Submissions

Author Guidelines

In general, Verba Vitae employs The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), 17th Edition, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2017 as the house style. Note especially the following:

Title

Verba Vitae prefers succinct titles. Avoid the use of double titles containing a colon.

1. Supplemental information about the intent of the article will catch the reader’s eye if it is incorporated into the first paragraph.
2. Divide the article into subdivisions; entitle each division.

The main title should appear at the top of the first page of text in the following format:

Title of the Essay

by John T. Author

Avoid using the asterisk in the title. Notices pertaining to prior publication and presentation should appear at the head of the endnotes as an unnumbered entry.

Text

Avoid the suggestion of oral presentation. For example, avoid the use of first person and the use of contractions.

Capitalization.

• Do not use capitalization for the sake of emphasis.
• Use capitals in reference the Bible and books of the Bible. For example, Scripture, Gospel according to St. Mark (however, use lower case, gospel, in reference to the message of Christ.
• Use capitals in reference to institutional bodies, such as Institute of Lutheran Theology and Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

Italics.

• The textual citation of published works should be in italics: e.g., The Book of Concord. However, citation of confessional symbols should appear in Roman type: e.g., the Small Catechism.
• Single words and short phrases in languages other than English will be italicized. Do not set them off in quotation marks.
• Books of the Bible should NOT be italicized.

Quotations.

• Under five typewritten lines may be set off in quotation marks; over five lines should appear as a block quotation, indented without quotation marks.
• Use quotation marks to identify titles of essays cited in the text.

Scholarly abbreviations.

• While the use of scholarly abbreviations is acceptable in parentheses and end notes, they should not be used in the text. For example, in place of “i.e.” use “that is”; in place of “e.g.” use “for example”; in place of “etc.” use “and so forth.”

Diacritics.

• In spelling German ä, ö, and ü diacritics should be used, not ae, oe, ue.
• Diacritics should always be employed where appropriate, particularly in the citation of languages other than English.
• Care should be taken in the citation of Greek and Hebrew. Authors should use the Greek and Hebrew fonts available from the Society of Biblical Literature.

Spelling.

• Use “-ize” endings when given as an alternative to “–ise.”
• Use American form, not British; for example, savior, not saviour.

Dates and Numbers.

• 1990s; not 1990’s.
• Sixteenth century; not 16th century.
• July 1994; not July, 1994.
• Sixty–seven; not 67; but use numerals for numbers over one hundred.

Acronyms.

• Avoid the use of acronyms. Cite the referent fully in the first usage. After that you may use the acronym.

End Notes

In the text, references to the end note numbers should appear in superscript.

The first citation of a work in the endnotes should include the complete bibliographical data—Author, Title, (City of Publication: Publisher, date of publication), vol:pg.ln. For example:

• Luthers Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe, 57 vols. Eds.J.F.K. Knaake et al. (Weimar: Böhlau, 1883ff.) 2:45.6-10. (Hereafter cited as WA.)
• Luther's Works, American Edition, 55 vols. Eds. Pelikan and Lehmann (St Louis and Philadelphia: Concordia and fortress, 1955ff.) 2:45. (Hereafter cited as LW.)
• Corpus Reformatorum, 28 vols. Eds. C.G. Bretschneider et al. (Brunsvigae and Halis Saxorum: C.A. Schwetschke et Filium, 1834-60) 3:75-76. (Hereafter cited as CR.)

Submissions

Manuscripts may be submitted directly through the online submission procedure.

All manuscripts for publication are reviewed by two scholarly peers in the area of the subject matter.

Books for Review

Submit books for review to the Book Review Editor:

• Rev. Douglas Morton, M.Div.
• dmorton@ilt.edu