Babeș–Bolyai University Series Theological Studies (BBUS.TS)

ISSN 3141-7469

Aim and scope

The Theological Studies subseries of the Babeș–Bolyai University Series (BBUS.TS) is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly book series in theology, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern European contexts. Rooted in the university’s multicultural, multilingual, and multi-confessional academic environment, BBUS.TS focuses on theology in ecumenical and interconfessional perspective. It particularly welcomes studies on dialogue among Christian traditions, the historical and cultural forms of Christianity in the region, and the ways in which theology engages questions of communal identity, religious coexistence, and contemporary social and cultural challenges. Published jointly by L’Harmattan Publishing House and L'Harmattan Open Access, Budapest, and Babeș–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, BBUS.TS operates under the auspices of the Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology. Edited by an international and interconfessional editorial team, the series seeks to strengthen scholarly exchange between local, regional, and international theological research communities.

Editor-in-Chief

Attila BODOR, PhD (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary & German Bible Society, Stuttgart, Germany) 0000-0002-7748-3747

Senior Editors

Dávid DIÓSI, PhD (Babeș–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) 0000-0001-9371-1108

Olga LUKÁCS, PhD (Babeș–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) 0000-0001-7661-0946

Managing Editor

László BAKÓ, PhD (Babeș–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) 0000-0002-7748-3747

Editorial Board

Gábor BUZÁSI, PhD (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary) 0000-0001-8464-1179

Emerencia KÉK, PhD (Sapientia College of Theology of Religious Orders, Budapest, Hungary) 0009-0006-1379-7110

Ștefan LUPU, PhD (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași, Romania) 0009-0009-3248-7726

Tobias NICKLAS, PhD (University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany) 0000-0002-1021-6994

Réka SZILÁRDI, PhD (University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary) 000-0001-5609-880X

Csaba TÖRÖK, PhD (Esztergom Theological College, Esztergom, Hungary) 0009-0001-9398-7347

Joseph VERHEYDEN, PhD (KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium) 0000-0002-8646-5233

Béla S. VISKY, PhD (Protestant Theological Institute of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) 0000-0002-8936-3224

Korinna ZAMFIR, PhD (Babeș–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania) 0000-0003-3284-4673

Advisory Board

Philippe NOUZILLE, PhD (Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm, Rome, Italy)

Zoltán OLÁH, PhD (Babeș–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Attila PUSKÁS, PhD (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary)

Mátyás SZALAY, PhD (Episcopal Theological College of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary) 0000-0002-5557-1877

Xénia SZABÓ, PhD (Archives of the Transylvanian Franciscan Province, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

András TÖRŐ, PhD (Pontifical Hungarian Ecclesiastical Institute, Rome, Italy)

Peer Review Process

To ensure the scholarly integrity, academic quality, and originality of published research, manuscripts submitted to the Babeș–Bolyai University Series Theological Studies (BBUS.TS) undergo a double-blind peer-review process with at least two independent external reviewers holding doctoral degrees (PhDs) and relevant subject expertise.

The peer-review process is guided by the principles of scholarly excellence, impartiality, confidentiality, editorial independence, and the avoidance of conflicts of interest. All manuscripts are evaluated according to established scholarly and ethical standards, with editorial decisions informed by independent expert assessments.

The main stages of the peer-review process are outlined below.

1. Manuscript Submission

Authors submit their manuscripts to the Publishing House in line with the formal, linguistic, and referencing requirements outlined in the series’ Instructions for Authors.

Upon receipt, the Publishing House registers the submission, verifies the completeness of the required documentation, and forwards the manuscript to the editorial team for initial assessment.

2. Initial Editorial Assessment

Each manuscript undergoes an initial editorial assessment to determine whether it falls within the series’ scope and meets its basic scholarly, ethical, and formal requirements.

Particular attention is paid to the manuscript’s relevance to the series, scholarly contribution, academic structure, compliance with submission requirements, and any potential ethical or originality concerns.

Manuscripts that clearly fall outside the series’ scope, fail to meet essential scholarly or formal requirements, or raise serious ethical concerns may be rejected without external peer review.

The Editor-in-Chief decides to proceed to external review following appropriate editorial consultation.

3. Selection and Invitation of Reviewers

Manuscripts deemed suitable for further evaluation are submitted to at least two independent external experts in the relevant field.

Reviewers must hold doctoral degrees (PhDs) and are selected on the basis of their scholarly qualifications, subject expertise, independence from the author, and absence of conflicts of interest.

