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Publication Goal
Advancing seminary and continuing education of ministry leaders
Faith Perspective
NBS Statement of Faith: PDF.
NBS Diversity Statement: All humans are of equal worth in the sight of God and should be so treated. As expressed in our shared need for the Gospel, God’s favor extends to all human beings, all are accountable to God, and Northwest seeks to advance the Christian mission to all.
Authors
Content for publication may be solicited by NIMER or submitted by authors with a scholarly interest in a broad subject area below. Authors normally are theological faculty and/or ministry practitioners with academic credentials at least to the master level.
Audience
Ministry educators and students, ministry leaders
Content
Northwest Seminary posts articles in accordance with its statement of faith. Diverse perspectives may solicited for theme issues.
Content is solicited/invited in the following broad subject areas.
Biblical and Theological Studies
History and Cultural Studies
Leadership Formation and Ministry Skills
Ministry Education Innovation
Content may include articles, research reports, book reviews, and annotated bibliographies. Annotated bibliographies indicate the rationale for the selected works, which normally are the best books in the field, and may include articles and other forms of media as appropriate.
Articles and research reports make original contributions to current academic or applied research conversations that are relevant to ministry education. The contribution is placed in context of the conversation. The arguments are well-presented, with evidence. All submissions conform to academic research standards, including applicable Research Ethics requirements.
The submission does not contain plagiarized content and has not been published elsewhere. All the authors are jointly responsible for the content.
Submissions are checked with plagiarism software. If plagiarism is found to have occurred, the relationship between NIMER and the author is discontinued. If publication has occurred, the submission will be retracted with a notice of withdrawal.
Prohibited Content
Canadian registered charities may not post partisan statements or positions online.
All NIMER content is respectful of organizations, causes, and individuals.
Supplementary Content
Authors of successful submissions are asked to provide a short professional bio which includes academic credentials and recent employment and ministry involvement. Submission of a headshot is considered permission to publish.
Style
Manuscripts are submitted in 12-point Times New Roman type, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins on the top and bottom and sides. Notes are in 11-point Times New Roman, single-spaced. The text is justified left.
All sources and arguments are properly cited following the Chicago Manual of Style. If quoting Scripture, the Bible translation is included in the reference. Authors are solely responsible for the accuracy of their references and citations.
Writing in the third person is required for academic articles and preferred for other submissions. Spellings are based on the Oxford Canadian Dictionary. Submissions are edited for readability and style and are as error free as possible. Manuscripts involving more than one author are edited for consistency. The author may be asked to make necessary jargon accessible to a diverse audience.
Images and graphics are placed appropriately in the text of the submission.
Length
Articles and reports are approximately 4,000-6,000 words in length, double-spaced. Book reviews are approximately 600-2,000 words in length, double-spaced. Annotated bibliographies include five to 10 entries, including full citations and two to three explanatory lines. The total word count appears on the first page of the submission.
Links, Images and Graphics
Authors may propose use of links and images. These are submitted (images in .jpeg and scans minimum 300 dpi) to NIMER with the manuscript.
Links to advertising material will not be published. Links to NIMER content are appreciated.
Authors are required to secure and provide documentation of permission if they are proposing any material from another source. This includes material that has been adapted from another source. Original rights must be acknowledged.
Images and graphics must be royalty-free.
Headlines
Articles and reports normally are divided into sections with the use of bolded headings. The headings may be written to attract readers who are searching for key words and phrases. Specific headings are preferable to vague headings.
Replying to Comments
NIMER posts are intended to inform and lead to discussion. Comments are adjudicated by the NIMER staff. Authors may participate in the discussion of their work, particularly in the first week of publication.
Republishing/Repurposing
Copyright belongs to the author(s).
Authors may request permission to re-use or repurpose material published on the NIMER website. Permission may be granted according to the following guidelines.
Articles and reports were published at least six months before reuse.
Other material was published at least four weeks before reuse.
The material is properly attributed and a link to the NIMER website is provided.
Permission will not be granted for reuse of annotated bibliographies.
How to Contribute
Manuscripts are submitted by email as Microsoft Word documents. All co-authors (significantly involved with research planning, data collection and analysis/interpretation) are named and have agreed on the order of the names and the author who makes the submission. Acknowledgement and subsequent correspondence are conducted with the email address of submission. By submission, the submitting author indicates that no other publication has simultaneously received the manuscript.
For double blind review purposes, the author’s name or other identifying information must not appear in the submission document. Acknowledgments and citations of previous work are added after the submission has been accepted for publication. Unsolicited submissions include a separate cover sheet stating the following.
Name, credential, organization, address, contact information
Broad topic, name and one-paragraph summary of submission
Why the submission is significant for the NIMER audience
NIMER does not pay for submissions it publishes. Once the submission is published, successful contributors are encouraged to cite it on their curriculum vitae/resume. The quality of NIMER’s editorial and review processes, ensures that the publication advances the author’s scholarship and its impact on ministry educators, students, and leaders.
Review Process
All submissions are edited to ensure that they meet the NIMER Author Guidelines. Manuscripts under consideration may be returned to the author for style revisions.
The author may propose expert reviewers if they have not been consulted and there is no conflict of interest.
Articles and reports under consideration are sent to two blind peer reviewers. If the review reports are favourable, NIMER may accept the article or report for publication, subject to recommended revisions. The peer review process and reports are confidential. PDF copies of each Word draft and the reviewer comments are kept on file.
The style (including headings), link, and image decisions that result from the review process are final. The decision to publish may be made by the editorial committee.