Journal Identity
| Journal Title | Philanthropy and Society Today |
|---|---|
| Tagline | Contemporary Issues in Philanthropy and Social Welfare |
| Core Field | Philanthropy and Charitable Giving |
| Extended Field | Law, Economics and Social Finance, Public Policy, Management and Governance, Sociology, and Religious Studies |
| Publication Frequency | Two issues per year (January and June), plus online first |
| Publisher | Cipta Aksara Literasi Media (imprint: Calm Publika) |
| In Collaboration With | Center of Commercial and Corporate Law (C3L), Universitas Muhammadiyah Magelang |
Philanthropy and Society Today is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal for contemporary scholarship on philanthropy: voluntary giving of money, time, assets, and expertise for public benefit, and the institutions, rules, and practices that organise it. It is a journal about philanthropy rather than a general social science journal, and it is open to any discipline whose work makes philanthropy a substantial part of the analysis.
Publisher and Collaboration
Philanthropy and Society Today is published by Cipta Aksara Literasi Media, a limited liability company (Perseroan Perorangan) based in Magelang Regency, Indonesia, which publishes under the imprint Calm Publika. The publisher provides the online publishing system, manuscript production, and distribution.
The journal is published in collaboration with the Center of Commercial and Corporate Law (C3L), a study centre of Universitas Muhammadiyah Magelang, under a memorandum of understanding between the publisher and the university’s Institute for Research and Community Service (LPPM). The collaboration covers academic and scholarly support for the journal and input on editorial policy and publication ethics, in line with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.
Journal Mission
Philanthropy and Society Today is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing scholarly inquiry into philanthropy and its role in society.
The journal provides an academic forum for critical, comparative, and interdisciplinary engagement with how people, organisations, and communities give, how giving is governed and regulated, and what difference it makes to public welfare.
Its mission is to connect legal, economic, policy, managerial, sociological, and religious perspectives on philanthropy, and to bring scholarship from different traditions of giving, including religious and community-based traditions such as zakat and waqf, into conversation with one another and with the wider field.
Through internationally relevant and methodologically rigorous scholarship, the journal aims to facilitate dialogue among scholars, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders, and to contribute to the continuing development of philanthropy research and practice in national, comparative, regional, and international contexts.
Aims and Scope
Philanthropy and Society Today publishes original and high-quality scholarship addressing contemporary developments, debates, and challenges in philanthropy.
The journal welcomes doctrinal, theoretical, comparative, empirical, historical, and interdisciplinary research that makes a clear contribution to the study of philanthropy. Manuscripts from any discipline are considered, provided that philanthropy is the subject of the research and the analysis meets the standards of the discipline concerned.
The scope of Philanthropy and Society Today includes, but is not limited to:
- theories, motives, and ethics of giving;
- donors, giving behaviour, and public attitudes towards philanthropy;
- foundations, endowments, trusts, and charitable and nonprofit organisations;
- the legal and regulatory framework of philanthropy, including organisational law, supervision, and tax treatment of donations;
- governance, accountability, transparency, and public trust in philanthropic institutions;
- corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility;
- social finance, impact investment, and the measurement and evaluation of social impact;
- digital giving, crowdfunding, and platform-based philanthropy;
- Islamic philanthropy, including zakat, waqf, infaq, and sadaqah, and their institutions, regulation, and management;
- philanthropy in other religious, cultural, and community traditions;
- philanthropy and the state, public policy, and the welfare system;
- policy analysis: laws, regulations, public programmes, and policy initiatives affecting philanthropy, including their rationale, strengths, limits, and likely effects;
- philanthropy, civil society, and social movements;
- philanthropy in disasters, humanitarian response, and development;
- philanthropy in education, health, culture, and the environment;
- comparative and international perspectives on philanthropy; and
- other emerging issues in which philanthropy is a substantial element of the analysis.
Manuscripts that do not make philanthropy the subject of the analysis are outside the scope of the journal, whatever their discipline. Manuscripts on general economics, management, or social questions fall within scope only where giving for public benefit is a substantial and direct part of the research question. The requirements for submission are set out in the Author Guidelines.
Editorial Focus
Philanthropy and Society Today focuses on contemporary developments, debates, and transformations in philanthropy. It prioritises scholarship that offers an original and meaningful contribution to philanthropy studies, and it is particularly interested in how philanthropy relates to law, markets, policy, technology, religion, and social change.
