Review copies and suggestions concerning books for review should be directed to the the General Editor:
Book Review Policy
The Journal of Buddhist Ethics publishes reviews of books on all aspects of Buddhist Studies. Our intent is to provide fast, informative, and thorough reviews of recently published work in Buddhist Studies by specialists from diverse disciplines including anthropology, history, philosophy, and religion. Online publishing can eliminate the often lengthy delays that occur between submission of a review and its publication. The Journal of Buddhist Ethics publishes on an ongoing basis rather than once or twice a year, making it possible for a review to appear soon after the reviewer completes it.
Reviewers are generally chosen by the area editor. Scholars who are interested in reviewing a book that is listed on the book review page without a specified reviewer, or who wish to review a book not currently listed, should contact the area editor. Although the Journal of Buddhist Ethics does accept unsolicited book reviews and is open to receiving curriculum vitae from potential reviewers, the decision to print reviews or to use particular reviewers rests solely with the Journal of Buddhist Ethics.
Reviews will communicate to specialists (and non-specialists) the scope of the book’s content, assess its major points and contributions, and provide a reasoned judgment about its worth. In keeping with proper scholarly method, any critique should be directed at an author’s work. Reviews that contain materials considered to be directed towards an author’s character or that are considered to be potentially libelous will be rejected. The Journal of Buddhist Ethics will be the final arbiter in all cases.
When you have agreed to review a volume for us, please discuss a realistic submission date with your editor. The Journal of Buddhist Ethics aims at publishing book reviews within three months from the time you have received the volume. We realize that this is not always possible, but it has proven to be a good guideline. Occasionally, reviews may have to be reassigned or dropped. Reviews that do not meet the journal’s professional standards or that fail to conform to conditions agreed upon by the reviewer and editor will be rejected. All such decisions are at the sole discretion of the Journal of Buddhist Ethics.
Reviews may be of any length. However, they will typically not be less than 500 words or more than 5,000. Many reviewers find a length of 1,200 to 1,500 words about right. Reviews of more than 5,000 words will be considered review articles and will be screened by both the book review editor and the general editors of the Journal of Buddhist Ethics.
After your review has been copyedited, it will be returned to you for a final proofreading. Please be especially careful in proofreading any transliterations in your review. We ask that you ensure that Sanskrit and Japanese words are in the JBE‘s transliteration format [see JBE Style Guide] before you submit a review to our editors.
Please do not submit drafts or incomplete articles or reviews. While minor changes are permitted during final proofreading, JBE policy does not allow changes to an article after it has been published on the site.
Headers should be set up as in the following example:
The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism. By Peter Harvey. London: Curzon Press, 1995, viii + 293 pages, ISBN 0-7007-0337-3 (paperback), £14.99; ISBN 0-7007-0338-1 (cloth).
Reviewed by
Rupert Gethin
Lecturer in Indian Religions
University of Bristol
rupert.gethin@bristol.ac.uk
References should be cited in the body of the review. Where you quote from the book you are reviewing, refer to an author’s argument or a prolonged discussion, or note points of particular interest or controversy, please give page references. Avoid endnotes if at all possible.
Manuscripts should be submitted for consideration as Microsoft Word files and attached to an email to the appropriate editor. JBE uses the Gentium plus font; it is suggested that you download and install this font and use this template to prepare your article. Please be sure to consult the JBE Style Guide (see Resources) paying special attention to citation style (we use MLA in-line citation, minimizing the number of footnotes) and to the transliteration of foreign terms (including diacritical marks).
Please contact one of our editors before sending us books for review. Books received unsolicited may not be reviewed and will not be returned to the sender.