We accept open submissions, at any time, on any topic pertaining to moral theology. If accepted, open submission articles will appear in the earliest available open issue.

Submissions should include two documents:

The Manuscript

1. It should be around 20-30 pages (approximately 9,000-14,000 words).
2. It should be prepared for blind review and conform to the style guide for the Journal of Moral Theology (.pdf) (which is an adaptation of the Chicago Manual of Style for the humanities).
3. It should be in Microsoft Word 2007 or newer file format.
4. It should not be simultaneously considered for publication in another venue.

Cover Page

1. This document should include the following items
   1. The title of the essay
   2. Author’s name and academic affiliation
   3. Author’s contact information, including email and mailing address
   4. A brief (3-5 sentence) bio to be used should the article be accepted
   5. A 150-200 word abstract of the manuscript

Within most issues is a topic section. These sections come from invited papers and open submissions. Topical Issues are sometimes published as special issues.

Current Call for Papers

Call for papers for an issue on University Ethics

One needs only a cursory examination of recent news to recognize that university scandals are commonplace: the admissions fraud scandal in elite universities; the cheating scandal at Harvard; athletic/academic fraud at the University of North Carolina; the rape allegations at the University of Virginia; the settlement at University of Colorado over the dismissal of a faculty member; the hazing death at Florida A&M University; the firing of the President and football coach at Penn State in light of sexual misconduct; the pepper-spraying of students at the University of California at Davis, etc.

Despite their proliferation, such cases are rarely examined as ethical issues and even more seldom understood as symptomatic of a larger cultural issue on college campuses. This is not for lack of ethical discussions on campus. It is just that academic ethicists tend to write and teach ethics for all professions except their own. The typical university offers ethics courses for future lawyers, physicians, nurses, businesspersons, social workers, and others, but makes no similar requirement for doctoral candidates. A typical university library catalog might contain over 1000 books on the subject of “medical ethics,” 600 books on “business ethics,” another 200 on “nursing ethics,” and 100 more on “legal ethics,” but under “academic ethics,” one would be hard pressed to find 5 books.

This issue of the Journal of Moral Theology seeks to spur a conversation to begin to fill this lacuna in ethical scholarship and teaching. We invite scholars to take up ethical topics across the university and to address them in light of the building of a culture of ethics that spans the entire university.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to: (a) the commodification of higher education, (b) the role of athletics in the university mission, (c) racial, gender, and class disparities on campus, (d) a reliance on part-time, non-tenure-track faculty, (e) worker justice for all university employees (f) sexual assault on campus, (g) alcohol abuse on campus, (h) plagiarism and other forms of academic cheating, (i) freedom of speech and assembly on campus, (j) lack of accountability by senior administrators and trustees, (h) lack of transparency on investments and other financial matters, etc. The guest editors of the volume, Matthew Gaudet and Jim Keenan, welcome any questions regarding the topic you are thinking of exploring. Submissions should conform to the standards and style of the Journal of Moral Theology and can be submitted in Microsoft Word to the Journal of Moral Theology at the Mount until October 1, 2019, with earlier submissions preferred. All papers will be subject to peer review, with ample time for revision before publication. The issue is targeted for a 2020 release.

Call for papers for a special issue devoted to honoring the work of Paul Wadell

The Journal of Moral Theology is looking for papers for a special issue devoted to honoring and engaging the work of Paul Wadell, who has announced his plan to retire from St Norbert College in May 2019. This call is open until January 1, 2020.

Topics should relate to Paul Wadell’s contributions on Saint Thomas Aquinas, virtue ethics (and/or the vices), liturgy and ethics, literature and ethics, friendship, happiness, discipleship, moral education and pedagogy, war and peace, mentoring, spirituality, etc. All papers are peer-reviewed by the journal.

Please send submissions to Tobias Winright, the guest editor. Any questions regarding submissions should be directed toward him as well.

Submission information can be found on the Journal of Moral Theology website. Accepted papers would appear in the June 2020 issue of the journal.

The journal is a print journal but also online and open access. Thus, it is available to readers from around the world. More information on the journal and previous issues can be found on the website of the Journal of Moral Theology. Previously published essays can also be found on the Journal of Moral Theology site.