The Editor-in-Chief appoints the reviewers after consulting the Senior Editors and, where necessary, members of the Editorial and Advisory Boards.

The series follows a double-blind peer-review procedure, under which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another. Manuscripts are prepared for external review to preserve anonymity, and reviewers are expected to respect the confidentiality of the process.

Before accepting an assignment, invited reviewers should confirm their availability, relevant expertise, and lack of conflicts of interest. Reviewers who cannot undertake the evaluation may recommend other suitably qualified experts.

4. Conduct of the Peer Review

Reviewers independently evaluate the manuscript according to the scholarly standards and assessment criteria of the series.

The evaluation focuses particularly on:

• Originality and contribution to scholarship;

• Relevance and significance of the research topic;

• Clarity of research objectives and questions;

• Methodological or interpretative soundness;

• Coherence, structure, and clarity of argumentation;

• Critical engagement with relevant scholarly literature;

• Accuracy and appropriate interpretation of primary and secondary sources;

• Quality of documentation, references, and bibliography;

• Scholarly and linguistic quality of the manuscript;

• Suitability for publication within the series.

Reviewers submit their assessments in writing via the series’ designated Peer Review Form. Reports should provide a reasoned evaluation of the manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses, together with constructive recommendations for improvement where appropriate.

Each reviewer is asked to make one of the following recommendations:

• Accept without revision;

• Accept subject to minor revisions;

• Revise and resubmit after major revisions;

• Reject.

Reviewers’ recommendations are advisory and do not in themselves constitute an editorial decision.

5. Evaluation of Reviewers’ Reports

Once the reviewers’ reports have been received, they are examined to assess their completeness, scholarly substance, consistency, impartiality, and adequacy as a basis for an editorial decision.

The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the reports in consultation with the Senior Editors, taking into account the reviewers’ assessments, the manuscript’s scholarly merits, and the standards of the series. The Managing Editor ensures that the review procedures have been followed and that the necessary documentation is complete.

Where the reports differ substantially, lack sufficient justification, or raise questions that require further specialist evaluation, an additional independent external reviewer may be appointed.

6. Editorial Decision and Communication

Following the evaluation of the reviewers’ reports, the Editor-in-Chief makes an editorial decision, taking into account the advice of the Senior Editors and the recommendations of the external reviewers.

The decision may be to:

• Accept the manuscript;

• Request minor revisions;

• Request major revisions;

• Reject the manuscript.

The decision is communicated to the author in writing, together with the anonymised reviewers’ reports and any relevant editorial comments, where applicable.

If revisions are requested, the author is informed of the required changes, the applicable deadline, and the procedure for resubmission.

7. Revision and Further Evaluation

Authors invited to revise their manuscripts are expected to address the reviewers’ and editors’ comments carefully and to submit a revised manuscript accompanied by a point-by-point response explaining how the comments have been addressed.

The procedure for further evaluation depends on the extent of the revisions requested.

• Minor revisions: The revised manuscript may be evaluated internally to verify that the requested changes have been adequately addressed, without requiring a further round of external peer review.

• Major revisions: The revised manuscript is normally returned to the original reviewers or submitted to other suitably qualified independent external experts for further assessment.

Additional revisions may be requested where necessary.

Submitting a revised manuscript does not guarantee acceptance for publication. The final decision depends on the adequacy of the revisions and the manuscript’s compliance with the series’ scholarly and ethical standards.

8. Final Editorial Decision and Preparation for Publication

Following the completion of the peer-review process and the evaluation of any revised manuscript, the Editor-in-Chief makes the final scholarly editorial decision, taking into account the reviewers’ reports and the advice of the Senior Editors.

Manuscripts accepted for publication proceed to the production stage, coordinated by the Publishing House.

This stage includes copy-editing, language editing, typesetting, proofreading, preparation of illustrations and other visual materials, bibliographic metadata, and any agreed indexing.

Authors may be asked to review proofs and approve necessary corrections before publication.

The Publishing House is responsible for the administrative, contractual, legal, technical, and production-related aspects of publication, while scholarly editorial decisions remain independent of publishing or commercial considerations.

Copyright provisions, open-access licensing arrangements, and any applicable publication fees or other financial terms are specified in the relevant publishing agreement.

9. Confidentiality and Conflicts of Interest

All manuscripts submitted for peer review are treated as confidential. Reviewers, editors, and others involved in the process are required to maintain the confidentiality of manuscript content, reviewers’ reports, and editorial communications.

