Editorial Policies

Focus and Scope

Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought is an independent quarterly established to express Mormon culture and to examine the relevance of religion to secular life. It is edited by Latter-day Saints who wish to bring their faith into dialogue with the larger stream of world religious thought and with human experience as a whole and to foster artistic and scholarly achievement based on their cultural heritage. The journal encourages a variety of viewpoints; although every effort is made to ensure accurate scholarship and responsible judgment, the views expressed are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of the editors.

 

Section Policies

Articles

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Personal Essays

Personal Essays are evaluated by the editor, a member of the editorial board, and a third reviewer of the editor’s choosing. Please allow 12 weeks for this reading process. Final acceptance or rejection decisions will be made by the editor after considering the readers’ recommendations. Once accepted, essays will be scheduled for publication within one year.

Editors
  • Allison Merrill
Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Poetry

Poetry is evaluated jointly by the Editor and the Poetry Editor. Send up to five pages of poetry per submission. Because it sometimes takes us several weeks or even months to respond, please let know if you decide to place it elsewhere.

Editors
  • Elizabeth Garcia
Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Fiction

Fiction is evaluated by the Editor, the Fiction Editor, and another editorial board member. Because we publish a maximum of eight stories each year, the review process for fiction is longer than for other kinds of submissions. Authors should allow the usual twelve weeks for an initial evaluation, but scheduling publication may take significantly longer. We regret the inconvenience to authors, although we find it difficult to mourn a superabundance of good stories!

Editors
  • Jenn Quist
Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Non-Fiction Reviews

Book Reviews on books relating to Mormon Studies, Mormon culture, or religious topics that might be of interest to Mormons (and we hope that is an enormous category!) are welcome. Reviews are evaluated by the Editor and Book Review Editors. Book Reviews selected for publication may appear either in print or on the website (or both), depending on timeliness and space available in the print journal.

Editors
  • Andrew Hall
  • Cristina Rosetti
Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Sermons

Sermons from any denomination are welcomed, and are evaluated by the editor and an editorial board member. Publication decisions are generally made within 8 weeks.

Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Fiction Review

Editors
  • Andrew Hall
  • Cristina Rosetti
Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed

Art

Editors
  • Margaret Olsen Hemming
Unchecked Open Submissions Checked Indexed Checked Peer Reviewed
 

Peer Review Process

Articles are reviewed by at least two experts in the subject area of the paper. Authors’ identities are not disclosed to reviewers, and reviewers’ identities are not disclosed to authors. Because locating qualified reviewers in sometimes narrow subfields of Mormon studies can be difficult, and because this review is performed by volunteers, review can take up to twelve weeks. Once their review is completed the editor and editorial board will consider the referees’ recommendations and make a final decision to accept or reject a paper, and the editor will tentatively schedule publication and inform the author. However, initial acceptance should not be understood as a guarantee of publication in a certain issue–Dialogue reserves the right to adjust publication schedules based on space available and other considerations.