About

Welcome to Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. Published since 1966, Zygon is dedicated to the manifold interactions between the sciences and human religious and moral convictions. We seek to consider the whole range of the sciences; cosmology and physics, biology and the neurosciences, sociology, psychology, and anthropology. We seek to be open to religious and non-religious perspectives, those rooted in the great traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, but also to religious naturalism, secular humanism, and atheism, both variants at home in the Western world and versions elsewhere on our globe. We cover ideas (theories, theologies) as well as practices. We address ethical issues and analyze the history of the differentiation between science and religion and their subsequent interactions.

Focus and Scope

The word zygon means the yoking of two entities or processes that must work together. It is related to zygote—meaning the union of genetic heritage from sperm and egg, a union that is vital in higher species for the continuation of advancement of life. The journal Zygon provides a forum for exploring ways to unite what in modern times has been disconnected—values from knowledge, goodness from truth, religion from science. Traditional religions, which have transmitted wisdom about what is of essential value and ultimate meaning as a guide for human living, were expressed in terms of the best understandings of their times about human nature, society, and the world. Religious expression in our time, however, has not drawn similarly on modern science, which has superseded the ancient forms of understanding. As a result religions have lost credibility in the modern mind. Nevertheless some recent scientific studies of human evolution and development have indicated how long-standing religions have evolved well-winnowed wisdom, still essential for the best life. Zygon’s hypothesis is that when long-evolved religious wisdom is yoked with significant recent scientific discoveries about the world and human nature, there results credible expression of basic meaning, values, and moral convictions that provides valid and effective guidance for enhancing human life. Zygon also publishes manuscripts that are critical of this perspective, as long as such papers contribute to a constructive reflection on scientific knowledge, human values, and existential meaning.

Journal History

Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science was formerly published by The University of Chicago Press (1966–1978), Wilfrid Laurier University Press (1979–1989) and Blackwell/Wiley (1990–2023), and from 2024 the journal is published by the Open Library of Humanities (OLH). Zygon has been published diamond open access via our publisher, OLH, since 2024.

All articles from January 1, 2024, will be available under the open access license CC BY 4.0. Articles published before this date have now had their copyright assigned to the authors (where it once was assigned to the Joint Publication Board of Zygon) under the CC BY 4.0 attribution license. However, historic article files (before December 31, 2023) will not reflect these changes.

Publication Schedule

The journal is published online, with articles being collated (and repaginated) into four issues per volume (year). Articles are made available as soon as they are ready to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays in getting content publicly available.

Thematic Sections of articles are welcomed and will be published as part of a normal issue, but also within a separate section page. Please see the Journal Policies page for further information on Thematic Sections.

Publication Fees

This journal is published by the Open Library of Humanities (OLH). Unlike many open-access publishers, the OLH does not charge any author fees. This does not mean that we do not have costs. Instead, our costs are paid by an international library consortium. If your institution is not currently supporting the platform, we request that you ask your librarian to sign up. The OLH is extremely cost effective and is a not-for-profit charity. However, while we cannot function without financial support and we encourage universities to sign up, institutional commitment is not required to publish with us.