Unpublished material must not be disclosed or used for personal advantage or for the benefit of any third party.

Confidential manuscripts and review materials must not be uploaded to external AI-assisted systems without appropriate authorisation and safeguards.

All participants in the review process must disclose any actual, potential, or reasonably perceived conflicts of interest that could compromise the evaluation’s independence or impartiality.

Reviewers or editors with a conflict of interest must withdraw from assessing or handling the manuscript concerned. Where necessary, the manuscript is reassigned to an appropriately qualified and independent editor or reviewer.

These measures are intended to safeguard the fairness, independence, and integrity of the peer-review process.

10. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit complaints or appeals concerning editorial decisions, the conduct of the peer-review process, or potential breaches of publication ethics.

Complaints and appeals should be submitted in writing to the Publishing House at szerkesztoseg@harmattan.hu or info@openaccess.pub, with a clear explanation of the concerns raised and any relevant supporting information.

All complaints and appeals are registered and examined confidentially and impartially within a reasonable timeframe, in accordance with the series’ established procedures.

To ensure an independent assessment, individuals who were directly involved in the original evaluation or editorial decision must not take part in the examination of the related appeal.

Where appropriate, independent members of the Editorial or Advisory Boards or suitably qualified external experts may be consulted.

The Publishing House provides administrative support for the procedure, while the assessment of scholarly editorial appeals remains independent of publishing or commercial interests.

The outcome is communicated to the complainant or appellant in writing.

Contact

Attila Bodor

bodor.attila@btk.elte.hu

Instructions for Authors

1. General Principles

The series considers scholarly monographs and edited collections in theology and related disciplines. Authors and volume editors should aim for a carefully edited, internally consistent manuscript that can be converted to the Publishing House’s typesetting workflow without unnecessary reformatting.

No specific typeface, font size, line spacing, margins, page dimensions, or page layout is prescribed for the submitted manuscript. Authors should use a standard, legible word-processing format. There is no need to design final printed pages, manually insert running heads or page numbers, create typographical effects, or fine-tune the placement of headings, quotations, tables, and figures. These matters are handled during production.

The manuscript must be complete and consistent before it is sent for production. The author is responsible for the overall coherence and scholarly quality of a monograph, while the volume editor is responsible for the uniformity and completeness of a multi-author collection.

2. Submission and Manuscript Files

Manuscripts are submitted to the Publishing House at szerkesztoseg@harmattan.hu or info@openaccess.pub. Unless otherwise agreed, supply an editable word-processing document (preferably .docx) and an identical PDF for checking the completeness of the manuscript, including special characters and illustrations. Submit individual chapters in separate files only when agreed with the Publishing House, and supply a complete table of contents and a clear file list in that case.

Include a brief cover letter describing the type, topic, scholarly contribution, and publication history of the work, and disclose relevant funding, conflicts of interest, permissions, and non-routine use of AI-based tools. The Publishing House may request a short synopsis, author biography, keywords, or other bibliographic metadata separately for cataloguing and publicity.

3. Permissions and Third-Party Material

Authors must obtain any permissions required to reproduce, adapt, translate, or otherwise use copyright-protected material belonging to others, including images, maps, tables, extensive quotations, archival documents, and existing translations. Supply copies of the relevant permissions, together with any required wording for credit lines, to the Publishing House before production.

If the manuscript includes material that has appeared elsewhere, identify the earlier publication and explain its relationship to the submitted work. Translations and substantially revised editions may be considered if their scholarly rationale and legal status are clear. Submission must not conflict with commitments to another publisher.

4. Technical Preparation

Use a common editable word-processing format. Authors working with specialist software or unusual document structures should discuss export options with the Publishing House before submitting the final files.

Greek, Hebrew, and other non-Latin texts should be entered as searchable Unicode text using Unicode-compatible fonts. For unusual symbols or scripts, provide an explanatory note or sample PDF showing the intended appearance.

Keep automatic footnotes as genuine word-processor footnotes rather than typing them manually at the bottom of the page. Avoid hard-coded line breaks, unnecessary spaces or tabs, floating text boxes, and other manual layout devices that make conversion more difficult.

Please provide figures and photographs as separate image files in a common format, such as TIFF or high-quality JPEG. Whenever practicable, provide tables, diagrams, and charts in editable form.

5. Standardisation and Language

Use one coherent editorial system throughout the manuscript. The Chicago Manual of Style provides general editorial guidance. For matters of footnote citation and bibliography, however, the StThTr conventions in Section 9 take precedence over other systems.

