn to Currents. I also strongly recommend it to my graduate students." Carol A. Newsom, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, USA

This peer-reviewed journal summarizes the spectrum of recent research on particular topics or biblical books. Each article provides an inclusive treatment of its subject, without in most cases being exhaustive. Articles cover specific biblical books or clusters of books, ancillary ancient literature, archaeology, historical studies, as well as new and developing areas of study. Each article concludes with an extensive bibliography that provides a basic knowledge of significant articles and books on the topic being treated, and provides sufficient information to launch a thorough investigation of the topic.

Currents in Biblical Research is indispensable not only for those entering upon a career in biblical studies, but also for all scholars who wish to keep abreast of developments in fields adjacent to their own.

Note: Students may subscribe to CBR at 25% discount, submitting with their subscription the name and address of their institution.

Currents in Biblical Research is available on SAGE Journals Online.

This journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

This peer-reviewed journal summarizes the spectrum of recent research on particular topics or biblical books. Each article provides an inclusive treatment of its subject, without in most cases being exhaustive. Articles cover specific biblical books or clusters of books, ancillary ancient literature, archaeology, historical studies, as well as new and developing areas of study. Each article concludes with an extensive bibliography that provides a basic knowledge of significant articles and books on the topic being treated, and provides sufficient information to launch a thorough investigation of the topic.

Currents in Biblical Research is indispensable not only for those entering upon a career in biblical studies, but also for all scholars who wish to keep abreast of developments in fields adjacent to their own.

Associate Editor for New Testament
Ekaputra Tupamahu Portland Seminary, George Fox University, USA
Associate Editor for Ancient Judaism
Catherine Bonesho University of California Los Angeles, USA
Associate Editor for Old Testament
Kelly J. Murphy Central Michigan University, USA
Social Media Coordinator
Megan Remington University of California Los Angeles, USA
Editorial Board
Lynn R. Huber Elon University, USA
Raj Nadella Columbia Theological Seminary, USA
Roger Nam Emory University, USA
Annette Yoshiko Reed Harvard Divinity School, USA
Jordan D. Rosenblum University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Sarah Shectman The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, USA
Andrew Tobolowsky William & Mary, USA
  • ATLA Religion Database
  • Academic Search Premier
  • Clarivate Analytics: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
  • IBZ: International Bibliography of Periodical Literature
  • IBZ: International Bibliography of Periodical Literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Index To Jewish Periodicals
  • Index theologicus
  • New Testament Abstracts
  • ProQuest
  • Religion & Philosophy Collection
  • Religious and Theological Abstracts
  • Zeller Dietrich Bibliographische Verlage
  • Please read the guidelines below then visit the Journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cibr to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

    Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Currents in Biblical Research will be reviewed.

    There are no fees payable to submit or publish in this Journal. Open Access options are available - see section 3.3 below.

    As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere. Please see our guidelines on prior publication and note that Currents in Biblical Research may accept submissions of papers that have been posted on pre-print servers; please alert the Editorial Office when submitting (contact details are at the end of these guidelines). Authors should not post an updated version of their paper on the preprint server while it is being peer reviewed for possible publication in the journal. If the article is accepted for publication, the author may re-use their work according to the journal's author archiving policy. If your paper is accepted, you must include a link on your preprint to the final version of your paper.

    If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal

    1. What do we publish?
      1.1 Aims & Scope
      1.2 Article types
      1.3 Writing your paper
    2. Editorial policies
      2.1 Peer review policy
      2.2 Authorship
      2.3 Acknowledgements
      2.4 Funding
      2.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
      2.6 Research ethics and patient consent
      2.7 Clinical trials
      2.8 Reporting guidelines
      2.9 Data
    3. Publishing policies
      3.1 Publication ethics
      3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement
      3.3 Open access and author archiving
    4. Preparing your manuscript
      4.1 Formatting
      4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics
      4.3 Supplemental material
      4.4 Reference style
      4.5 English language editing services
    5. Submitting your manuscript
      5.1 ORCID
      5.2 Information required for completing your submission
      5.3 Permissions
    6. On acceptance and publication
      6.1 Sage Production
      6.2 Online First publication
      6.3 Access to your published article
      6.4 Promoting your article
    7. Further information

     

    1. What do we publish?

    1.1 Aims & Scope

    Before submitting your manuscript to Currents in Biblical Research, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

    1.2 Article Types

    Currents in Biblical Research publishes original scholarly articles that match the aims and scope of the journal. Most content within the journal is commissioned by the journal editors, however proposals for articles are considered. Proposals should be sent directly to the editor responsible for that subject area, who will decide on whether the article should be published in the journal.

