Instructions for Book Reviewers

The guidelines below are intended to help you prepare your review for submission to the Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (referred to below as “The Journal”), according to the standards expected on our pages.  Please review all sections of this document and ensure that your review complies with the guidelines prior to submission.

 

 

A. Conflict of Interest and Disclosure.

 

• Do not review a book that may present a conflict of interest, or a perceived conflict of interest.  For example, avoid reviewing a book that competes with a publication of your own, or that is written by a former teacher or mentor, or by a colleague in your department.  The Book Reviews Editor cannot possibly be aware of all such potential conflicts, and reviewers are trusted to manage this issue independently, though the Book Review Editor is available to consult with reviewers in situations of potential conflict.

 

• Do not share the contents of the review with the reviewed book’s authors, publishers, or agents thereof, prior to publication of the review.  The Journalwill forward copies of all published reviews to the book’s publisher.

 

 

C. Style and Content.

 

• The Journal and our readers expect writing that is thoughtful, engaging, well-crafted, and insightful.

 

• The ideal review balances a discussion of the reviewed book’s content with the reviewer’s own views and perspectives on the book’s value, accomplishments, strengths, shortfalls, and place within the existing literature.

 

• The review should not consist of a chapter-by-chapter summary of the reviewed book’s content.  Rather, the review should provide an overview of important themes and topics covered in the book in a manner integrated into an overall evaluation of the book.  It is not expected, or encouraged, that reviewers comment on every section or chapter of the book reviewed, particularly in the case of large volumes.

 

• The review should contain the reviewer’s opinions on the ideas expressed in the book and how well those ideas are supported, and a statement regarding the impact of the book on current practice in child and adolescent psychiatry.

 

• The concluding statements to the review should provide an overall assessment of the quality of the book reviewed, recommended audience for it, and the reasons for those assessments.

 

 

B. Format of the Review.

 

• The review should be approximately 700 words in length.  Reviews significantly longer than this limit will be considered only when accompanied by an appropriate justifying statement from the reviewer.

 

• Every review should begin with a citation of the book under review.  The format of the citation should be as follows (for examples, refer to recent editions of The Journal):

 

Book Title.

Author(s) Name(s).  Publisher: City, Province or State or Country, Year of publication.  ### pages. List price (Nation of currency), softcover or hardcover.

 

• The review is to be written in the present tense.

 

• Quotations from the book reviewed should be placed in quotation marks, and followed by page number reference in parentheses.

 

• Every review should end with a signature line in the following format:

 

Reviewer’s Name, Degree, Certification (e.g.FRCPC, RPscyh)

“Resident in Psychiatry” or other training status (if applicable)

Institutional affiliation (e.g.university or hospital, if applicable)

City or town, Province or state or country

 

• Proofread the entire review prior to submission.  Verify especially the accuracy of the book citation and quotations -- these will not necessarily be familiar to the editorial staff, and errors in this realm would be very damaging to your credibility as a reviewer.

 

 

 

 

 

D. Collaboration.

 

• Collaboration of reviewers is strongly encouraged, particularly of junior reviewers or trainees with more senior professionals.  Such an arrangement must be discussed with the Book Reviews Editor ahead of time, and an effort will be made to obtain extra review copies of the books if necessary.  Collaboration requires that all listed reviewers contribute significantly to the production of the review.

 

 

E. Editorial Privilege and Expectations.

 

• Deadlines are set to balance the time needed for busy reviewers to produce a high-quality review with the need to provide timely reviews to our readers.  Please respect the deadline so that we can uphold this obligation to our readership.

 

• Review copies of books are provided free of charge by the publisher with the expectation that a review will be completed.  If you do not fulfill this obligation to the publishers, we risk losing this privilege.  We expect you to complete the review assigned to you in a timely manner.  In return you may keep the review copy sent to you.

 

• Please submit your completed review by email to the Book Review Editor at daniel.lafleur@mail.mcgill.ca

 

• The editorial team maintains the right to select items most suitable for publication.  Submission of a review does not guarantee publication, and only the most relevant and high-quality reviews will go to print.

 

• The editorial team will make modifications to the review to correct linguistic errors or improve clarity.  An effort will be made to bring more significant editorial changes to the attention of the reviewers prior to publication.

 

 

On behalf of The Journal and our readership, I thank you for your work in producing book reviews that contribute to the scholarship of our field.

 

 

Daniel Lafleur, MD, CM, FRCPC

Book Review Editor

Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry