Soumissions

Directives aux auteurs

Author Guidelines

Sections

     1. Submission

     2. Aims and Scope

     3. Preparing the Submission

     4. Publication and Editorial Policies

     5. Publication Ethics & Malpractice

     6. Copyright

1. SUBMISSION

A submitted manuscript should be original and has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere except as a brief abstract in the proceedings of a conference or symposium.

The MST Review, which is published bi-annually (within the months of June and December), requires a minimal fee of PhP140.00 (US$2.50) per publication-formatted page to publish an article in the journal. The journal is committed to ensuring financial barriers do not prevent the dissemination of valuable research. Waivers are granted on a case-by-case basis and are subject to the journal's financial capacity. A waiver decision is independent of the editorial decision on manuscript acceptance, which is based on scientific merit alone. Authors affiliated with institutions in countries classified as low-income or lower-middle-income are eligible for a partial waiver. Requests may be considered for other authors experiencing significant financial need, such as early-career researchers or students, and may require a formal explanation. Authors must submit a formal request for an APC waiver at the time of manuscript submission.

Articles in English or Filipino are welcome. The MST Review welcomes authors at any time of the year.

New submissions should be made via the submission portal: Make a new submission (see above)

Data privacy protection:

The MST Review aims to protect the personal information collected from users in the operation of publication services and to ensure that steps are taken to maintain the integrity and privacy of every personal data collected and processed.

2. AIMS AND SCOPE

The MST Review welcomes original and unpublished manuscripts discussing contemporary issues in theological, biblical, philosophical, historical, cultural, missiological, and pastoral studies.

The MST Review encourages and welcomes submissions from various geographical regions. As an interdisciplinary journal, the journal encourages diverse approaches and methodologies in dealing with topics that concern researchers/scholars/professors in theological and religious studies, professional ministers, and pastoral/church workers.

The MST Review accepts four kinds of manuscripts:

A. Research articles. These are full-length submissions longer than 4,500 words but less than or equal to 8,000 words, including abstract, acknowledgment, and references. Articles can focus on a particular theological, biblical, missiological, or pastoral issue or problem.

Strong and persuasive submissions may embody the following:

Interdisciplinary methodologies, contextual approaches, historical-cultural analysis, indigenous or intercultural pedagogies, and other forms of historical-cultural hermeneutics.

Articles may situate arguments within the wider field of scholarship on theology, religion, mission, and pastoral work. Articles are subject to an initial internal review by the Editorial Board to be followed by an external anonymous peer-review process,

B. Research notes. These are shorter manuscripts that qualify as less-developed research articles with an approximate length of 3,000-4,000 words. It may present partial or preliminary findings of ongoing research. Submitted research notes may not be converted later into a research article after submission.

C. Creative Essays (approximate length of 2,000-3,000 words). A creative essay expresses the author’s personal opinion or a new perspective about a particular missiological or pastoral issue/topic. Essays are dependent on the author’s perspective or anecdotal evidence from the author’s personal experience to support the argument. Essays are subject to the Editorial Board’s review process.

D. Book or film reviews (approximate length of 800-1,800 words).

3. PREPARING THE SUBMISSION

MST Review’s receipt of submitted manuscripts should not be construed as an approval for publication. No monetary honorarium is provided. The authors may download their pdf copies from MST Review’s website.

Since MST Review is an Open Access Journal, it charges the corresponding minimal fees (Author Processing Charges [APC]) of PhP140.00 (2.50 US$) per published page. 

Parts of the Manuscript

The manuscript should be submitted in separate files:
    Title Page with the author’s short bio-info including his/her ORCID;
    Main Text file;
    Tables and Figures.

Title Page

The title page should contain:

    1. A short descriptive title containing the major key words. The title should not contain abbreviations;

    2. A short running title of less than 40 characters; this will be used in the pages with the running-head.

    3. The full names of the authors;

    4. The author's institutional affiliations where the work was conducted;

    5. The author’s ORCID (find information here: https://orcid.org);

    6. The author's email address.

Authorship

Please refer to the journal’s Authorship policy in the Editorial Policies section (below) for details.
An initial internal review by the Editorial Board to be followed by two external anonymous reviews.
Notes are also subject to a peer-review process on the author listing eligibility.

