Submissions

Author Guidelines

Guidelines for authors

Version 2023_2

Dear authors,

We kindly ask you to follow the instructions given here as closely as possible. By doing so, you will save us a lot of proofreading work. The formally correct preparation of contributions is one of several aspects in the peer review process.

We ask you to send us the announcement of your contribution (in the form of an abstract) to the following e-mail address:

oerf.redaktion@uni-graz.at

You will then receive a short feedback whether we accept the paper announcement or not.

If you have received a positive response from us and your contribution is ready, you can upload it independently to our website: http://oerf-journal.eu/index.php/oerf. (Preferably use the Microsoft Edge browser for this.)

To do so, log in to the platform and perform a 'New Submission'. If there are any questions regarding this, contact oerf.redaktion@uni-graz.at or wolfgang.weirer@uni-graz.at.

If you have already made a submission to the ÖRF since 2017, you have already been registered on the platform. If you have forgotten your access data, please contact us by mail at oerf.redaktion@uni-graz.at before the 'New Submission'. You will receive your access to the platform from us.

The Austrian Journal for Religious Education is published under the Creative Commons license CC-BY, which is also recommended by the Austrian Science Fund FWF. This license allows third parties to reproduce and redistribute your work in any format or medium, and to remix, modify, and build upon it for any purpose, even commercial, as long as the author of the original is credited. (Source: creativecommons.org)

• By submitting your contribution to ÖRF, you agree to the licensing.

 
Manuscript guidelines
 

Title, abstract and keywords

► Please enter the title (and subtitle, if any) of your paper in both German and English.

► For each article, please write an abstract of 5-10 lines each in German and English (500 - 600 characters each) and enter it on previously mentioned platform (in section "Metadata").

► Add 4 - 5 keywords characterizing your contribution to the abstract, in both English and German. Be sure to enter them one at a time by pressing the tab after entering each keyword.

Suggestions for creating abstract, title and keywords

The following suggestions should serve as a suggestion and help for the creation of title, abstract and keywords. Based on these suggestions, your paper will be better found by search engines.

Title

- Expressiveness: the title should be self-explanatory.
- First things first: use prominent words at the beginning of the title (in mobile view you may only see the first part of the title)
- consider search terms
- avoid creative titles, because the title is independent from the text - rather use a creative subtitle
- avoid special characters
- Gendering: use neutral wording or both gender variants (students, male and female students)
- Write out abbreviations, unless they are widely known (e.g. UNESCO)
 
Abstract

- should be informative
- first things first: in case of cell phone view the abstract will be shortened
- short sentences
- direct statements
- repeat most important keywords, but not too often, i.e. also use synonyms for keywords to cover a variety of search terms
- write out abbreviations (the abbreviation may be written in the parenthesis)
 
Keywords

- Take the perspective of the searcher
- Make a selection: Person, geographical classification, subject (topic, time ...), form
- Avoid non-expressive words 
- use singular
- do not use declension
 

Information about the author + photo

For the author introduction(s), please upload (in the same step of the submission) a separate text file containing the following information of all authors: Author description(s), address(es) and ORCID-iD(s).
 

Specification of the author description

Title, first name, last name, job title.
 
Example: Dr. Maria Juen, university assistant at the Institute for Practical Theology of the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Innsbruck, Department of Catechetics/Religious Education and Didactics of Religion, AHS religion teacher.
 

Specification of the (official) address 
Example: Mag.^a Stefanie Langbauer
Austrian Religious Education Forum (ÖRF)
University of Graz: Institute for Catechetics and Religious Education 
Heinrichstraße 78B
A-8010 Graz
e-mail: oerf.redaktion@uni-graz.at
 

In addition to your article (but in the same step of submitting it), please upload a recent photo of yourself in the best possible resolution (.jpg) separately to OJS. This will be added to the article as an 'author image'.

Note: If there is more than one author, add images of all persons separately.
 
Please also enter your ORCID-iD into the system. If you do not have an ORCID-iD, please create one at https://orcid.org/register. If you have any questions regarding registration, you can contact the ÖRF editorial office.

Word processing

The contribution should be submitted and uploaded as a Microsoft Word file (or in RTF format).

File name: OERF2023_2_Authors.docx

The subsequent anonymization of your contribution, which is necessary for the review process, will be done directly by the ÖRF editorial team.

Text size

Please note the length specified by us for:

 ► contributions of 30,000-40,000 characters and

 ► book reviews and presentations of qualification works with a maximum length of 8,000 characters

including spaces and including all supporting documents and footnotes.

Text design

► Please refrain from page counting, hyphenation and the use of special print format templates.

► For better readability of your text, we recommend inserting intertitles.

► Within the continuous text, a maximum three-level hierarchy is provided: 1 / 1.1 / 1.1.1

► Number the subheadings manually (i.e. not by means of document template or automatic numbering function).

► Highlights are to be set in italics in the text - underlining or bold print are not provided.

