Which Journals to Try to Publish in for NT…? My List and Some Comments

Some fellow NT postgrads here at Durham were discussing possible ideas for future articles (that we hope one day to publish) and we came upon the question of what journal(s) to aim for (with journals specifically interested in New Testament, but not limited to just NT [e.g., may include OT, 2nd Temple Judaism, early Christianity, etc…]). I have my own ideas of what is out there and which are ‘the best’, but I hope this can turn into a conversation where others can chime in. I will list my thoughts below, and also some notes at the end as to why I have left off some which others may wonder about.

BEST (this category is where anyone hopes to publish alongside scholars of the highest respect; it is quite difficult to get in, the competition is steep, the reviewers rigorously critical, etc…;NB: the order in which I list them is not relevant).

1. Journal of Biblical Literature

2. Journal for the Study of the New Testament

3. Novum Testamentum

4. New Testament Studies

5. Catholic Biblical Quarterly

6.  Journal of Theological Studies

VERY GOOD

1. Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus

2. Biblical Interpretation

3. Tyndale Bulletin

4. Biblical Theology Bulletin

5. Neotestamentica

6. Horizons in Biblical Theology

7. Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism

8. Journal of Theological Intepretation

9. Biblica

GOOD

1. Bulletin for Biblical Research

2. Australian Biblical Review

3. Andrews University Seminary Studies

4. Perspectives in Religious Studies

OTHER JOURNALS OF NOTE

1. Expository Times – pastoral/lay-level sorts of biblical observations could be accepted by ET

2. Journal of Early Christian Studies – I don’t know much about this one.

3. Harvard Theological Review – I would put this one above, but I am not sure whether they take unsolicited submissions.

4. Currents in Biblical Research – though I would put this above under VERY GOOD, from my understanding they are not exactly a blind-peer reviewed journal.  I hold the periodical in high respect, though.

NOTES/ANTICIPATED QUESTIONS

1. Why not Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society? I am an evangelical, but I feel that some evangelical periodicals seem to be a relatively closed discussion for ‘insiders’. But, I did include Tyndale Bulletin and Bulletin for Biblical Research because I feel like they are read and respected more widely. Just because a periodical does not appear on the above list does not mean that I disrespect the journal or would not ever publish with them myself. I simply do not find others on my radar of top NT journals. I will and have sent paper proposals to journals not on this list.

2. What about seminary journals (Trinity Journal, Westminster, etc…)? Once in a while a really good article finds its way into these, but I do not find them to be open conversations overall. I am happy to see good scholars publishing with them. I will try and publish with them. But, I don’t rank them on the list above, except Andrews USS, which I think is not the typical ‘seminary’ journal.

3. What about German (titled) and French (titled) periodicals. Some (like Revue biblique and ZNW) are quite good, but I have not read them enough to comment on them and rank them.

4. What about cross-over theology journals? I did include JTS, but otherwise I am primarily interested in ones that will accept articles that appeal to NT scholars and where you generally don’t have to transliterate Greek/Hebrew. However, I am very happy with Scottish Journal of Theology and Interpretation.

CONCLUSION: If I have overlooked major ones, do let me know through the comments. If you feel like I have severely miscategorized one, I will consider an argument for bumping up or down, but the list is admittingly very subjective – especially since I have no journal articles in print myself! I have been rejected several times, though, but I only like to be rejected by the best…