Article Submission Guidelines & Requirements

The Catechetical Review (TCR) welcomes unsolicited articles. Article submissions may be relevant to the issue’s theme or one of its departments, though this is not a requirement. To increase the possibility that an article will be suitable for publishing in this journal, writers should familiarize themselves with The Catechetical Review before sending in an article. An electronic copy of the journal is available for free download, by clicking here.

Also, please review the submission requirements and writing tips below. TCR does not pay for editorial contributions, as this is a low budget, non-profit journal.

Articles may focus on any topic that has direct bearing upon or relevance to the mission of catechesis and evangelizaton. All articles must have a clear catechetical application and be in conformity with Catholic teaching and the General Directory for Catechesis. Only original material that has not been published previously, including online platforms, will be considered. This journal does not publish the following: catechetical crafts, puzzles, or games; press releases, PSAs, or biographies. As a respectful, professional catechetical journal for the ongoing development of catechetical leaders, TCR does not publish polemics, nor political op-eds, nor theological speculation suitable for more reputable theological journals.

Those interested in contributing a lenghthier article, or series, should submit an introduction to the potential article/series and may include any other material deemed representative of the piece’s overall message, with the entire prospective not exceeding 800 words. A positive response to the prospective, however, does not mean that the article/series is certain to be published.

Those interested in writing a book review may submit the book’s title, author, and description for consideration. Do not write the review specifically for TCR until you hear back from the editor.

Article submissions, as well as book reviews, may be sent to [email protected].

ALL CONTENT (i.e. editorial, ads, inserts) submitted for insertion into TCR must receive final approval from the editorial office, but inlusion of ads/inserts should not be viewed or re-published as endorsements of products, events, or services (e.g. publishing statements like, "as seen in The Catechetical Review," or "endorsed by The Catechetical Review" is not permitted). 

Submission Requirements: Articles and Book Reviews

• Articles should be double spaced and submitted as Word documents, not in pdf form.
• 1-2 page articles should be between 700-1500 words; longer articles should not ordinarily exceed 2,500 words. In certain circumstances, pieces longer than this may be broken into parts between quarterly issues, as the editor deems suitable.
• Book reviews should be between 400-500 words and must include title, author, publisher, and year of publication (cover art if possilbe).
• Citations: Passages from scripture may be cited in-text. All other references (to include magisterial documents) should be included as endnotes. All relevant reference information should be included in the initial endnote reference: author, book/article/document title, (if relevant) journal title, publisher information, year published and page number(s). References from the Catechism of the Catholic Church should be cited as paragraph numbers (par.), while all other magisterial documents should be cited as article numbers (art.)  USCCB documents should reference page numbers.
• For other style considerations, see the The Chicago Manual of Style.
• Include the following with article submissions (“Encountering God in Catechesis” testimonies and book reviews should exclude 1-2):

1. ​(optional) Thumbnail headshot (.jpg preferred) to be used on website only.
2. 1-2 sentence biographical byline for print, but may send up to a paragraph for website.
3. If applicable (i.e., the article pertains to a specific experience of service or catechesis), an author may wish to include photographs, charts, or illustrations with his/her manuscript. The author must hold the copyright (or have written permission to use copyrighted material) and include the name of the photographer/illustrator, as well as the source of the images (eg. Flickr). Only high-resolution images will be considered.

• ​All articles and/or editorial queries should be submitted via email to The Catechetical Review’s editor, Dr. James Pauley, [email protected].

Submission Requirements: “Encountering God in Catechesis” department

The purpose of this regular department in The Catechetical Review is to put into concrete terms—through the medium of testimony—what the initiative and movement of God looks like in the work of catechesis. Catechists could describe an experience of grace in the planning process, how they experienced God’s presence in either the teaching or learning dynamics of the catechetical setting, or how they personally have experienced the call to conversion through catechesis. Additionally, testimonies written by participants in catechesis who are able to describe the movement of God through catechesis may also be submitted for potential publication. There are, of course, many additional possibilities as well.

Testimonies must be no longer than 700 words and will be considered for publication when they are written in a clear, thoughtful and interesting manner. The primary objective of the department is to highlight how God acts within the catechetical setting—testimonies that put emphasis on the impact of the divine initiative in catechesis have the greatest potential to be published.

• Please include your first and last names and city/state [or country]. If requested, testimonies may also be published anonymously.
• Please use pseudonyms to replace real names of private people in the story.
• Testimony submissions may be emailed to [email protected].

Additional Writing Tips

• Use American English spelling and grammar rules (those outside the US may set their Word preference to English (US) in the spell check tool).
• Write in active voice. This is preferred over passive voice.
• Do not capitalize H in his, him, or he, when referring to Jesus.
• Only use italics for non-English words/phrases, titles of books (even Catechism), and block quotes, and only minimally for emphasis, and state when emphasis is yours within a quote.
• Double check pronoun-antecedent agreement and subject-verb agreement.
• Run a Spelling/Grammar Check before submitting article.