Guidelines for Book Reviews Submitted to the International Review of Public Policy (IRPP)

The following text contains guidelines for book reviews submitted to IRPP concerning content, format, and contact information. Single book reviews are not refereed anonymously; they are commissioned, edited, and curated by the book review editors, Valesca Lima and Evangelia Petridou.

Content

Each review is informed by your style, approach and ingenuity. We do not want to be prescriptive, but in the end a book review is a service for the readers, so our guidance is to write with ‘the reader over your shoulder’. The readers are more interested in the value of the review for them than in your own opinion.

We also recommend that you approach the book with an analytical lens. A purely descriptive review has little use for the reader. Readers are mostly interested in learning about the quality of the contribution of the book. The readers look for information whether they should read the book or adopt it as part of the curriculum. Your review will include, at a minimum, the following points:

·         a brief overview with particular emphasis on the quality of the contribution the book makes to the subject area and/or the discipline as a whole including relevance in the current scholarly debate

·         a statement of the audience for which the book is best suited

·         a note of the author’s qualifications in the area, whether they are leaders in the field or attend to new explorations

·         the book’s strengths

·         the book’s possible shortfalls and limitations

·         touch upon any ethical considerations

Format

Single book reviews have a word limit of approximately 1000-1300 words. Please use standard 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 11p or 12p. Double space and justify your text. The preferred format is MS Word. On the top of your document, include the book details: title; author(s); year or publication; publisher; place of publication; total number of pages, price, and ISBN. At the end of your text, please include your name, affiliation, and email address. Please use APA 6th, the preferred manual of style of IRPP.

Multiple Book Review Essays (MBRs)

IRPP aims at publishing one MBR per year. MBRs are themed essays reviewing three to four books concomitantly and are subject to double-blind peer review process. The word limit for these is approximately 4000 words. Please contact us if you wish to review a bundle of books.

Additional Information

Please contact the book review editors, Evangelia Petridou (evangelia.petridou@miun.se) or Valesca Lima (valesca.lima@dcu.ie) if you have a book in mind that you would like to review or have any questions about the book review section at IRPP.