Metrics for Religion, Brain & Behavior :

• Impact Factor: 3.6 (2023); Five-Year Impact Factor: 3.8 (2019-2023)

• Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR): 0.764 (2023; #7 out of 635 Religious Studies journals, 99th percentile)

• CiteSchore: 3.0 (2023; #10 out of 644 Religious Studies journals, 98th percentile)

Recommend the Journal to Your Library
Aims and Scope
Peer Review Policy
Editorial Staff
Book Reviews
Publisher
Editorial Advisory Board
Author Instructions
Background

Religion, Brain & Behavior's iconic image is William Blake's painting, "Web of Religion" (pictured on the journal cover, at right). 

Recommend the Journal to Your Library

We have made it convenient for you to recommend that your local library purchase an RBB subscription. Just download the recommendation sheet, fill out the information, and give it to your librarian. The recommendation sheet is an editable pdf form, so you can fill it out using a computer and email it to your librarian, or else print it up and hand the sheet to your librarian. All you need to add is your name; the journal information is already provided.

Aims and Scope

The aim of Religion, Brain & Behavior (RBB) is to provide a vehicle for the advancement of current biological approaches to understanding religion at every level from brain to behavior. RBB unites multiple disciplinary perspectives that share these interests. The journal seeks empirical and theoretical studies that reflect rigorous scientific standards and a sophisticated appreciation of the academic study of religion.

RBB welcomes contributions from a wide array of biological and related disciplines, including cognitive science, cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, social psychology, evolutionary anthropology, social neuroscience, neurology, genetics, demography, bioeconomics, neuroeconomics, physiology, developmental psychology, psychology of religion, moral psychology, archaeology, mimetics, behavioral ecology, epidemiology, public health, cultural evolution, and religious studies. In summary, RBB considers high quality papers in any aspect of the brain-behavior nexus related to religion.

Issues were published three times during 2011 (the first volume), and four times annually from 2012 onwards.

Peer Review Policy

All manuscript submissions are subject to initial appraisal by the Editor, and, if found suitable for further consideration, to peer review by independent expert referees.

All peer review is double anonymized and submission is online via ScholarOne Manuscripts.

Disclaimer: Taylor & Francis and IBCSR make every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in our publications. However, Taylor & Francis, IBCSR, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis or IBCSR. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis and IBCSR shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions.

Editorial Staff

Editors:

Irene Cristofori - Claued Bernard University Lyon
Suzanne Hoogeveen - University of Amsterdam
Ryan McKay - Royal Holloway, University of London
Michael Price - Brunel University
Robert M. Ross -  Macquarie University
John Shaver - Baylor University
Richard Sosis - University of Connecticut
Joseph Watts - University of Canterbury
Wesley J. Wildman - Boston University

Assistant Editors:

Christopher Kavanagh - University of Oxford
David Rohr - Center for Mind and Culture

Retired Members of the Editorial Staff

Joseph Bulbulia (Editor) - Victoria University of Wellington
Joel Daniels (Assistant Editor) - Center for Mind and Culture
Patrick McNamara (Editor) - Boston University
Uffe Schjoedt (Editor) - Arhus University
Michael L. Spezio (Editor) - Scripps College
James Haag (Editorial Assistant) - Center for Mind and Culture
Ian Cooley (Editorial Assistant) - Center for Mind and Culture

Founding Editors

Richard Sosis (Founding Editor) - University of Connecticut
Patrick McNamara (Founding Editor) - Boston University
Wesley J. Wildman (Founding Editor) - Boston University

Book Reviews

Publishers should send potential books for review to:

Dr. Wesley J. Wildman
Co-editor, Religion, Brain & Behavior
Center for Mind and Culture
566 Commonwealth Ave, Suite M-2
Boston, MA 02215

Publisher

Routledge Journals, Taylor & Francis Group - website

Editorial Advisory Board

Candace Alcorta - University of Connecticut
Nancy Ammerman - Boston University
Quentin Atkinson - University of Auckland
Scott Atran - University of Michigan
Jesse Bering - University of Otago
Justin Barrett - Fuller Theological Seminary
Paul Bloom - Yale University
Pascal Boyer - Washington University in St. Louis
Warren Brown - Fuller Theological Seminary
Joseph Bulbulia  -  Victoria University, Wellington
Philip Clayton - Claremont Graduate University
Adam B. Cohen - Arizona State University
Emma Cohen - University of Oxford
Lee Cronk - Rutgers University
Robin Dunbar - University of Oxford
Robert Emmons - University of California, Davis
Ernst Fehr - University of Zurich
Daniel Fessler - University of California, Los Angeles
Armin Geertz - Aarhus University
William Scott Green - University of Miami
Joseph Henrich - Harvard University
Ze Hong - University of Macau
William Irons - Northwestern University
Dominic Johnson - University of Oxford
Eric Kaufmann - University of London
Deborah Kelemen - Boston University
Lee Kirkpatrick - College of William and Mary
Pierre Liénard - University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Tanya Luhrmann - Stanford University
Mike McCullough - University of California, San Diego
Andrew Newberg - Thomas Jefferson University
Ara Norenzayan - University of British Columbia
Kenneth Pargament - Bowling Green State University
Benjamin Purzycki - Aarhus University
Ilkka Pyysiäinen - University of Helsinki
Peter Richerson - University of California, Davis
Steven Schachter - Harvard University
Todd Shackelford - Oakland University
Steven Schachter- Harvard University
Uffe Schjoedt - Aarhus University
Jeffrey Schloss - Westmont College
Todd Shackelford - Oakland University
Edward Slingerland - University of British Columbia
Michael Spezio - Scripps College, Claremont
Ann Taves - University of California, Santa Barbara
Robert Trivers - Rutgers University
Michiel van Elk - University of Amsterdam
Fraser Watts - Cambridge University
Claire White - University of California, Northridge
Harvey Whitehouse - University of Oxford
David Sloan Wilson - Binghamton University
Paul J. Zak - Claremont Graduate University 