Main Text File

Manuscripts submitted should be computer-generated, single-spaced (including notes and references), and formatted as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice document file format. Images and figures should be submitted separately in JPEG format (with at least 200 dpi in resolution). These should be labeled and referenced within the text. Moreover, seeking permission to reprint pictures and the like is the author’s responsibility.

As papers are double-blind peer reviewed, the main text file should not include any information that might identify the authors. It is the responsibility of the author/s to come up with an 'anonymized' file.

The main text file should be presented in the following order:

    1. Title, abstract, and key words;

    2. Main text;

    3. References;

    4. Tables (each table complete with title and footnotes);

    5. Figure legends;

    6. Appendices (if relevant).

Figures and supporting information should be supplied as separate files.

Abstract

Please provide an abstract of no more than 150 words containing the major keywords.

Keywords

Please provide at most seven keywords.

Main Text

• As papers are double-blind peer reviewed, the main text file should not include any information that might identify the authors. 

• The journal uses US spelling; however, authors may submit using either British or American styles, as spelling of accepted papers is converted during the production process.

Conflict of Interest Statement

Authors must provide a conflict of interest statement at the end of the submitted main text.

References

Article contributors should submit manuscripts, following the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition. The complete reference list should appear alphabetically by name at the end of the paper. A DOI should be provided for all references where available.

For more information about the Chicago referencing style, please access https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo25956703.html.

Footnotes

Footnotes should be placed (automatically and not manually) at the foot of each page. They should be numbered and referred to in the text with consecutive, superscript Arabic numerals.

Tables

Tables should be self-contained and complement, not duplicate, information contained in the text. They should be supplied as editable files, not pasted as images.

4. PUBLICATION AND EDITORIAL POLICIES

Peer Review and Acceptance

The adopted criteria for all submissions are the quality and originality of the research and its relevance to the MST Review readership.

Review Process:

Step 1: Editorial Board Member’s Assessment

All manuscripts submitted to the journal will undergo a preliminary evaluation by the members of the Editorial Board to determine the suitability of the submission. Submitted manuscripts are to be evaluated based on several criteria, which may include but are not limited to:

    • Alignment of the topic to the scope of MST Review

    • A well-argued rationale for the study

    • A sound and clearly defined or presented methodology

    • Analytical rigor in the handling and interpretation of data

    • Coherence and organization of the manuscript

    • Contribution to scholarship and/or pastoral practice

Step 2: Independent Peer Review Process

After having passed the preliminary evaluation, the manuscript will be handled by the Managing Editor for the double-blind peer-review process. At least two experts in the particular field covered by the manuscript will be assigned to review it. The identities of the author/s and the reviewers are not to be disclosed, to satisfy the required double-blind review. The reviewers will evaluate the manuscript based on the topic’s relevance to mission and pastoral work, timeliness, and technical quality.

All article types (research article, research note, review article, creative essay, conference paper) will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

Peer reviewers are given one month to submit their evaluations to the Managing Editor. Authors are given 30 days for the required minor revisions and 60 days for major revisions.

In cases where reviewers arrive at contradicting evaluations, a third reviewer will be consulted to resolve the issue. The final decision will be rendered by the editor-in-chief who may also need to seek the advice of the other members of the Editorial Board.

The reviewers are prohibited to show the manuscript under review to another person nor use the information contained therein. To ensure unbiased review, manuscripts submitted by members of the editorial board shall be reviewed by experts from outside their respective institutions.

The reviewers may render one of the following judgments:

    1. ACCEPTABLE content in present form. (will progress to publication)

    2. ACCEPTABLE, but advised to revise to address Minor concerns in the manuscript's content, no further review is needed

    3. ACCEPTABLE, but advised to revise to address Major concerns in the manuscript's content, further review needed

    4. REJECTED and returned to the author, but can be re-submitted after doing further work. Upon re-submission, the manuscript will undergo the same review process.

