About the Journal

Aura: Journal for the Study of New Religions is an annual, double-blind, online, open-access journal dedicated to the study of new religions, new religious movements, alternative spiritualities, and related social and cultural phenomena within the broader field of contemporary religiosity.

We welcome submissions of original research from various disciplines relevant to the study of new religions. Submissions may take the form of empirical investigations as well as articles addressing theoretical or methodological developments in the field. Research notes, review articles, and shorter book reviews of recent publications are also encouraged.

All submissions are evaluated by the editorial team and undergo double-blind peer review by two anonymous reviewers. Articles in Aura are published under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Submitting an article

Submissions to Aura are made directly through this website. For questions, contact one of the editors.

Articles in Aura are normally no longer than 8,000 words (including the bibliography). Research notes and review articles should not exceed 5,000 words, and book reviews should not exceed 1,500 words. When deemed appropriate by the editorial team, longer articles may be accepted.

Aura welcomes submissions in English. All submitted articles must be accompanied by an English-language abstract of 100–200 words, as well as three to five English keywords.

Manuscripts should be formatted in Times New Roman, 12 pt, left-aligned, with 1.5 line spacing. Headings and subheadings should use no more than two levels. Quotations longer than three lines should be formatted as block quotes, indented by one tab.

Photographs or other graphical elements are welcome when relevant to the article’s overarching argument. Authors are responsible for securing permission to publish any images and must indicate the source(s) in the manuscript.

References should follow the Chicago Manual of Style author–date system and be accompanied by a bibliography at the end of the manuscript. If relevant, the bibliography may be divided into subsections (e.g., archival, primary, and secondary sources).

To maintain double-blind anonymity throughout the review process, the submitted manuscript should not include the author’s name or any identifying information (including file metadata) that could reveal the author’s identity. Each submission must be accompanied by a separate cover letter including the article title, author name(s), institutional affiliation(s) (if applicable), e-mail address(es), ORCID (if applicable), and a short biographical note (to be published with the final article if accepted).

Images should be submitted as separate files (JPG or TIFF) with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and accompanied by written alt text to comply with accessibility standards.