Submissions

Philanthropy and Society Today publishes interdisciplinary scholarship on philanthropy. This page explains what we publish, how to prepare a manuscript, and what happens after you submit. Please read it before you start a submission: manuscripts that do not follow it may be returned without review.

Before you submit

A submission should meet all of the following conditions.

1. Scope. Philanthropy is the subject of the manuscript: giving for public benefit and the institutions, rules and practices that organise it, including Islamic philanthropy (zakat, waqf, infaq and sadaqah). Manuscripts from any discipline are considered, but work whose main subject is not philanthropy is out of scope, however good it is. General economics, management or social questions are in scope only where giving for public benefit is a substantial and direct part of the research question.
2. Originality. The manuscript is your own work, has not been published, and is not under consideration by another journal or publisher. Earlier versions posted as preprints or presented at conferences should be disclosed in the cover letter.
3. Contribution. It makes an identifiable contribution to existing scholarship and goes beyond describing programmes, organisations, regulations or events.
4. Wider relevance. If it studies one country, institution or community, it explains why the question, method or findings matter to readers elsewhere (for example through theory, comparison, policy lessons or engagement with international scholarship).
5. Language. It is written in clear academic English.
6. Ethics. It complies with the rules on authorship, conflicts of interest, research integrity and the use of artificial intelligence described below.

Journal policies

Philanthropy and Society Today's own aims, scope and editorial focus are set out on the About the Journal page. The journal also follows the publisher-wide policies of Calm Publika, which apply to every submission. This page summarises what matters when you prepare a manuscript; the policies themselves are the authoritative text.

• Publication Ethics
• Peer Review Process
• Open Access Policy
• Originality & Plagiarism Screening
• Generative AI Policy
• Retraction, Withdrawal & Correction
• Copyright & License
• Privacy Statement
• Business Model
• Advertising Policy
• Archiving

Article types

Lengths include footnotes but exclude the abstract. Editors may accept a manuscript outside these ranges where the argument needs it.

Research Article	Original research on a substantial question about philanthropy, using an identified method (doctrinal, comparative, quantitative, qualitative, mixed-method, historical, theoretical or other). The journal's main content. 6,000-10,000 words.
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). It identifies developments, compares approaches, locates gaps and makes an analytical contribution of its own, and it states how the sources were searched and selected. 6,000-9,000 words.
Case Study	A systematic study of a philanthropic organisation, programme, dispute or decision, with a stated method for choosing and analysing the case, that yields lessons beyond the case itself. 4,000-7,000 words.
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. It should state its central concepts or hypotheses clearly, argue for them from the literature, and say what research they open up. 5,000-8,000 words.
Book Review	A critical evaluation of a significant recent book on philanthropy or a closely related field. It assesses the argument, method and contribution rather than summarising the contents. 1,500-2,500 words.

Analysis of laws, regulations, public programmes and policy initiatives affecting philanthropy is within the scope of the journal. Submit it as a Research Article, a Case Study or a Conceptual Paper, whichever matches how the paper is built.

Topics such as Islamic philanthropy, corporate philanthropy, or digital giving are themes, not article types: choose the article type that matches how your paper is built, and use keywords for the theme.

Preparing your manuscript

Format

• Submit a Word document (.docx), A4, single column, 12 pt, 1.5 line spacing, numbered pages.
• Use no more than three levels of numbered headings.
• Give the full word count (including footnotes) on the title page.

Templates

To save time and avoid formatting errors, you can start from our two Word templates. They already use the styles we need, so the journal can turn your accepted manuscript into the published layout without retyping it.

• Manuscript template (.docx): the anonymised file for review. Delete the blue instruction box before you upload it.
• Title page template (.docx): names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, funding and declarations. Upload it as a separate file; it is not sent to reviewers.

Using the templates is optional. If you use them, apply the built-in styles (Heading 1-3, Body, Block Quote, Caption) instead of formatting by hand.

Structure

• Title: specific and informative, ideally under 15 words.
• Abstract: 150-250 words, in one paragraph, stating the question, the method, the main argument or finding, and why it matters. No citations. (Not required for Book Reviews.)
• Keywords: four to six, including the relevant theme, and the country or setting studied.
• Main text: for a Research Article, normally an introduction that states the question and contribution; the literature or the legal and conceptual background; a statement and justification of the method (including data, sampling and ethical approval where relevant); the analysis or findings; and a conclusion with the wider implications. Other article types may adapt this order where their purpose requires it, but the contribution should be clear from the first page.
• Declarations (after the conclusion): acknowledgements, funding, conflicts of interest, and any use of AI tools.

Anonymised manuscript for double-blind review

Every manuscript is reviewed double-blind, so the file you upload for review must not identify you.

• Put names, affiliations, ORCID iDs and acknowledgements in a separate title page, not in the main file.
• Remove author information from the document properties of the file.
• Refer to your own earlier work in the third person ("as Smith argues"), and replace anything that would reveal you with "[Author]" until the manuscript is accepted.
• Do not mention the funder, the institution or the project name in the anonymised text if that would identify you.