Either standard British or standard American English may be used, provided spelling, punctuation, quotation practice, and terminology remain consistent. The language of submission and any translation requirements are subject to prior editorial agreement.

In edited collections, the volume editor must ensure consistency across contributions, including headings, source abbreviations, scriptural references, italics, footnote conventions, captions, and bibliographical details.

6. Titles, Headings and Contents

Organise the text into logically titled sections and subsections. Use a simple numbered hierarchy as necessary, for example 1, 1.1, and 1.1.1, and apply it consistently in the text and table of contents. Headings should begin flush left, without a terminal full stop when standing on a separate line.

Use either sentence-style or headline-style capitalization consistently; don’t switch between them. Use word-processor heading styles instead of manually simulating headings. Authors of edited volumes should ensure that chapter numbering and heading levels are consistent across all contributions.

7. Paragraphs

Begin paragraphs without manual tabs or extra spaces. Use ordinary paragraph breaks, not repeated empty lines, to separate paragraphs. Avoid manually imposed first-line indents, line breaks, or excessive local formatting; final paragraph layout is determined in typesetting.

8. Quotations and Textual Accuracy

Quotations of fewer than 50 words should normally be incorporated into the running text within double quotation marks. Use single quotation marks for a quotation within a quotation. Longer quotations should appear as clearly separated block quotations without quotation marks. Apply these conventions consistently throughout the manuscript.

Reproduce source quotations faithfully, including wording and relevant punctuation. Mark editorial additions with square brackets and omissions with an ellipsis in square brackets. Identify translations and distinguish the author’s own translations from published ones. Verify page references and the textual basis of quotations.

9. Footnotes and Bibliography

The preferred citation system of BBUS.TS follows the style adopted by Studia Theologica Transsylvaniensia: an adapted Chicago author–date system used in footnotes, accompanied by a complete bibliography arranged alphabetically by author. Authors may alternatively adopt another established citation style, such as APA or Harvard, provided that it is applied consistently throughout the manuscript.

The examples below illustrate the preferred citation style of the series and are intended as guidelines rather than mandatory requirements for authors using an alternative referencing system.

9.1 Footnotes

Place bibliographical citations and source references in automatically numbered footnotes. Biblical references and quotations should normally be identified in the main text. Cite published secondary literature as Surname Year: page(s), using a colon before the page number and a semicolon between different works in a single note. Provide exact page numbers where available.

Footnote examples

• Single work: Greshake 1997.

• Page reference: Sáry 2023: 23–50.

• Multiple works: Kratz 1999; Erdő 2023: 139–150.

• Two authors: King & Stager 2001: 22–25, 46–50.

• Three authors: Evans, Lohr & Petersen 2012: 22–25, 46–50.

Footnotes may also include concise explanatory remarks, but any bibliographical references within them must retain the same form. Citations of ancient and ecclesiastical works and of unpublished archival materials must unambiguously identify the relevant text, edition, document, or collection. Apply a single consistent system of sigla and abbreviations as described in Section 11.

9.2 Bibliography

Provide a complete bibliography at the end of the main text, listing all works cited in footnotes. Arrange entries alphabetically by the surnames of authors or editors, and chronologically for repeated authors; distinguish items published in the same year by adding a, b, c, etc. Include DOIs whenever available.

Bibliography examples

Book: King, Philip J., & Lawrence E. Stager. 2001. Life in Biblical Israel. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Edited volume: Puskás, Attila, & Máté Gárdonyi (eds). 2023. Szinodalitás az egyház életében és missziójában: Teológiai tanulmányok. Varia Theologica 14. Budapest: Szent István Társulat.

Chapter in an edited volume: Erdő, Péter. 2023. A szinodalitás mint a teokrácia egyik megjelenési formája az Egyház alkotmányában. In Attila Puskás & Máté Gárdonyi (eds), Szinodalitás az egyház életében és missziójában: Teológiai tanulmányok, 139–150. Varia Theologica 14. Budapest: Szent István Társulat.

Journal article: Sáry, Pál. 2023. Az abortusz megítélése az ókeresztény korban. Studia Theologica Transsylvaniensia 26: 23–50. https://doi.org/10.52258/stthtr.2023.02

Encyclopaedia entry: Kratz, Reinhard G. 1999. Apokalyptik II: AT. In Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart 4: 591–592.

Classical work: Augustinus. De Civitate Dei. In J.-P. Migne (ed), Patrologia Latina 41. Paris, 1864.