► Use the Return key only when changing paragraphs.

► Distinguish between hyphen, thougt line and comma: a hyphen joins two words together, a dash adds a complement to a sentence.

Hyphen: short stroke without space on the right and left, e.g. Roman Catholic.

Thougt line: longer stroke with space on the right and left, e.g. Person 1 - origin and age are not known - showed a high level of agreement.

Comma: to delimit a range, the same length is used as for the dash, only without space on the right and left, e.g. Innsbruck-Salzburg, 1-4

Spelling

Compose your text according to the rules of the new spelling. - The only exception: In case of literal quotations, the original spelling may be retained.

Spelling of numbers

Write numbers from one to twelve in letters and numbers 13 and above in numerals; but write 1-12 in numerals,

► if they appear before signs, abbreviations of measures, weights, kinds of money.

► when - in the context of an essay of an e.g. empirical study - certain values are to be emphasized, e.g. 'While 3 percent of the surveyed pupils prefer xy, 25 percent state ...'

► as time

Gender

Please be sure to use gender-appropriate wording.

Figures, graphics, photos

Illustrations (graphics, photos, tables) should be scanned or specially created with a resolution of 250 - 300 dpi (b/w) and uploaded in a separate file in JPG format (do not integrate into the text!).

File name: Authors__OERF2023_2_Abb1_Title.jpg

In the text, please insert the following abbreviation at the point where the figure, graphic or table is to be placed: INSERT_Authors_Abb1_Title of the graphic.

- The image credit (source) should be deposited as a footnote.

- In OJS, enter the metadata of the figure: Caption, image credit (literature), and author*s name*s.

Bibliography

In OJS, you will find the 'References' box in the metadata area. Enter the complete bibliography there.

Footnotes

Citation references, literature references, and annotations are made throughout in footnotes, not in the main text. Enter the complete bibliography in the 'References' box.

 
Citation in the running text

Marking of citatations

Direct / literal quotation

- Limit the use of double quotation marks strictly to literal quotations.

- Use single quotation marks in all other cases.

- In the case of complete sentences, the quotation ends after the respective concluding punctuation mark; when quoting parts of sentences, the punctuation mark is placed after the quotation mark.

 
Indirect / analogous quotation

- Reference to a passage, but not a literal takeover, nevertheless a reference to the meaning.

- Marking of the source reference in the footnote with 'Cf.' as an introduction.

 
Omissions, emphasis, changes

- Omissions, emphasis, changes and explanations must be marked, this is usually done in square brackets [emphasis by N.N.].

- Mark omissions in quotations by three dots in square brackets [...].

First/following citations

The first citation is to be prepared in each case according to the coming references (bibliographical references), all subsequent citations of the same title are to be prepared according to the following scheme. The indication in the square brackets refers to the footnote in which the work in question was cited for the first time: 

          4 EXELER 1982 [note 2], 135; cf. BITTER1987 [note 1], 930-931.

          6 Cf. also FEIFEL 1995 [note 3].

If a publication is cited again in the immediately following footnote, the note 'ibid.' or 'ibid., page.' is sufficient, for example 'ibid., 45-48.' or 'Cf. ibid, 22.'.

The 'ibid.' belong in small caps.

Citavi 

If you use the literature management program Citavi: Citavi provides its own citation style for the ÖRF (current version 6.14): www.citavi.com/de.

To use the ÖRF style, click on the 'Citation' > 'Citation styles' > 'Change citation style' menu in Citavi. Click on 'Find and add style'. In the 'Name' field, enter 'Austrian Religious Education Forum (OERF)'. Check the option box in front of the style name and click 'Add' and 'OK'. 

Before submitting the paper, it is urgent that you convert the citations created by Citavi into Word footnotes, so that the footnotes can also be corrected and transferred to the layout.

Citation references or literature references

► Footnotes end with a period in any case.

► First names of the persons cited must be written out in full.

Please put the last names of the authors in CAPITALS. Please note: Small caps are not capital letters! You get this font format by selecting the text passage in question > right mouse click (or Start tab) > Font > Effects > Activate (check) Small Caps.

► Please make sure to use a long hyphen (=dash) - without spaces - between the page numbers. Enter the exact page number; 'ff' as page number is not allowed.

► If there are several authors or editors, up to three are mentioned in the bibliography. The names of the persons are separated by a slash, with a space before and after it. If there are more than three persons, only the first name is mentioned and then written 'u.a.'. (This can also be applied in the case of multiple publishing locations).

► In OJS you will find the tab 'References' within the metadata. Enter the complete bibliography there.

 
Please use the following guidelines and examples as a guide:

1. Independent publications and collective works

a) Monograph
SURNAME, First Name: Title. Subtitle, Place: Publisher ^EditionYear (= series [if usual/meaningfully abbreviated] volume/series number).
 
