Practical Theology, the official journal of the British and Irish Association for Practical Theology, is published on behalf of the Contact Pastoral Trust. Formerly Contact: Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, the journal has been published since 1960 and plays a vital role for those who are involved in pastoral practice and for those who reflect on and teach practical theology within an academic context. The journal’s mission has always been to contribute to the development of pastoral studies and practical theology by publishing creative articles which report good practice, and which offer fresh theoretical and practical insights in this area. It is multidisciplinary, with contributions drawn from counselling, missiology, chaplaincy, social work, psychology, ecclesiology, sociology, ethics, as well as pastoral and practical theology. Since 2018 the journal has included one issue per year solely dedicated to Adult Theological Education. Subscribers also have access to an extensive archive of material from Contact and the Journal of Adult Theological Education.
Variety to cater for all tastes is a hallmark, from whole themed issues which are an important feature, through research reports of about 6000 words, to shorter accounts of reflection on practice, interviews, autoethnography, biographical reviews, ‘soap box’ challenges, book reviews, and even short stories or poems.
The audience for the journal are practitioners in religious institutions and workplaces, students doing masters courses and professional doctoral work in practical theology as well as traditional readers of the journal who have found it a continuing source of enrichment for their day to day practice of faith and ministry.
Practical Theology especially welcomes ‘first-time’ authors and will fully support them in the sometimes tricky world of being published. Practical Theology accepts the following types of article: original research papers, narrative or literature reviews, theological reflections, “soap box” articles (where an author shares a strong opinion), case study reports, conference addresses, auto/biographical reflections, poetry, editorials and book reviews.
Please note that this journal only publishes manuscripts in English.
Peer Review Policy: All full-length research articles published in this journal undergo rigorous peer review, based on initial editor screening and anonymized refereeing by at least two anonymous reviewers from the Editorial Board or from scholars in appropriate disciplines to the article. Other kinds of articles are peer-reviewed in various ways by the editor and others at the discretion of the editor.
Journal metrics
Usage
65K annual downloads/views
Citation metrics
0.4 (2023) Impact Factor
0.4 (2023) 5 year IF
0.8 (2023) CiteScore (Scopus)
Q2 CiteScore Best Quartile
1.275 (2023) SNIP
0.295 (2023) SJR
Speed/acceptance
56 days avg. from submission to first
decision
106 days avg. from submission to first
post-review decision
42 days avg. from acceptance to online
publication
60% acceptance rate
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors
who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication.
However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s
quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it
should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to
support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside
other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its
readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In
addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and
never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year
and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six
months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated
annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of
the following metrics
(find out why).
Usage:
the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users
of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the
nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
Impact Factor*:
the average number of citations received by articles published in the
journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science
Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI),
Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources
Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
Impact Factor Best Quartile*:
the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation
Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
5 Year Impact Factor*:
the average number of citations received by articles in the journal
within a five-year window.
CiteScore (Scopus)†:
the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over
a four-year period.
CiteScore Best Quartile†:
the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1
= 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
SNIP
(Source Normalized Impact per Paper):
the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation
potential in the field.
SJR
(Scimago Journal Rank):
Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the
number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
From submission to first decision:
the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the
journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a
first decision in the last six months.
From submission to first post-review decision:
the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the
journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review.
Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last
six months.
From acceptance to online publication:
the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to
online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published
in the last six months.
Acceptance rate:
articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous
calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
Babatunde Adedibu -Department of Christian Religious Studies, Redeemer's University, Ede, Nigeria Mansur Ali – Cardiff University, UK Jack Barentsen - Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium Malcolm Brown – Archbishop’s Council of the Church of England, UK Alfred Brunsdon - North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, Mmabatho, South Africa Helen Cameron – University of Oxford, UK Helen Collins – Trinity College, Bristol, UK Pamela Couture – University of Toronto, Canada Katie Cross - University of Aberdeen, UK Joan DeVries - Trinity Western University, Langley, BC, Canada Giovanna Feeley - Pontifical University, St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Ireland Derek Fraser – Addenbrooke’s NHS Trust, Cambridge, UK Tessa Henry-Robinson - United Reformed Church, UK Elizabeth Jordan – Diocese of Chelmsford, Church of England Wayne Morris – University of Chester, UK Kermit Moss - Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University, USA Aloys Otieno Ojore - Tangaza University College, Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya Julian Raffay – Mersey Care NHS Trust, Liverpool, UK Leah Robinson – William Woods University, Charlotte NC, USA Nigel Rooms – Church Mission Society, Oxford and Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham, UK Stephen Parker – St Mary’s University, Twickenham, UK Neil Pembroke – Trinity College Queensland, Brisbane, Australia Andrew Rogers - University of Roehampton, UK Alistair Ross – University of Oxford, UK Simon Shui Man Kwan - Chinese University of Hong Kong, China Nicola Slee – The Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham, UK Graeme Smith – Sarum, College, Salisbury, UK Clare Watkins – University of Roehampton, UK Daniella Zsupan-Jerome - Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary, Collegeville MN, USA
Abstracting and indexing
Practical Theology is included in the following services:
ATLA Religious Database
International Bibliography of Book Reviews of Scholarly Literature on the Humanities and Social Sciences (IBR)
International Bibliography of Periodical Literature on the Humanities and Social Science (IBZ)
Religion and Philosophy Collection
Religious and Theological Abstracts
Scopus
Open access
Practical Theology is a hybrid open access journal that is part of our Open Select publishing program, giving you the option to publish open access. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.
Why choose open access?
Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
Rigorous peer review for every open access article
Article Publishing Charges (APC)
If you choose to publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis.
Contact Pastoral Trust and our publisher Taylor & Francis make every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content") contained in our publications. However, Contact Pastoral Trust and our publisher Taylor & Francis, our agents (including the editor, any member of the editorial team or editorial board, and any guest editors), and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Contact Pastoral Trust and our publisher Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Contact Pastoral Trust and our publisher Taylor & Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to, or arising out of the use of the Content. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions .
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