About the Journal

Focus and Scope

About Illumine and the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS):

Illumine is an online, peer-reviewed scholarly journal that explores historical and contemporary issues concerning religion and society. It is produced by graduate students, other fellows, and staff of the University of Victoria’s Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS).

The CSRS fosters the scholarly study of religion in relation to other aspects of society in both contemporary and historical periods. Our primary aim is to support, promote and produce advanced, high quality research about how religion engages with other aspects of culture, especially science, environment, health care, technology, ethics, ethnicity, public policy and politics, the arts, and globalization. CSRS is the leading centre in Canada for scholarly interdisciplinary research on topics at the intersection of religion and public life. We host several national public policy research networks, sponsor visiting fellowships for senior and junior scholars and members of the community, and produce a dynamic annual program of public lectures and seminars.

Current areas of research at the Centre include:

  • Religious diversity
  • The role of religious groups in the provision of social services
  • The role of illuminated or illustrated translated sacred texts in contemporary religious groups
  • Religious and cultural roots of vaccine hesitance
  • The governance of religious diversity in China, India and Canada
  • Religious radicalization and securitization in Canada and beyond
  • Spirituality in hospice palliative care
  • Health humanities
  • Bio-regionalism and religion, especially in the "Cascadia" region
  • Religion in Urban Settings

We welcome scholarly submissions from graduate students and recently graduated scholars of all disciplines whose work reflects in some way the interrelationship of religion with society and culture, in either a contemporary or historical context. We also welcome creative textual or visual works that address issues that fall within the CSRS sphere of interest.

We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

Review Process & Approximate Timeframes

The 2022 issue of Illumine will be published on a continuous publication basis, so that we can put up each article or creative work as soon as it is ready, rather than waiting until all submissions are ready for publication.The authors or creators of a submission will be advised of all decisions and significant process steps from first receipt through to publication.

a) Stage 1: Initial Review

Articles go through two rounds of review. The first review is an initial assessment by the editorial team to determine if the topic fits within the scope of the Centre's interests, is scholarly and original, and is at an advanced enough stage editorially (content, style, grammar, etc.) to go to peer review. This initial assessment will result in a decision as to whether the article meets the criteria for inclusion and will be accepted or rejected. Articles selected for publication will be assigned an editor who will work with the author to address any issues concerning content, format or style prior to publication. Overall, the role of the editor is to identify and make suggestions concerning issues related to structure, flow, clarity, tone and format of the article. The editors are also responsible for ensuring consistency in spelling, grammar, punctuation and in the styling of headings, captions, lists and citations throughout the issue as a whole. This editor may request  the author to make specified revisions and edits if the editorial team thinks the article is not yet in a form suitable to send for peer review. Typically, this first level of assessment takes 3-4 weeks, perhaps more if the initial review determines a lot of revisions are going to be  necessary.

Creative works, such as stories, poems, and art works will be assessed by the editorial board in consultation with other creative practitioners, and are either accepted or declined at this stage, based on such factors as relevance to the Centre's topical interests, originality, and quality.

b) Stage 2: Peer Review

Once the original or revised submission is deemed acceptable, the article goes to peer review. Articles submitted to Illumine are peer reviewed by at least two members of the editorial board and/or other qualified scholars with particular content knowledge. Peer review assesses the article's scholarly content (eg., originality, analysis, use of citations and references), clarity of writing and presentation, and relevance to the theme of religion and society.  We normally ask the reviewer(s) to get back to us within 4-6 weeks and then the editorial team will look at the reviewers' comments to determine whether to accept the article as is, to request specific revisions, or to decline to proceed further because the article is deemed too problematic.

Publication Frequency

The frequency of this journal depends on the number of articles we receive and the availability of editorial support. Submission and deadline details are available at http://journals.uvic.ca/index.php/Illumine/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions. Other inquiries may be directed to illumine@uvic.ca, attention to the Managing Editor.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Illumine Publication Agreement

Download the publication agreement for the Illumine