Guidelines for Book Reviews

Arctos publishes reviews of publications that have been submitted to the Review Editor by the publishers. The full inventory of available books can be found in the Books Available for Review section of this website. Reviews should be written in English, French, German, Italian, or Latin. Both British and American English are acceptable, provided that usage is consistent throughout the review. The length of submitted reviews should be between 800 and 2000 words. The annual deadline is at the end of October, unless otherwise agreed with the Review Editor. The review must be submitted to the issue agreed upon with the Book Review Editor.

 

Requests and returns

All questions and requests concerning review books should be directed by e-mail to the Review Editor at arctos-reviews@kfy.fi.

After the submission of the reviews, all books must be returned to the Review Editor, who will forward them to university libraries through official channels, unless otherwise agreed upon before the loan of the review copy.

 

Editorial preferences and requirements

The text formatting should follow Arctos’ general style guidelines. The submitted text should be paginated and double-spaced throughout. Times New Roman, font size 12, is preferred, but other common Unicode fonts are also accepted. For Greek, a Unicode font must be used. The text must not include any additional formatting, such as styles or headings.  

If references or quotations (from either ancient or modern authors) are used, these should be formatted according to the editorial instructions set in the Guidelines for Contributors. Since book reviews are published without footnotes or a bibliography, please provide the bibliographic information (author, title, publisher, and year of publication) in brackets. 

In the beginning of the review, full information about the publication should be provided, including the author’s name, the title of the publication, the name of any series in which it was published, the publisher, the place and year of publication, ISBN number, number of pages, and the price of the publication.

Examples:

• Dagmar Hofmann: Suizid in der Spätantike. Seine Bewertung in der lateinischen Literatur. Altertumswissenschaftliches Kolloquium. Interdisziplinäre Studien zur Antike und zu ihrem Nachleben (AwK), Band 18.1. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2007. ISBN 978-3-515-09139-8. 250 S. EUR 44.
  • D. M. Jacobson – N. Kokkinos (eds.): Herod and Augustus. Papers Presented at the IJS Conference, 21st–23rd June 2005. IJS Studies in Judaica 6. Brill, Leiden – Boston 2009. ISBN 978-90-04-16546-5. XIV, 415 pp, 84 plates. EUR 195, USD 304.
  • Athenaeus, The Learned Banqueters, III, Books6-7. LOEB Classical Library 224. Edited and translated by S. Douglas Olson. Harvard University Press, Cambridge – London 2008. ISBN 978-0-674-99624-3. 592 pp. EUR 22.50, USD 24, GBP 15.95.

Book reviews submitted to Arctos must be analytical and clear, and expertise in the relevant field is essential. At the same time, reviews should be accessible enough that non-specialist readers can gain a good understanding of the work. Reviews should be structured, including an introduction to the work’s content, a critical analysis, and a conclusion. Direct quotations must include page numbers. Reviewers should distinguish between information considered general knowledge and points requiring support from previous research. Criticism must focus on the content of the work, not on the author or other individuals. Reviewers should always justify their observations and clearly differentiate between the arguments presented in the book and their own perspective.

A book review can be structured, for example, as follows:

1. Introduction Summarize the work’s background, main theme, and objectives. Indicate its academic field, key debates, and, if relevant, how it relates to the author’s previous work or the broader research area.
2. Critical Analysis: Provide a critical analysis of the book, focusing on the most significant and interesting themes and findings. Avoid a chapter-by-chapter summary.
3. Assessment and Conclusion: Evaluate the book’s usefulness: how well does it achieve its objectives, and what new perspectives does it offer to the field?

 

Submission

Reviews should be submitted to the Review Editor by e-mail at arctos-reviews@kfy.fi. The e-mail should also include the reviewer’s name, affiliation, and postal address. Reviews will be read and evaluated by the Review Editor and by selected members of the Editorial Advisory Board. The language of accepted reviews will be checked by a qualified professional. The final corrections are always made by the author prior to publication. The reviewer will receive one author’s copy of the printed issue of Arctos as well as a PDF of their book review, which they are free to share through any channels they wish. Book reviews are published in the printed issue as well as on the Arctos website without any embargo.