NOVA ET VETERA

Submission Guidelines

• To avoid ambiguity, inclusive Roman numerals are always given in full.

• Other ancient/traditional sources in biblical studies (e.g., Qumran literature and Mishnah and Talmud tractates), follow SBL 2nd ed. section 8.3.5–10.
  • For Talmud, does not use “fol.”—just folio number with side (Babylonian) or column (Jerusalem). Note also that SBL uses both folio and chapter:verse for Jerusalem, but only chapter:verse for the Mishnah.
  • For Talmud, include “b.” for Babylonian and “y.” for Jerusalem.
• Classical works use CMS format for classics: no comma between work and location; Arabic numerals; periods; no spaces (e.g., Aristotle, Metaphysics 3.2.996b5–8).

V. Punctuation

• Use the serial comma (sometimes referred to as the “oxford comma”)
• Use smart (“curly”) quote marks, not "straight"
• Single quotation marks are reserved for quotations within in-line quotations. In block quotes (which use no outer double quote marks), interior quotes use double quote marks
  • Single quote marks should not be used for scare quotes
• Use the “en dash” (ctrl + minus on number pad) for inclusive number ranges rather than a hyphen: 295‒304.
• Use en dash rather than hyphen for parallel terms modifying a noun (“Jewish–Muslim conflicts”) or defined by it (“the nature–nurture debate”).
• No spaces before or after an em dash (ctrl+alt+minus): “laughing—as do all.”
• Use an apostrophe +s for singular nouns ending in s or z (Jesus’s; Aquinas’s), except for those in which the final s or z is silent (Descartes’; Grisez’s).
• For ellipses, do not use the MS Word ellipses character (…), just periods and spaces (. . .).
• CMS 12.62: A period is added before an ellipsis to indicate the omission of the end of a sentence, unless the sentence is deliberately incomplete (see 12.64). Similarly, a period at the end of a sentence in the original is retained before an ellipsis indicating the omission of material immediately following the period. . . . What precedes and, normally, what follows the four dots should be grammatically complete sentences as quoted, even if part of either sentence has been omitted. . . . Note that the first word after an ellipsis is capitalized if it begins a new grammatical sentence.
• Do not begin or end quotations with ellipses unless the sentence is deliberately incomplete.
• Name initials have a space following separating periods (e.g., C. S. Lewis), but other abbreviations (e.g., for names of religious orders) do not (e.g., S.J.; O.P.).

VI. Spelling

Use American spelling; although, for British authors, we are willing to be flexible. Please consult either Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11^th ed., or American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4^th ed.

• -or word endings, not -our (savior, not saviour; neighbor, not neighbour; etc.)
• -ize word endings, not -ise (realize, not realise; organize, not organize; etc.)

VII. Capitalization

Please follow the guidelines below. Exceptions are allowed for authors who want to deviate from the norm for a theological reason. Follow Merriam-Webster for any words not covered below.

• Capitalize only proper nouns; do not capitalize other terms for emphasis or other nontheological reasons.
• Divine pronouns should be lowercase.
• Capitalize “Pope” and “Council” when in title or in reference to a particular one (even if the name is not repeated from first reference; NB: we vary from CMS here), but not otherwise as a common noun.
• For Latin titles, capitalize only the first word unless one of the words would otherwise be capitalized: e.g., De civitate Dei, De malo, De veritate.
• However, capitalize both words of all Church documents, even when using the Latin title: Lumen Gentium, Aeterni Patris, Veritatis Splendor.

Capitalization Reference List of Commonly Used Words:

• Church [universal Catholic]
• Christology
• Eucharist, Eucharistic
• Trinity, Trinitarian (but not “triune”)
• Christ
• Paschal mystery
• Cross [Jesus’s]
• Resurrection [Jesus’s]
• Incarnation [Jesus’s]
• Passion [Jesus’s]
• Messiah (but not “messianic”)
• ancient Near East/Eastern
• the Gospel; the Gospel of John; the Fourth Gospel (but “the synoptic gospels”)
• Bible (but not “biblical”); Scripture (but not “scriptural”)
• Mass (but not “liturgy”)

• Examples: PL 50:431; DS no. 1532.

V. Citing Thomas Aquinas and Other Scholastics

• For biblical commentaries, use Super, then chapter number (no comma or “chap.”), then comma, then lectio number using “lec.”, then comma and (if included) edition paragraph number using “no.” (e.g., Super Rom 1, lec. 1, no. 001)
• For non-biblical commentaries, use In, then book/part (Roman numeral), then abbreviation (Aristotle commentaries can use abbreviation in first use), then text locations using label abbreviations and commas (rather than CMS format for classics)
• Full titles should be used in first instances (with SCG and ST in parentheses for those works) and then abbreviation in all following citations
• Examples:

De malo, q. 7, a. 2, obj. 11.

De veritate, q. 17, a. 1, ad 4

In I sent. d. 1, q. 1, a. 1 , no. 1.

In I eth., lec. 1, no. 1.

In I phys., lec. 1, no. 1.

In I metaphys., lec. 1, no. 1.

Quodlibet V, q. 9, a. 3.

Summa theologiae (ST) II-II, q. 12, a. 1, sc / corp. / resp. / obj. 3 / ad 2

Summa contra gentiles (SCG) I, ch. 22, no. 10

• If quoting English from a published translation, the edition should be cited in full in the first instance and then, if citing edition page numbers in further reference, use “p.” and the page number(s) from the cited edition.
• If English translations are your own work, cite the source of the Latin and give notice of your translation work.
• Known Latin editions of Thomas can be given simply by their known names: “Leonine ed.”; “Marietti ed.”; “Parma ed.”

VI. Modern Works

Note: Nova et Vetera (English) is not following the 18th edition (2024) of CMS in omitting cities of publication; please still include city of publication.

