Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Editors-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Klaus Baumann and Prof. Dr. Arndt Büssing, we wish to acknowledge our reviewers who so generously offer their time to review the papers submitted to Religions by presenting an award to the reviewers who have demonstrated their dedication, professionalism, and timeliness in reviewing manuscripts for Religions.

What are the pre-requisites to be eligible for this award?
All of the reviewers for Religions in 2023 will be automatically included.

Selection Criteria:
– Number of review reports;
– The quality and timeliness of review reports.

What will the winners receive?
There will be five winners this year, and each will receive the following:
– CHF 500;
– An opportunity to publish a paper free of charge in 2024 after peer review;
– A certificate.

When will the winners be announced?
The winners will be announced in March 2024 on the journal website.

How can I make myself eligible?
If you have not yet reviewed papers for Religions, but would like to do so, you can register as a reviewer at the following link: https://susy.mdpi.com/volunteer/profile/edit.

Kind regards,
Religions Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that Religions is now inviting nominations for the Religions 2023 Young Investigator Award. This prize will be given to one young investigator in recognition of their excellence in the field of religions. All nominations will be assessed by an Award Evaluation Committee led by the Editors-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Klaus Baumann and Prof. Dr. Arndt Büssing.

The Prize:
– CHF 2000;
– The option to publish one paper free of charge in Religions after peer review before the end of 2024;
– An electronic certificate.

Eligibility and Requirements:
– Must have received their PhD no more than 10 years prior to 31 December 2023;
– Must have produced ground-breaking research and made a significant contribution to the advancement of the field of religions;
– Candidates must be nominated by senior scientists.

List of Documents for Nomination:
– Detailed Curriculum Vitae, including an updated publication list and a list of the researcher’s own research grants;
– Scanned copy of doctorate certificate;
– Signed nomination letters from two established senior scientists.

Schedule:
– Open for nomination: 8 June 2023
– Nomination deadline: 31 December 2023
– Winner announcement: 31 March 2024

How to Submit Nominations?
The nominations must be submitted online.

Contact:
Ms. Aggie Zheng
Marketing Specialist
Email: aggie.zheng@mdpi.com

Kind regards,
Religions Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Religions 2022 Young Investigator Award is Dr. Alex Villas Boas.

Dr. Alex Villas Boas is a professor and researcher of Systematic Theology at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests are mainly within Literature and Culture Studies. He received his PhD in 2013 and has an outstanding publication record, comprising 44 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and 9 academic books. He is clearly a rising star in the field of Systematic Theology. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Alex Villas Boas for his outstanding achievements.

As the awardee, Dr. Alex Villas Boas will receive an honorarium of CHF 2000, an offer to publish a paper free of charge before the end of 2023 in Religions after peer-review, and an electronic certificate.

We would like to thank all the nominators from various fields of study for their participation and all the Award Committee Members for their evaluation of the many excellent nominations.

Religions 2022 Young Investigator Evaluation Committee

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Religions 2022 Outstanding Reviewer Award. The Religions Editorial Board and Editorial Team would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and energy dedicated by reviewers in checking the manuscripts submitted to Religions. It is due to their efforts that the high quality of the journal and quick turnaround are maintained.

Prof. David Gray
Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, USA
Research Interests: Buddhist tantric traditions; Yoginītantras

Dr. Michail Theodosiadis
University of Kurdistan Hewlêr, Erbil/Hewlêr, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Zografou, Greece
Research Interests: political theory; history of political thought; Byzantine studies; international political theory; cosmopolitan theory

Dr. Christopher Lovins
Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea
Research Interests: the history of Chosŏn Korea and early modern East Asia; political legitimacy

Dr. Hans Van Eyghen
Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
Research Interests: religious epistemology; philosophy of religion; Christian theology; Catholic theology; cognitive science of religion (csr); evolutionary science of religion (esr); hermeneutic research

Dr. Jonathon Lookadoo
Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Research Interests: New Testament theology; Biblical theology; the Gospels; the history of Christianity; interpreting the Old Testament; interpreting the New Testament

The Prize for Each Winner:

• CHF 500;
• An opportunity to publish a paper free of charge in Religions in 2023 after peer review;
• An electronic certificate.

Kind regards,
Religions Editorial Office

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Religions 2021 Outstanding Reviewer Award. The following five reviewers have been selected on the basis of the number, quality, and timeliness of their review reports (in no particular order). Each of these winners will receive a bonus (CHF 500), a certificate, and a chance to publish a paper in Religions free of charge in 2022.

Dr. Daniel Boscaljon
Independent Scholar and Life Coach, USA

Dr. Dan Bradley
Department of Philosophy, Gonzaga University, Spokane, USA

Prof. Dr. Silvio Ferrari
Department of Cesare Beccaria, University of Milan, Milano MI, Italy

Dr. Yu Tao
The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia

Prof. Dr. Aldona Piwko
Institute of Research in the Discipline of Political Science and Administration, Faculty of Business and International Relations, Vistula University, Warszawa, Poland

In addition, an honorary mention goes out to the following reviewers, whose hard work in 2021 did not go unnoticed. Each of them will receive an electronic certificate.

Dr. Salih Yucel
Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia

Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, School of Theology, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia

Dr. Javier Gil-Gomeno
I-Communitas, Institute for Advanced Social Research, Department of Sociology and Social Work, Public University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

The Religions Editorial Board and Editorial Team would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and energy dedicated by all reviewers in checking the manuscripts submitted to Religions in 2021. It is due to their efforts that the high quality and quick turnaround of the journal are maintained.

Kind regards,
Prof. Dr. Klaus Baumann
Prof. Dr. Arndt Büssing
Editors-in-Chief, Religions

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Religions 2021 Young Investigator Award is Dr. Kathryn Johnson.

Dr. Kathryn Johnson is an Associate Research Professor of the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University, Tempe, USA. Dr. Johnson is interested in the social perception of non-human agents across different religious and cultural worldviews. Dr. Johnson received her Ph.D. in 2012 and has an outstanding publication record, comprising 45 publications in peer-reviewed international journals, and 5 book chapters and other publications. Dr. Johnson’s Scopus Scientific Citations number 658 and her Hirsch index is 17. She is clearly a rising star in the field of religious studies. As a single applicant, Dr. Johnson has secured funding of more than $1.5 million since 2011. This is an outstanding achievement in today’s competitive environment. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Johnson for her outstanding achievements.

As the awardee, Dr. Johnson will receive an honorarium of 2000 CHF, an offer to publish a paper free of charge before the end of July 2022 in Religions after peer-review, and an engraved plaque.

We would like to thank all the nominators from various fields of study for their participation and all the Award Committee Members for their evaluation of the many excellent nominations.

Religions 2021 Young Investigator Evaluation Committee

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Religions 2020 Outstanding Reviewer Awards. The Religions Editorial Board and Editorial Team would like to gratefully acknowledge the time and energy dedicated by reviewers in checking the manuscripts submitted to Religions. It is due to their efforts that the high quality of the journal and quick turnaround have been maintained. The following five reviewers have been selected on the basis of the number, quality, and timeliness of their review reports (in no particular order):

Prof. Antonio Muñoz-García
Affiliation: Department of Education and Developmental Psychology, University of Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain
Research Interest: psychology of religion and spirituality

Dr. Daniel Boscaljon
Affiliation: Co-Founder, Alchemy of Love (https://alchemy-of-love.com/)
Research Interest: 19th-century American literature and narrative theory

Prof. Gary Bouma
Affiliation: School of Social Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia
Research Interest: religious diversity

Dr. Dylan Esler
Affiliation: Oriental Institute, Catholic University of Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Research Interests: Asia; Buddhism; Tibet; Tibetan Buddhism; Dzogchen; Tantra; comparative mysticism

Dr. June McDaniel
Affiliation: Department of Religious Studies, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424, USA
Research Interests: religious experience; Hindu tradition mysticism; Hindu Bhakti; Tantra women’s religious rituals; study of holy people

Each winner will receive 500 CHF, a certificate, and a chance to publish a paper in Religions free of charge in 2021.

We thank them for their efforts in the review process. In addition, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the reviewers for their time and dedication in 2020.

Kind regards,
Prof. Dr. Klaus Baumann
Prof. Dr. Arndt Büssing
Editors-in-Chief, Religions

The editors and publisher of religions are grateful to all the colleagues who submitted abstracts and recommendations during the competition for conference subsidies. The many editors who reviewed submissions were impressed by the quality of the work they reflected and the diversity of scholars’ interests. It was extremely difficult to narrow the field to select our two recipient for this year:

• Visiting Assistant Professor Gary Slater from St. Edward’s University who will present “From Sacer to Sanctus: Against Prioritizing Among Refugees” at the Tromsø Conference 2018: Refugees and Minority Rights;
• Post-doctoral fellow Phra Nicholas Thanissaro from the University of Warwick who will present “How traditional are your values? A new empirical scale and a case study in Buddhist teens” at the International Seminar for Religious Education and Values.

Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Dr. Peter Iver Kaufman