    1.3 Writing your paper

    The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources. Sage Author Services also offers authors a variety of ways to improve and enhance their article including English language editing, plagiarism detection, and video abstract and infographic preparation.

    1.3.1 Make your article discoverable

    When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

    Back to top

    2. Editorial policies

    2.1 Peer review policy

    Content for Currents in Biblical Research should be in the first instance discussed with the relevant subject editor.  See below for editor contact details.  Once a paper has been submitted, papers will be sent for peer review before a decision is made.

    2.2 Authorship

    All parties who have made a substantive contribution to the article should be listed as authors. Principal authorship, authorship order, and other publication credits should be based on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their status. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis.

    Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

    2.3 Acknowledgements

    All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

    Any acknowledgements should appear first at the end of your article prior to your Declaration of Conflicting Interests (if applicable), any notes and your References.

    2.3.1 Third party submissions

    Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

    •    Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input 
    •    Identify any entities that paid for this assistance 
    •    Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

    Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

    2.3.2 Writing assistance

    Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.

    It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

    2.4 Funding

    Currents in Biblical Research encourages authors to include a declaration of any conflicting interests and recommends you review the good practice guidelines on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

    2.5 Research data

    The journal is committed to facilitating openness, transparency and reproducibility of research, and has the following research data sharing policy. For more information, including FAQs please visit the Sage Research Data policy pages.

    Subject to appropriate ethical and legal considerations, authors are encouraged to:

    • share your research data in a relevant public data repository
    • include a data availability statement linking to your data. If it is not possible to share your data, we encourage you to consider using the statement to explain why it cannot be shared.
    • cite this data in your research

    Back to top

    3. Publishing Policies

    3.1 Publication ethics

    Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

    3.1.1 Plagiarism

    Currents in Biblical Research and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarised other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

    3.1.2 Prior publication

    If material has been previously published it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

    3.2 Contributor's publishing agreement

    Before publication, Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Sage’s Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement is an exclusive licence agreement which means that the author retains copyright in the work but grants Sage the sole and exclusive right and licence to publish for the full legal term of copyright. Exceptions may exist where an assignment of copyright is required or preferred by a proprietor other than Sage. In this case copyright in the work will be assigned from the author to the society. For more information please visit the Sage Author Gateway.

    3.3 Open access and author archiving

    Currents in Biblical Research offers optional open access publishing via the Sage Choice programme and Open Access agreements, where authors can publish open access either discounted or free of charge depending on the agreement with Sage. Find out if your institution is participating by visiting Open Access Agreements at Sage. For more information on Open Access publishing options at Sage please visit Sage Open Access. For information on funding body compliance, and depositing your article in repositories, please visit Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines and Publishing Policies.

    Back to top

    4. Preparing your manuscript for submission

    4.1 Formatting

    The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

    Please refer to the following documents for guidance on the specific journal style for Currents in Biblical Research

    Currents in Biblical Research Detailed Stylesheet

    4.2 Artwork, figures and other graphics

    For guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines. 

    Figures supplied in colour will appear in colour online regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For specifically requested colour reproduction in print, you will receive information regarding the costs from Sage after receipt of your accepted article.

    4.3 Supplemental material

    This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files.

    4.4 Reference style

    References in Text: Every author and every work cited in text must have a complete entry in the bibliography.

    References in text point readers to appropriate entries in the bibliography and pages within the work. Use writer’s surnames only, or surname and first initial if two authors share a surname. Citations must include author’s surname, date of work, and page range, if necessary: (Hauser and Watson 2003: 2-53). If a work has more than three authors, use et al. after the first author’s name. Present more than one work by an author in chronological order, separated by semicolons: (Hauser and Watson 1994; Hauser and Watson 2003).