    5. REJECTED due to substantive, methodological, and technical flaws.

Manuscripts that have been recommended for revision are expected to provide detailed and comprehensive responses to the comments provided by the reviewers and/or editors. The MST Review reserves the right not to publish an accepted manuscript if the author fails to carry out requested revisions, promptly return a signed Copyright Agreement form, and/or comply with other journal requirements or instructions.

Accepted manuscripts are copy edited and are emailed to the corresponding authors for inspection. The copy edited and author-inspected version will be formatted for the publication.

The Copyright Agreement requires the corresponding author to formally agree, among others, that the manuscript is original and unpublished, has no plagiarized contents, and/or that the authors were not involved in any unethical practices related to the manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The journal requires that all authors disclose any potential sources of conflict of interest. Any interest or relationship, financial or otherwise that might be perceived as influencing an author's objectivity is considered a potential source of conflict of interest. These must be disclosed when directly relevant or directly related to the work that the authors describe in their manuscript.

Funding

Authors should list all sources of funding in the Acknowledgments section.

Authorship

Those listed as authors are:

    1. Those who made substantial contributions to the research conceptualization and design,

gathering of data, data analysis, and interpretation;

    2. Those who have been involved in drafting or revising the manuscript;

    3. Those who are responsible and accountable for the accuracy or integrity of any part of the

work.

5. PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

The MST Review adheres to the core principles and practices of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This journal uses both the Grammarly and Turnitin softwares to detect instances of overlapping and similarities in submitted manuscripts.

Responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board

The Editor-in-chief and/or the Editorial Board shall decide on the merits of the manuscripts submitted for publication. The decision to accept, reject, or revise-resubmit manuscripts is based on the initial screening of the Editor-in-Chief and/or Editorial Board and the recommendation of peer reviewers who possess the necessary expertise in their respective academic fields. The Editor-in-chief and/or the Editorial Board reserves the right to reject manuscripts that violate provisions on copyright, libel, and originality or if the manuscript is already reviewed by another academic journal or another publication venue. They shall be guided, thereof, by the guidelines of the journal, the standards set in the MST Review reviewer’s form, and by the legal requirements of the country regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

Manuscripts shall be judged on the basis of their academic and intellectual merits, without regard to the authors’ age, race or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief or affiliation, citizenship, political orientation or social class. The Editor-in-Chief has the last say over the content of the journal and its publication date.

The Editorial Board shall also ensure that both authors’ and peer reviewers’ identities are protected and shall remain confidential.

The Editor-in-chief and/or the Editorial Board shall provide guidelines to guest editors, authors, and reviewers regarding their responsibilities as well as the nature of the peer review processes.

The views presented by an author in a published article do not necessarily reflect the views of the members of the Editorial Board.

MST Review does not charge editorial or processing fees.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

The peer review process is an indispensable component of scholarly publications and lies at the heart of common search, exploration, and creation of knowledge.

MST Review assumes that all scholars who wish to contribute to this process have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.

The peer review process assists editors in making sound and informed decisions. The process may also assist authors in improving the quality of their manuscripts.

Any manuscripts received for review are to be held as confidential materials and must not be shared with others except when authorized by the Editor-in-Chief in certain exceptional circumstances. This policy also applies to reviewers who are unable to accept the review invitation.

  The MST Review reviewer’s form has to be accomplished with diligence, utmost objectivity, and in due consideration of the criteria contained therein.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are expected to prepare their manuscripts for peer review process. They must ensure that their manuscripts are original and do not violate provisions on copyright infringement, libel, and plagiarism. Manuscripts already reviewed in another academic journal or in other publication venues need not be submitted anymore. They shall be guided, thereof, by the guidelines of the journal and the standards set in the MST Review reviewer’s form which will be communicated to authors upon the receipt of manuscripts submitted.

Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process and cooperate fully by responding promptly to editors’ requests for supplemental materials, clarifications, and other requirements pertaining to the nature of research process.

Authors must respond to the reviewers’ comments/evaluations systematically and promptly, taking into account the deadline given for revisions.

MST Review assumes that all authors have the obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.

6. COPYRIGHT

For inquiries, email us at dagmangf@gmail.com