General Guidelines

Book reviews can be submitted any time to the journal, via email, or can be commissioned by the journal editors at their discretion. Commission of a review by the journal is no guarantee of its acceptance and will always depend on a final decision by the editors.

Reviews should provide a clear and concise description of the book and its thesis, situate the book within the relevant literature, and present its contribution to the field. The review should also consider how the book meets its stated objectives and draws on relevant source material.

The analytical and interpretative quality of the review, its capacity of synthesis, exposition, and knowledge of the topic will be taken into consideration in the editor’s final decision to publish the review.

Reviews sent to Hamsa must be original and should not be or have been submitted to other publications.

Length and References

The length of book reviews should not exceed 3000 words. In special cases, such as edited volumes, exceptions may be granted following discussion with the editors. References and footnotes should follow the journal’s bibliographical guidelines, which can be assessed under the link “Instructions to Authors”.

Submissions of reviews should include a brief biographical note, with title and affiliation of the author.

Structure

On the whole, reviews should follow the style guidelines for Hamsa’s articles, with only minor changes. The changes are as follows:

1. The review should start with the identification of the reviewed book, cited as follows: LAST NAME, First Name [of author(s) / editor(s)], translator(s) [if any], title of the book, place of publication, publisher, publication date, ISBN.

2. The review should end with the reviewer’s name and institution.