The Austrian Journal of Religious Education (Österreichisches Religionspädagogisches Forum, ÖRF) aims to promote scientific theory-building in the field of religious education. It deliberately focuses on the Austrian context, but also aims to be of interest to other countries, regions and contexts. It is using an ecumenical and interreligious approach and thus serves as a publication organ for religious educators of all religions and denominations active in the field of research and/or teaching at colleges of education or universities. The journal is published twice a year (May and November) as an open access journal whose main contributions are peer reviewed. Each issue has a main topic determined by the Editorial Board. There is an open call for papers in advance of each issue, but specific authors are also explicitly approached for contributions. In addition, contributions on all kinds of religious education topics, on all learning sites of religion and on the philosophy of science of religious education will be published. Contributions can also focus on the practice of religious education, but they should be recognizably theory-based. The issues also include book reviews and the presentation of master theses and dissertations in religious education written in Austria. Only original contributions are published which have not yet been published elsewhere. On average, 15% of all submissions are rejected. Here you can find our current statistics.
Journal articles are listed in Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), EBSCO, Index Theologicus, SCOPUS and Web of Science (Emerging Sources Citation Index), among others.
2024-03-18
Austrian Journal of Religious Education 33 (1/2025) Call for Papers: "Racism as ideology - Contributions to a religious education critical of racism".
2023-03-06
Austrian Journal of Religious Education 32 (2/2024) Call for Papers: "Critical Thinking.2022-09-14
In September 2022, the Austrian Journal of Religious Education (ÖRF) has been included in the Index Theologicus (IxTheo). The Index Theologicus is an international scholarly directory for open access publications in the field of theology and religious studies.
All issues (as of 2017) of the ÖRF can now also be accessed via Index Theologicus.
Vol 31 No 2 (2023): Religious Education and Theology. Explorations of a complex relationship
In the German-speaking world, religious education is usually understood as a sub-discipline of theology. This is by no means a matter of course, because internationally, in some countries such as England, "religious studies" has taken the place of theology. Without considering theology and religious studies as mutually exclusive alternatives, it seems obvious that in countries with denominational religious education, theology plays an essential role as a reference discipline of religious education, while in countries with non-denominational religious education, religious studies takes its place. However, even then the question arises as to how the relationship between theology and religious education is to be defined in more detail.
Published: 2023-11-15