authorguidelines

International Journal of Social Science and Religion
Author Guidelines

IJSSR publishes research on religion as a social force in the Global South. Please prepare your manuscript according to these guidelines; manuscripts that do not follow them, or that fall outside the journal’s scope, will be returned before review.

Reference style: APA 7th edition
Abstract: one IMRAD paragraph
Language: English
At least 5,000 words
Maximum 4 authors
Headings and subheadings may be adapted to the nature of your study; the structure below is a recommended model. Items marked Required are compulsory. Manuscripts must use inclusive, bias-free language with respect to gender, age, disability, racial and ethnic identity and sexual orientation, following the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
01
Scope and Suitability

IJSSR examines how religion shapes, and is shaped by, law, governance, economy, education and public life, with particular interest in comparative studies across Southeast Asia, Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. The journal welcomes empirical, comparative and theoretically informed contributions in five areas:

01
Religion, law and governance
Legal pluralism, religion–state relations, Islamic and religious law in society, religious freedom.
02
Religious pluralism, interfaith relations and social cohesion
Tolerance, conflict, minority rights, integration.
03
Religion, economy and development
Religious philanthropy, zakat, waqf, Islamic social finance, poverty and development.
04
Religious authority, education and knowledge
Ulama, pesantren, madrasa, religious education, digital religion.
05
Religion, gender and family
Family law, gender relations, marriage and kinship.
Required. Treat religion as a central analytical category and engage explicitly with international scholarly debates.
Outside the scope
  • Studies in which religion is incidental (e.g., banking, management or communication studies without a religious dimension).
  • Purely doctrinal or normative analyses without social inquiry.
  • Descriptive local reports without theoretical contribution.

Before submitting, check that your manuscript (1) fits at least one of the five areas, (2) states which international debate it contributes to, and (3) explains what its Global South context adds to that debate.

02
Title

The title should be concise, specific and informative. It should name the religious phenomenon studied and, where relevant, the country or region, so that the article is easily found in search engines and databases.

Required. Write the title in title case (APA style), in no more than 20 words.
03
Word Limit≥ 5,000 words

Manuscripts should be at least 5,000 words, excluding the abstract and references.

04
Authorsmax. 4
Required. A manuscript may have no more than four authors. Each author’s specific contribution must be stated in the Author Contributions section; we recommend using the CRediT roles (e.g., conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing – original draft).
05
Abstractone paragraph · max. 200 words
Required. Write the abstract as one continuous paragraph of no more than 200 words, following the IMRAD sequence: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. Do not use subheadings, citations or undefined abbreviations in the abstract.
I
Introduction
35–45 words
Background, research gap and purpose of the study, framed within an international debate.
M
Methods
30–40 words
Design, data or sources, setting, participants and analysis.
R
Results
50–60 words
The principal findings, stated concretely.
D
Discussion
35–45 words
Contribution to the debate, implications for the Global South, and novelty.
Model of an IMRAD abstract paragraph (replace the bracketed parts)
[Introduction] Religion continues to shape … in [country/region], yet existing scholarship on [debate] has overlooked … . This study examines … . [Methods] Drawing on [design, e.g., ethnographic fieldwork / survey of n respondents / comparative document analysis] in [setting] between [period], the study analyses … using … . [Results] The findings show that … , that … , and that … . [Discussion] These results challenge/extend [theory or debate] by demonstrating … , and they offer … for understanding religion as a social force in the Global South.

Abstracts that do not follow this model will be returned for revision.

06
Keywords5–6

Provide five to six specific keywords, separated by semicolons. Include the religious phenomenon, the main concept or theory, and the country or region studied; take two or three key terms from the title and avoid long phrases.

07
Introduction500–1,000 words

Present the background of the study and state the research problem clearly. Situate the problem within an international scholarly debate, identify the gap that the study addresses, and state the research question and contribution. Every factual statement must be supported by an in-text citation in APA 7th style (see Section 15).

08
Literature Review500–1,000 words

The review may be argumentative, systematic or methodological. Discuss at least 15–20 relevant and recent works, drawing on international literature and, where possible, on comparative studies from other regions of the Global South. Explain the theoretical framework that guides the analysis. This section may be merged with the Introduction. See the USC Libraries guide on literature reviews.