Citations and references

Use one citation style consistently throughout the manuscript:

• APA 7th edition (author-date citations in the text and a reference list), the usual choice for empirical and social science work; or
• OSCOLA (4th edition; footnotes), the usual choice for legal manuscripts.

Cite sources you have actually read, and give a URL and access date for online materials with no stable print form. For cases, legislation and regulations, give the court or issuing body, the year and a recognised report or database reference. For Arabic and other non-Latin sources, give the original title in a consistent transliteration followed by an English translation in brackets, and state when a translation is your own. Cite religious texts by work, chapter and verse or number, and name the edition or translation you used.

Language, tables and figures

• Write in consistent British or American English, not a mixture. If English is not your first language, have the text professionally edited before submission.
• Number tables and figures, give each a short title and cite it in the text. Put tables in the file as editable text, not as images.
• Upload figures as separate high-resolution files (at least 300 dpi) as well as placing them in the text.
• You are responsible for permission to reproduce any third-party material (images, long quotations, tables). Include the permission or the licence with your submission.

Research and publication ethics

Originality and plagiarism

Every submission is screened for originality before review. Presenting another author's words, data or ideas as your own, including your own earlier published work, is not tolerated. Quote exactly and mark the quotation; paraphrase in your own words and cite the source. See the Originality & Plagiarism Screening and Publication Ethics policies.

Research involving people, and data

Manuscripts reporting surveys, interviews, observation or other research with human participants must state how ethical approval (or a documented exemption) and informed consent were obtained, and how participants' identities and data were protected. Where data are used, say what they are, where they come from and whether they can be shared; do not include personal data about donors or beneficiaries without a lawful basis and consent.

Authorship and conflicts of interest

All listed authors must have made a substantial contribution and approved the final text. Anyone who contributed less should be named in the acknowledgements. Declare any financial or personal interest that could reasonably be seen to influence the work, including funding and any connection to the organisations, donors or programmes you study.

Artificial intelligence

AI tools cannot be an author, and you remain responsible for everything in your manuscript. You may use them to improve language or readability; you must check any output you keep, and state in the declarations which tool you used and for what. Do not use AI to create or alter research data, figures or images. Do not upload any manuscript you are reviewing to an AI system. The full wording is in the Generative AI Policy.

How to submit

1. Register or log in. We encourage you to connect your ORCID iD to your account.
2. Start a New Submission, choose the section that matches your article type, and confirm the submission requirements.
3. Upload the anonymised manuscript, the separate title page (both can start from the templates), and any figures or permissions.
4. Enter the title, abstract, keywords and the details of every author. The corresponding author is the contact for all editorial correspondence.
5. Add a short cover letter stating why the paper suits Philanthropy and Society Today and disclosing any preprint, conference version or conflict.

Author details and affiliations

For every author, enter the name as it should appear in print, a working email address, the country, and an institutional affiliation. To keep institution names consistent:

• Type the full name of the institution without acronyms or abbreviations (for example "Universitas Muhammadiyah Magelang", not "UMM"), then select it from the list that appears. The list comes from the Research Organization Registry (ROR), so choosing from it keeps the spelling consistent and links your institution to its public record.
• If your institution is not in the list, choose the first option in the list, which is the name exactly as you typed it. Check the spelling before you confirm it.
• Give the institution only, not the faculty, department or unit. Put the faculty or department on the title page.
• Use the same affiliation on the title page and in the submission form.

Publishing in Philanthropy and Society Today is free for authors: the Article Processing Charge (APC) is Rp 0, and there is no charge to submit, to have a manuscript reviewed, or on acceptance. Information about how publication is funded is on the Business Model policy.

After you submit

You can follow the progress of your submission, from screening to the final decision, at any time in Calm Publika Hub. Sign in with the email address of your journal account and we will email you a one-time sign-in link; the Hub shows your submission's status without changing anything in it. Editorial decisions and requests for revision still reach you by email and in your submission dashboard.

Screening

The editorial team first checks scope, originality, contribution, method, engagement with current scholarship, language and compliance with these guidelines. Manuscripts that do not pass may be declined or returned for correction before review.

Double-blind peer review

Manuscripts that pass screening go to at least two independent reviewers chosen for their expertise. Reviewers do not see your identity and you do not see theirs. We tell you the expected timeline when your paper enters review, and we keep you informed if it changes.

Decisions and revision

The handling editor weighs the reviews and issues one of four decisions: accept, minor revisions, major revisions or decline. If revisions are requested, upload a revised manuscript together with a point-by-point response that states, for every comment, what you changed and where, or why you did not change it. Reviewers may be asked to look at the revised version. The general process is set out in the Peer Review Process policy.

After acceptance

Accepted papers are copy-edited and typeset. You will receive proofs to check: please limit corrections to errors introduced in production, and return them by the date given. Once published, each article is free to read from the first day.

Copyright and licence

You keep the copyright in your work. By publishing with Calm Publika you grant a non-exclusive licence to publish, distribute and preserve the article, which is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. You may deposit and reuse your own published article, for example in an institutional repository, provided you credit the original publication. See the Copyright & License and Open Access policies.

Questions

For anything not covered here, write to the editorial office through the journal contact page before you submit.