Submit an Article

For the 2025 Call for Papers, go to https://learn.elca.org/jle/call-for-papers-2025/.

All submission of articles to Journal of Lutheran Ethics (JLE) should be sent via e-mail attachment to JLE@elca.org in DOC or DOCX format (MS Word).

JLE encourages various types of submissions. Please consult the “About JLE” page for a description of our mission and standards for potential contributors. Submissions will be reviewed and accepted at the editor’s discretion based on content, relevance, and style.

Length
Book reviews should be 1,000–2,000 words in length. Editorials should be 500–1,500 words. Articles should be 1,500–3,500 words in length unless permission is given otherwise.

Format
Granted consultation and approval by the editor, contributors are encouraged to experiment with Internet capabilities (e.g. videos, images, etc.—contributors are responsible for obtaining required permission). Text should follow these guidelines:

• Text should be submitted in a single space format with one additional space between paragraphs or lines of emphasis.
• Each paragraph in the submission should be numbered sequentially, the numbers enclosed in square brackets, [1], [2], etc. with a single space after each paragraph number.
• Font should be in Times New Roman, size 12.

Foreign Language
All use of foreign language, including biblical language, must be translated in a set of parentheses following the term, which should be italicized, unless otherwise specified in the ELCA’s Style Guidelines​. All use of foreign alphabet, including Greek and Hebrew, must be spelled out in transliteration.

Biblical Reference
Please use the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) when citing an English translation of the Bible. If the use of another translation is necessary, indicate which translation is being used in the endnotes.

• Romans 12:1–18.
• Romans 12:1–18 (NIV).

Endnotes
For documentation, the article should use endnotes, rather than footnotes. Each endnote should be single spaced; however, like the paragraph formatting, there should be an additional line between endnotes. The Chicago Manual of Style: Sixteenth Edition should be used as a primary reference when writing endnotes. However, below are a few examples to help guide you.

• Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, trans. John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson, (London: SCM, 1962) 315.
• H. Richard Niebuhr, “Utilitarian Christianity,” in Witness to a Generation, ed. Wayne H. Cowan (New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company Inc., 1966) 240–245.
• George E. Mendenhall, “Appeal to Caesar,” in Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. George A. Buttrick, 4 vols. (Nashville: Abingdon, 1962) 1:174.
• Grafton, David D. “The ‘asabiya of African-American Muslims and an American Christian Response,” Missiology: An International Review 31, no. 4 (2003) 449–458.
• Peter A. Schilling, “Soren Kierkegaard and Anglo-American Literary Culture of the Thirties and Forties (Karl Barth, England, Existentialism, T.S. Eliot, W.H. Auden).” PhD diss., Columbia University, 1994. ProQuest (AAC 9427136).
• Martin Luther, Bondage of the Will (1525), in Luther’s Works, vol. 33, ed. Philip S. Watson (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1972) 45–48.

Subsequent Notes
After the first endnote, either a shortened title or “Ibid.” should be used. Below are examples of the formatting for such endnotes:

• Ibid., 49.
• Luther, Bondage of the Will, 54.

Internet Citations
When citing a published page on the internet, state the author and title of the page (if they exist and are accessible). Then list the URL, and finally in parentheses note the access date. The access date should be the date in which the information was cited. Follow the formatting below:

• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “Declaration of ELCA to Jewish Community.” http://www.elca.org/Faith/Ecumenical-and-Inter-Religious-Relations/Inter-Religious-Relations/Jewish-Relations (accessed April 15, 2011).

Subheadings
Subheadings can be used to subdivide an article into thematic sections. If using a subheading:

• Capitalize it as if it was a title.
• Format the text in bold.
• Format the subsequent paragraph to follow immediately on the next line.

Byline
The end of the article should include a sentence or two about the author. This should be restricted to institution of occupation or primary relevant project, unless the editor agrees otherwise. Below are some examples:

• Samuel Wanjiru is Bishop of the Northwestern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
• Joseph Germanotta is associate professor in the Department of Theology at Georgetown University.
• Cynthia Bissett is an ordained pastor with the ELCA and serves as a Country Coordinator for the South Africa-based Young Adults in Global Mission program.

Style References
For other inquiries regarding style, first consult the ELCA’s Style Guidelines. If further reference is required, follow the guidelines in The Associated Press: 2011 Stylebook. For matters of citation, as mentioned above, refer to The Chicago Manual of Style: Sixteenth Edition.

Supporting Information
If submitting unsolicited work, please submit a brief abstract of 100 words or less and a copy of your curriculum vita.

History
Include, if desired, a brief list of historical articles which may be of use and which we might be able to include with the essay. If you would like to refer to church documents not already online, please have them scanned, transfer them into a DOC file and a PDF file, and include them as attachments to an email. If a document is not copyrighted by ELCA, contributors must be responsible for gaining permission to use it.