Preparing a book review for submission

These guidelines are designed to help potential reviewers when writing their book reviews. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact our book review editor, Dr Joanna Chojnicka at j.chojnicka@rug.nl

 

Tips:

A book review aims to provide the reader with insight into a new area and a sense of whether they would want to go on and read the book under question. Given this, you may wish to consider, as appropriate, the following questions while writing your review:

  • Who is this book written for and who might find it of interest? You might address different levels of readers (e.g. suitability for students?) in addition to those from different disciplines and sub-disciplines.
  • What is the aim or focus of this book?
  • What does this book tell us which is new? How does it advance the existing field?
  • What kind of approach does this book take to the topic/the data?
  • What are the strengths of the book?
  • Are there any weaknesses? (Of course, do remember to be fair and constructive in your comments!)

NB. Please avoid chapter-by-chapter narratives and descriptive summaries of the content. Readers can often find this information for themselves without reading your review (we will also provide a link to the relevant book page alongside your review). Instead, focus on information would be engaging for our journal readers.

 

Submission

  • The submission deadline for your review will have been agreed in advance with the book reviews editor, and will typically range from 3 to 6 months. If you anticipate any further delays, please do get in touch with the editor. 
  • Your book review should be submitted in .doc or .docx format through our dedicated system. Please make sure that you select "Book Review" when you are asked to upload your document.
  • You do NOT need to anonymise your document before submission, as it will only be checked by the book review editor. 

 

Length and Format

  • Book reviews should be between 1000-1200 words in length, although there is some flexibility here if required.
  • The following information needs to be included as a heading to your review:
    • Book Title [following house style guidelines, e.g. Surname, N. (year) Title. Place: Publisher]; number of pages; ISBN; Price [(pbk) (hbk) (e-book)].
    • Reviewed by: (your full name, affiliation and e-mail)
  • If, in your review, you refer to other studies and/or authors (in addition to the one that is being reviewed), you need to include a list of references too.
  • At the end of your review please also include a short (≈150-word) bio-note  (after the References section, if one is present).
  • Minor edits may be made by the editor for stylistic purposes, but you will be sent a copy with these for approval before publication.

 

Style

  • Indent new paragraphs with tabs (no blank lines)
  • Avoid inserting empty paragraphs to format page layout, etc.
  • 12 pt Times New Roman, 1.15 line spacing and 2.54 cm margins all around
  • Include page numbers only as footer

For all other related info (including on referencing), please consult our general article guidelines.