Example of an APA in-text citation
Interpretation of religious texts influences the public’s construction of meaning and perception of disasters (Shadiqin & Rahman, 2018).
09
Methods300–600 words

IJSSR publishes empirical, comparative and theoretically informed studies. Describe the design in enough detail for readers to assess and, where applicable, replicate the study.

  • Qualitative studies: methodological orientation (e.g., ethnography, grounded theory, discourse analysis, phenomenology, content analysis), sampling and research site, data collection (interviews, observation, documents, field notes) and data analysis (coding procedure, number of coders, software).
  • Quantitative and mixed-methods studies: design, population and sample, instruments, variables, procedures, software and statistical analysis.
  • Comparative studies: the cases compared, the criteria for selecting them and the basis of comparison.
  • Textual, legal or historical studies: the sources and corpus, and how the analysis connects texts or legal norms to social practice, since purely doctrinal or normative analyses fall outside the scope.
Required. Studies involving human participants must state how informed consent was obtained and how participants’ privacy was protected, including ethical approval where applicable.
10
Results700–1,500 words

Present the data and findings: what you found, observed or calculated. Present the findings analytically rather than as a description of local conditions.

Required. Format tables and figures in APA style: the number in bold (e.g., Table 1, Figure 1) and the title in italic title case are placed above the table or figure; notes and sources go below it. Use high-quality images, and place tables and figures one after another, never side by side.
11
Discussion and Conclusion300–600 words

Interpret the findings in relation to the debate and theory set out in the Introduction: explain how and why your results agree or disagree with previous studies, supported by about 5–10 citations. State the contribution of the study to understanding religion as a social force in the Global South, its limitations, and directions for future research.

12
Use of Generative AI

Authors who use generative AI tools in preparing a manuscript must disclose this transparently in the Methods or Acknowledgements section, stating the tool, its version and its purpose, and must cite it appropriately. AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of the manuscript.

APA 7th reference for an AI tool (template)
Company. (Year). Name of the tool (Version) [Large language model]. https://xxxxx
13
Acknowledgements

Acknowledge any financial or non-financial support for the study, including funding bodies and grant numbers.

14
Author Contributions
Required. Each author must state their specific contribution. A statement that all authors contributed equally will not be accepted.
15
References
Required. All in-text citations and references must follow the APA 7th edition (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed.). Every in-text citation must appear in the reference list and vice versa. Use a reference manager such as Mendeley or Zotero with the style “American Psychological Association 7th edition”.
  • List references in alphabetical order by the first author’s surname, with a hanging indent.
  • Include up to 20 authors in each reference; give initials after surnames.
  • Write article and book titles in sentence case; write journal titles in title case and italics, with the volume number in italics.
  • Include the DOI as a full link (https://doi.org/…) whenever available. Do not add a period after a DOI or URL.
  • Draw predominantly on recent, peer-reviewed international literature.
In-text citations
One author
(Author, 2020)  ·  Author (2020) argues that …
Two authors
(Shadiqin & Rahman, 2018)  ·  Shadiqin and Rahman (2018) found that …
Three or more authors
(Author et al., 2021)  ·  Author et al. (2021) show that …
Direct quotation
(Shadiqin & Rahman, 2018, p. 17)
Several works
(Author et al., 2021; Shadiqin & Rahman, 2018) — in alphabetical order, separated by semicolons
Reference list
Journal article
Shadiqin, S. I., & Rahman, A. (2018). Islam and disaster: A refined concept through community’s disaster perception of post the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 6(3), 16–21.
Journal article with DOI (template)
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of the article in sentence case. Title of the Journal, Volume(Issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xx.xxxxx/xxxxx
Book (template)
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book in sentence case (2nd ed.). Publisher. https://doi.org/xx.xxxxx
Chapter in an edited book (template)
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the chapter. In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.
Thesis or dissertation (template)
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the dissertation [Doctoral dissertation, Name of University]. Repository Name. https://xxxxx
Legal or official document (template)
Name of Institution. (Year). Title of the law, regulation or report (Number). Publisher or Source. https://xxxxx
Web page (template)
Author or Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of the page. Site Name. https://xxxxx
See the Focus and Scope before submitting. Full APA guidance is available at apastyle.apa.org. Please use the IJSSR article template when preparing your manuscript.