Examples:
ROEBBEN, Bert: Religious Education of Hope. Grundlinien religiöser Bildung in der Spätmoderne, Berlin: LIT 2011 (= Forum Theologie und Pädagogik 19).
TSCHEKAN, Kerstin: Kompetenzorientiert unterrichten. Eine Didaktik, Berlin: Cornelsen Scriptor 2011 (= Scriptor Praxis - Unterrichten), 53-65.
PORZELT, Burkard: Grundlegung religiöses Lernen. Eine problemorientierte Einführung in die Religionspädagogik, Bad Heilbrunn: Klinkhardt ²2013.
 
b) Compilation / Encyclopedia
SURNAME, First Name / SURNAME, First Name: Title. Subtitle, Place: publisher ^EditionYear (= series [abbreviated if usually useful] volume/series number).
 
Example:
ZIEBERTZ, Hans-Georg / SIMON, Werner: Bilanz der Religionspädagogik, Düsseldorf: Patmos 1995.
 

2. Dependent publications

a) Contribution in a collective work / in a Festschrift
SURNAME, first name: Title. Subtitle, in: 1.b), page-page.
 
Examples:
FEIFEL, Erich: Didaktische Ansätze in der Religionspädagogik, in: ZIEBERTZ, Hans-Georg / SIMON, Werner (eds.): Bilanz der Religionspädagogik, Düsseldorf: Patmos 1995, 86-110.
SCHWAB, Ulrich: Aktuell: Kompetenzorientierung, in: MENZEL, Birgit (ed.): Kompetenzen entwickeln und/oder Lebendiges Lernen, Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag 2011, 7-10.
EXELER, Adolf: The situation of faith as a challenge of religious education; in: DERS: Religious Education as an Aid to Becoming Human, Munich: Kösel 1982, 105-135.
 
b) Article in an encyclopedia
SURNAME, first name: Art. Title, in: 1.b), page-page.
          Caution. If there is an abbreviation for the encyclopedia, then different format: NACHNAME, Vorname: Art. Title, in: abbreviation^Edition (year) page-page.
 
Examples:
GÖNNER, Gerhard: Art. Heraclitus, in: Lutz, Bernd (ed.): Metzler Philosophen Lexikon. Von den Vorsokratikern bis zu den Neuen Philosophen, Stuttgart: Metzler ²1995, 380-381.
HOHEISL, Karl: Art. Orpheus. I. Religionsgeschichtlich, in: LThK³ 7 (1998) 1139.
 
c) Contribution to a journal
Please note: The names of the journals are always to be written out! Add also the DOI number of the journal article, if applicable.
 
SURNAME, First Name: Title. Subtitle, in: journal name volume/issue ( year ) page-page. DOI: DOI number.

Examples:
PRETTENTHALER, Monika: Von Bereichen, Dimensionen und Modellen. Eine Zusammenschau von Kompetenzmodellen für den Religionsunterricht, in: Christlich-pädagogische Blätter 124/3 (2011) 134-139.
WEIRER, Wolfgang: Education - Religion - Competence. The talk of competence - an answer to Pisa? Challenges for Religious Education, in: Österreichisches Religionspädagogisches Forum 18 (2010) 1-2.
RITZER, Georg: "Kleine Brötchen backen". Entwurf eines empirisch gestützten Kompetenzmodells für den schulischen Religionsunterricht, in: Religionspädagogische Beiträge 65 (2010) 3-20, 18.
BERGER, Matthäus / BRESER, Britta: Politische Bildung als Unterrichtsprinzip im österreichischen Schulsystem. Focus: religious education from a political didactics perspective, in Österreichisches Religionspädagogisches Forum 27/1 (2019) 73-88. DOI: 10.25364/10.27:2019.1.6.
 

3. Special cases

a) Press releases
"Title of the news item," in: name of the medium [e.g., APA, DPA, KathPress] number (date) page-page.
 
Example:
"Aichern: Church must be social conscience," in: KathPress Daily Service 120 (May 26, 2001) 9-11.
 
b) Internet pages
These are recorded like a dependent publication (cf. 2. a or c); after 'in:' is the complete http address and the retrieval date.
If no author is indicated on the internet page, at least the title of the page must be recorded, so that it is clear from the bibliography what it is approximately about.
 
SURNAME, first name: Title. Subtitle, in: http://www... http address [retrieved on DD.MM.YYYY].
 
Example:
Pontifical Council for the Family: Marriage, Family, and "Factual Life Communities" (November 21, 2000), in: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/family/documents/rc_pc_family_doc_20001109_de-facto-unions_ge.html [retrieved 11/06/2012].
 
c) Unprinted works / university theses / "gray literature".
Unprinted papers are cited with the formal attribution in parentheses (as in a series).
 
SURNAME, first name: title, place year (= formal assignment).
 
Example:
AIGNER, Maria Elisabeth: The Practice of Scientific Theology. Eine Reflexion hinsichtlich ihrer diakonischen Verantwortung, Graz 1993 (= diploma thesis University of Graz).