• Books or sections in books:

Denis Farkasfalvy, Inspiration & Interpretation: A Theological Introduction to Sacred Scripture (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2010), 195.

Pedro Rodríguez, “Spontanéité et caractère légal de la loi nouvelle,” in Lex et Libertas, ed. Leo Elders and K. Hedwig (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1987), 259.

• NB: the page range for the chapter or section is not necessary when not citing it as a whole.

• Journals:

Michael Dauphinais, “Loving the Lord Your God: The Imago Dei in Saint Thomas Aquinas,” The Thomist 63 (1999): 253.

• NB: the page range for the article not necessary when not citing it as a whole.

• English edition of foreign journal (e.g., Nova et Vetera):

Reinhard Hütter, “What Is Faith? The Theocentric, Unitive, and Eschatologically Inchoative Character of Divine Faith,” Nova et Vetera (English) 11, no. 2 (2013): 326–32 (if citing whole article) or 327 (if citing a particular page).

• Origins should be treated as a journal, with full date in parentheses, followed by a colon and page location: Origins 41, no. 31 (January 12, 2012): 501

• L'Osservatore Romano should be treated as a newspaper (CMS 14.203–7):

  L'Osservatore Romano, October 3, 1995, 8.

• Multivolume works with one publication date or range listed:

Édouard Massaux, The Influence of the Gospel of Saint Matthew on Christian Literature Before Saint Irenaeus, trans. Norman J. Belval and Suzanne Hecht, ed. Arthur J. Bellinzoni, 3 vols. (Macon, GA: Mercer University, 1993), 3:188.

• Particular volumes:

Initial:

Bertrand de Margerie, S.J., Introduction to the History of Exegesis, vol. 1, The Greek Fathers (Petersham, MA: Saint Bede’s, 1991), 9–10.

Subsequent:

De Margerie, Introduction to the History of Exegesis, 1:9–10.

Particular volume with subsequent citations using volume title:

Bertrand de Margerie, S.J., The Greek Fathers, vol. 1 of Introduction to the History of Exegesis (Petersham, MA: Saint Bede’s, 1991)

Subsequent:

De Margerie, Greek Fathers, 9–10.

• Book in a Series:

Luke Timothy Johnson, The Acts of the Apostles, ed. Daniel J. Harrington, Sacra Pagina 5 (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992), 111.

VII. Magisterial and Curial Documents

• Internet URLs should be given only for documents that cannot easily be found on the Vatican website through a basic web search for the title (e.g., papal homilies or addresses to particular groups). If given, they should be preceded by a comma and should follow all other citation information.
• Catechism of the Catholic Church should be spelled out the first time and then can be abbreviated as CCC. It does not require further information.
• Use “§” for the sections in all magisterial and curial documents (CCC, papal encyclicals, Vatican II documents, documents of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, documents of the Pontifical Biblical Commission that use section numbers, etc.).
• Do not use a space between section symbol and number: §4.
• Some documents, such as the Pontifical Biblical Commission’s The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (1993), do not use numbered paragraphs. In these cases, use either the text-division system used by the original text or page numbers in a published edition.
• Capitalize all words in Latin titles that would be capitalized in English titles.
• If replicating a footnote from a magisterial document in your own notes (note placed at the original position in the text of a block quote, with exact information of the document’s note, but the note number according to the numbering of your own notes):
• Please make sure that all abbreviations of collected works editions are cited fully (if not PG, PL, etc.)
• Use a colon between volume and page location (not original formatting from the magisterial document from which the citation is being carried over).
• In initial references to Vatican I and Vatican II documents, the “author” should be “First Vatican Council” and “Second Vatican Council,” and subsequent references may use “Vatican I” and Vatican II.”
• In initial references to papal documents, use “Pope” followed by the name. In subsequent references, only the name should be used.

• Magisterial and Curial Documents Format:

Initial:                  Pope Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus (1893), §1.

Subsequent:          Leo XIII, Providentissimus Deus, §1.

• Other examples of magisterial documents in initial citations include:

Pope Benedict XVI, Audience of March 15, 2006, http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20060315.html.

Pope Benedict XVI, Address of February 14, 2013, Origins 42, no. 38 (February 28, 2013): 607–8.

Pope Paul VI, Address to the Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission on the Ecclesial Role of Biblical Studies, March 14, 1974, in The Scripture Documents: An Anthology of Official Catholic Teachings, ed. Dean P. Béchard, S.J. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002), 151.

Pope Benedict XVI, Christmas Discourse to the Roman Curia, December 22, 2005, Origins 35, no. 32 (Jan. 26, 2006): 538.

Pope St. John Paul II, Tertio Millennio Adveniente (1994).

Pope Benedict XVI, Intervention at the Fourteenth General Congregation of the Synod, October 14, 2008, in Insegnamenti di Benedetto XVI, vol. 4.2 (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2009), 493.

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Donum Veritatis (1990), §1.

Pope Benedict XVI, “Origen of Alexandria: Life and Work,” General Audience of April 25, 2007, in Church Fathers from Clement of Rome to Augustine (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2008), 35–36.

VIII. Biblical Book Abbreviations

Note: Do not use periods after abbreviations for Bible books.

Format for Book Reviews

Style for the heading:

God Is Not a Story: Realism Revisited by Francesca Aran Murphy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), viii + 356 pp.

The Pinckaers Reader: Renewing Thomistic Moral Theology by Servais Pinckaers, O.P., edited by John Berkman and Craig Steven Titus (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2005), xxiii + 430 pp.

At the end of the book review:

Author’s name 
Author’s institution
City and state (state abbreviated)

Also: Cite page numbers in parenthesis in the book review—e.g. (9) or (105–11), rather than (p. 9) or (pp. 105–11).