Manuscripts should go beyond describing programmes, organisations, or regulations and show analytical, theoretical, comparative, empirical, methodological, or policy significance. Studies of a single country or institution are welcome when they explain why their findings matter to philanthropy scholarship more widely.
Editorial Priorities
Philanthropy and Society Today gives particular consideration to manuscripts that:
- address emerging or significant questions in philanthropy;
- present clear originality and scholarly contribution;
- engage critically with relevant literature and current academic debates;
- apply appropriate and transparent research methodologies;
- provide comparative, theoretical, empirical, or policy insights beyond description;
- connect national and local developments with wider regional or international debates;
- examine the relationship between giving, institutions, accountability, and public benefit; and
- contribute to the development, reform, or evaluation of philanthropic practice and policy.
Article Types
The journal publishes five types of manuscript. Research Articles are its principal content; the other types complement them.
| Research Article | Original research on a substantial question about philanthropy, using doctrinal, empirical, theoretical, comparative, or mixed methods. |
|---|---|
| Literature Review | A survey of articles, books and other sources relevant to a particular issue, field of research or theory. It collects the key sources on a topic and discusses them in conversation with each other (also called synthesis). |
| Case Study | A systematic study of a philanthropic organisation, programme, dispute, or decision that yields lessons beyond the case itself. |
| Conceptual Paper | A paper that is not based on empirical research but develops concepts, arguments or hypotheses. Conceptual papers are likely to be discursive and to cover philosophical discussions and comparative studies of other scholars' work and thinking. |
| Book Review | A critical evaluation of a significant recent publication on philanthropy or a closely related field. |
What each type should contain, and its recommended length, is described in the Author Guidelines.
Thematic Coverage
Alongside article types, the journal's content is organised by theme. Themes are used as keywords, collections, and special issue topics, not as article types:
- Giving, Donors, and Motivation
- Foundations, Endowments, and Nonprofit Organisations
- Law, Regulation, and Taxation of Philanthropy
- Governance, Accountability, and Public Trust
- Corporate Philanthropy and Social Responsibility
- Social Finance and Impact Evaluation
- Digital Giving and Crowdfunding
- Islamic Philanthropy: Zakat, Waqf, Infaq, and Sadaqah
- Philanthropy, Religion, and Culture
- Philanthropy, the State, and Public Policy
- Philanthropy, Civil Society, and Community
- Humanitarian Response and Development
International Relevance
Philanthropy and Society Today welcomes research on national or local philanthropy. Authors should explain the scholarly significance of their research beyond the description of a particular setting. International relevance may be shown through, among others:
- a contribution to philanthropy theory;
- comparative analysis;
- engagement with international scholarship, or with international or regional frameworks;
- implications for policy and practice elsewhere;
- empirical findings or lessons that apply beyond the setting studied; or
- a contribution to wider debates about civil society, welfare, religion, and public benefit.
It does not require every manuscript to examine several countries. It requires manuscripts to show why their questions, methods, findings, or arguments matter to the wider community of philanthropy scholars.
Methodological Orientation
Philanthropy and Society Today welcomes methodological diversity. Accepted approaches may include:
- doctrinal and comparative legal research;
- quantitative studies, including surveys and econometric analysis;
- qualitative studies, including interviews, ethnography, and case studies;
- mixed-method research;
- policy and regulatory analysis;
- historical research;
- theoretical and philosophical approaches;
- textual and normative analysis of religious sources, where it serves an analysis of philanthropic practice or institutions; and
- other interdisciplinary approaches.
Authors should identify and justify the methodology appropriate to their research question and discipline. Manuscripts that involve human participants must describe how ethical approval and informed consent were obtained.
Editorial Screening
Before peer review, the editorial team makes an initial assessment of every manuscript: whether it has a substantial focus on philanthropy, makes an identifiable contribution, uses an appropriate and well-explained method, engages with current scholarship, goes beyond description, and meets the journal's standards of language, presentation, and research and publication ethics. Manuscripts are then assigned to editors and reviewers with expertise in the relevant discipline. The full list of checks, and what happens next, is in the Author Guidelines.
Online First
The journal also publishes online first. An article is published online once it has completed peer review, editing and production, without waiting for the issue date, and it is then included in the next January or June issue.