Archival document: Batthyány, Ignác. 1783. Templomszentelési beszéd Farkaslakán. Fond: Személyi hagyaték, VI/19, 1. box. Alba Iulia: Archdiocesan Archives.

For the complete range of source types and further examples, consult the StThTr Instructions for Authors.

10. Typeface, Emphasis and Punctuation

Italicize titles of books and periodicals, foreign words and phrases where appropriate, and key terms occasionally at first mention. Avoid using underlining, all caps, letter spacing, or boldface for emphasis in the body text. Reserve distinct formatting for genuine structural headings.

Use typographic quotation marks, consistent brackets, and appropriate dashes: a hyphen for compound words and an en dash for numerical ranges such as 1965–1966 and 23–50. Avoid nested round parentheses; use square brackets inside parentheses as needed. Follow the punctuation conventions of the chosen language consistently.

11. Abbreviations, Biblical and Ancient Sources

Keep general prose abbreviations to a minimum. Use established abbreviations for standard scholarly tools and frequently cited sources; define uncommon abbreviations at first use or provide a list of abbreviations.

For biblical books, ancient Christian and classical writings, and relevant theological reference works, follow the SBL Handbook of Style and, where applicable, the Internationales Abkürzungsverzeichnis für Theologie und Grenzgebiete (IATG). For example, Jer 20:7, Mark 12:13–17, 35–37, and Num 12:1–15; 20:1–13 illustrate biblical reference patterns. References to ancient sources must be traceable to the cited edition or translation.

12. Tables, Figures and Illustrations

Number tables and figures consecutively in a clear scheme, using either continuous numbering or chapter-based numbering consistently. Place the title of a table above it and the caption of an illustration or figure below it. Insert each element near the intended position in the editable manuscript and provide the underlying image or data file separately where appropriate.

Every image, map, chart, and table must have an appropriate source acknowledgement. The author must obtain required reproduction permissions and communicate any special credit-line or licence conditions to the Publishing House.

13. Appendices and Indexes

Place appendices after the main text and before the bibliography unless the Publishing House agrees to a different book-specific structure. Label appendices clearly and refer to them accurately in the text. For substantial monographs, discuss with the Publishing House at an early stage whether subject, name, biblical, or source indexes are needed.

Indexes are usually prepared from the final proofs, once pagination has stabilised. The author or volume editor is responsible for selecting useful entries and providing accurate page references in the format requested by the Publishing House. Do not finalise index page numbers using the submission manuscript.

14. Editorial Evaluation and Production

Submitted manuscripts first undergo an initial editorial assessment and, if deemed suitable, are evaluated through a double-anonymous peer-review process by at least two independent external reviewers who hold doctoral degrees (PhDs) and possess relevant subject expertise. The Managing Editor coordinates the editorial workflow and maintains the associated documentation, while the Senior Editors and, where appropriate, members of the Editorial and Advisory Boards provide advice on disciplinary expertise and the scholarly substance of the reviewers’ reports. The Editor-in-Chief, following consultation with the Senior Editors and the Managing Editor, is responsible for the selection and appointment of reviewers and retains final responsibility for scholarly editorial decisions. The Publishing House receives submissions and oversees administrative, contractual, copyright, technical, and production-related matters, without interfering with independent scholarly evaluation or editorial decision-making.

Authors may be required to submit revised manuscripts accompanied by a point-by-point response to the reviewers’ comments. Following scholarly acceptance, the Publishing House, in coordination with the Editor-in-Chief and the author, oversees the final stages of publication, including copy-editing, typesetting, proofreading, preparation of illustrations and other visual materials, bibliographic metadata, and the compilation of any agreed indexes. Copyright provisions, open-access licensing arrangements, and any applicable publication fees or other financial terms are specified in the relevant publishing agreement.

15. Pre-Submission Checklist

• The complete manuscript is scholarly, internally consistent, and suitable for the BBUS.TS series.

• An editable manuscript and a matching PDF are supplied.

• Headings, paragraphs, quotations, italics, punctuation, and abbreviations comply with the rules above.

• All bibliographical footnotes and bibliography entries follow StThTr style, including page references and DOIs where available.

• Non-Latin scripts display correctly; tables and figures are numbered; separate image files are provided at suitable resolution.

• All necessary permissions, author approvals, disclosures, and information on prior publication have been provided.

Contact

Publishing House contact: Péter Váradi — info@openaccess.pub or varadip@harmattan.hu

Series editorial contact: Attila Bodor — bodor.attila@btk.elte.hu