Author Instructions

RBB uses Taylor & Francis’s online submission system for managing submissions, peer review, and production. Authors should submit manuscripts at online submission site. Direct any questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Instructions for manuscript preparation:

• Authors should format articles using APA style, being sure to submit a version suitable for blind refereeing.
• Case studies and research articles are no longer than 6,000 words in length, including notes and references. Target articles and review articles are at maximum 10,000 words in length, including notes and references. Invited commentaries on target articles are at most 1,000 words in length, and author responses are 2,500 words.
• Use no more than two layers of headings. Use endnotes rather than footnotes.
• Include a clear and concise abstract of no more than 200 words, furnishing a summary of background, methods, results, and conclusions, in that order.
• Include 4-8 keywords or phrases that will help would-be readers find your article using web and database searches.
• Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources.

Background

At the time when RBB was founded in 2011, public and media interest in the scientific study of religion is picking up steam. Front page stories and bestselling books on the new evolutionary and neuroscientific studies of religion are now commonplace. People intuitively grasp that we need a deep understanding of religion if we are to understand ourselves. Religious beliefs and behaviors exert a profound impact on mental and physical health, dietary habits, mating preferences, and economic behavior. They sustain many lethal conflicts and help to heal many others. For billions of people, religious beliefs influence who they marry, how they rear children, who they spend time with, and how they comport themselves in daily life. Clearly, religion is central to understanding human life.

The upsurge in public interest in religion has been paralleled by comparable developments in academia. New graduate programs in the cognitive and biological study of religion have recently emerged (e.g., at Oxford University) and existing programs, such as at Queen’s University, Belfast, and Aarhus University in Denmark, are filled with creative and productive students. Aside from the many established programs (see examples here), clusters of faculty at the University of Michigan, the University of British Columbia, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Connecticut, Boston University, and elsewhere are continuing to train the next generation of scholars studying religion from evolutionary, cognitive, and neurological perspectives.

The number of publications examining the cognitive and neurological bases of religious thought and behavior has steadily increased over the past few years. An articles search in Ex Libris's Primo Central consolidated index on May 24, 2011 for keywords (religio* AND (neuro* OR scien* OR cogniti* OR cultur* OR evolutio* OR biolog*)) yielded the following results by year.

A more refined search of the same database for academic journal articles having keywords (religio* AND (neuro* OR cogniti* OR evolutio* OR biolog*)) yielded results with a similarly spectacular growth trend, as follows.

In fact, the growth rate is even higher than these results suggest, because Academic OneFile indexes only two (Zygon and Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion) of the five major journals in which relevant academic articles are most often published.

Research, then, is moving at a fast pace. This research has been complemented by numerous biological, anthropological, and psychological studies exploring the evolutionary pressures that have shaped human religious behaviors, beliefs, and experiences. While most of this new work makes extensive use of evolutionary models, these studies are rooted in traditionally distinct disciplines and sub-disciplines. For this reason, the evolutionarily guided study of religion is developing along many independent tracks, and researchers are often unaware of the advances being made by scientists with similar interests who work outside their own discipline.

Most scholars in the field recognize the problem, and there have been a few recent attempts to rectify this situation. For example, the Evolution of Religion conference held in early 2007 brought leading evolutionary scholars, neuroscientists, and cognitive scientists studying religion together for a week of lectures, debate, and discussion. Subsequent conferences, such as at the Max Planck Institute and at meetings of the International Association of the Cognitive Science of Religion (IACSR), have sustained the momentum. Websites have been developed, such as the Evolutionary Religious Studies website at Binghamton University, to continue the interdisciplinary conversation that has emerged. There are well-funded new research programs, such as the wide-reaching Evolution of Religion: The Adaptive Logic of Religious Beliefs and Behavior. And the American Academy of Religion has initiated a new consultation on the Cognitive Science of Religion.

The biological study of religion has benefited from its interdisciplinary roots, but this diversity also poses its primary challenge. Research is currently published in too many journals in diverse fields making it nearly impossible for scholars to keep up with, and more importantly, to build upon each other’s work. Despite enormous interest and growth, the field will progress slowly without a journal devoted to publishing relevant groundbreaking research. The journal Religion, Brain & Behavior (RBB) will help to centralize current research in this area and thus form a greater sense of field identity and increase the efficiency of research.