    Sample entries are:

    Book:
    Hauser, A.J., and D. Watson (eds.) 2003 A History of Biblical Interpretation. I: The Ancient Period (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans).

    Article in a Journal:
    Helmer, C. 2005 ‘Biblical Theology: Bridge Over Many Waters’, CBR 3.2: 169-96.

    Article/chapter in a volume:
    Baskin, J.R. 1992 ‘Rabbinic Interpretations of Job’, in L.G. Perdue and W.C. Gilpin (eds.), The Voice from the Whirlwind (Nashville: Abingdon Press): 101-10.

    Bibliographies:
    Include a complete entry for at least one major work of each author/scholar mentioned in text, and for every work cited in your text. You may include primary and secondary works not mentioned in your text, for readers to follow up on a topic.

    Foreign Terms:
    Italicize non-English words and terms not in common English usage.

    4.5 English language editing services

    Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

    Back to top

    5. Submitting your manuscript

    Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you carefully read and adhere to all the guidelines and instructions to authors provided below. Manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned.

    Currents in Biblical Research is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cibr to login and submit your article online.

    IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

    All papers must be submitted via the online system. If you would like to discuss your paper prior to submission, please refer to the contact details below.

    Kelly J. Murphy
    Editor for Old Testament
    kelly.murphy@cmich.edu

    Ekaputra Tupamahu
    Editor for New Testament
    etupamahu@georgefox.edu

    Catherine Bonesho
    Editor for Ancient Judaism
    bonesho@ucla.edu

    Each article submitted must include four parts: a 150-word abstract together with 10 to 12 keywords arranged in alphabetical order; the text (subdivided under appropriate headings); a bibliography, which must include a complete entry for every work cited in text, and at least one work by every writer/scholar mentioned; and a list of all abbreviations used in text and bibliography, with definitions. Please double line space both the text and the bibliography, and use left justification only.

    Fonts and Foreign Languages

    For Greek and Hebrew fonts, please use the fonts available on the SBL website.

    Back to top

    5.1 ORCID

    As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

    The collection of ORCID IDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID ID you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID ID will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID ID is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

    If you do not already have an ORCID ID please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

    5.2 Information required for completing your submission

    You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. The affiliation listed in the manuscript should be the institution where the research was conducted. If an author has moved to a new institution since completing the research, the new affiliation can be included in a manuscript note at the end of the paper. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

    5.3 Permissions

    Please also ensure that you have obtained any necessary permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please see the Copyright and Permissions page on the Sage Author Gateway

    6. On acceptance and publication

    6.1 Sage Production

    Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be made available to the corresponding author via our editing portal Sage Edit or by email, and corrections should be made directly or notified to us promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

    6.2 Online First publication

    Online First allows final articles (completed and approved articles awaiting assignment to a future issue) to be published online prior to their inclusion in a journal issue, which significantly reduces the lead time between submission and publication. Visit the Sage Journals help page for more details, including how to cite Online First articles.

    6.3 Access to your published article

    Sage provides authors with online access to their final article.

    6.4 Promoting your article

    Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice. 

    Back to top

    7. Further information

    Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the manuscript submission process should be sent to the Currents in Biblical Research editorial office as follows:

    Kelly J. Murphy
    Editor for Old Testament
    Department of Philosophy and Religion
    Central Michigan University
    Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA
    kelly.murphy@cmich.edu

    Ekaputra Tupamahu
    Editor for New Testament
    Portland Seminary, George Fox University
    12753 S.W. 68th Ave. #278
    Portland, OR 97223, USA
    etupamahu@georgefox.edu

    Catherine Bonesho
    Editor for Ancient Judaism
    University of California Los Angeles
    Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    bonesho@ucla.edu 

    Individual Subscription, E-access


    Individual Subscription, Print Only


    Member Subscription, Combined (Print & E-access)


    Theology Colleges & Seminaries Subscription, Combined (Print & E-access)


    Institutional Subscription, E-access


    Institutional Subscription, Print Only


    Institutional Subscription, Combined (Print & E-access)


    Individual, Single Print Issue


    Institutional, Single Print Issue