Guidelines for Book Reviews

Correspondence related to book reviews should be addressed to the Review Editor at arctos-reviews@helsinki.fi

 

Style

Arctos publishes reviews of publications which have been delivered to the Review Editor by the publishers. The full inventory of available review 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. British and American English are both acceptable as long as the usage is consistent within the review. The length of submitted reviews should be from 500 to 2000 words. The annual deadline is the end of October, unless otherwise agreed with the Review Editor.

A critical review should not just be a summary of the publication, but should comment upon the strengths and weaknesses of the work. Some assistance for the style of reviews can be found in internet based Guides, such as The Book Review or Article Critique in 'Advice on Academic Writing' by the University of Toronto.

Requests and Returns

All questions and requests concerning review books should be referred by e-mail to the Review Editor (at arctos-reviews@helsinki.fi). In addition to the printed journal, all reviews will also be published on the webpage of Arctos in PDF format.

After the submission of the reviews, all books must be returned to the Review Editor, who will forward them to University libraries using official channels, unless otherwise agreed before the loan of a review copy. Each reviewer receives a free copy of the newest issue of Arctos, when their review has been published. All books can be returned to the address:

Arctos – Acta Philologica Fennica
Review Editor
Kirkkokatu 6 (The House of Science and Letters)
00170 Helsinki
Finland

Editorial Preferences

The submitted text should be paginated and double-spaced throughout, and with ample margins. Times New Roman, font size 12 is preferable, but other common fonts are also accepted. In the case of Greek, a Unicode font must be used. In case references or quotations (to/of 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 and bibliography, please indicate the bibliographic information (author, publication name, publisher and publication year) in brackets. 

In the beginning of the review, full information about the publication should be supplied, including the name of the author, the title of the publication, the name of the possible series in which it has been published, the name of the publisher, the location and year of printing, ISBN number, number of pages (including plates, figures, images), and the price of the publication. In case the publication is an article compilation by several authors, the publication information should start with the name of the publication, followed by the name of the editor(s).

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.
Herod and Augustus. Papers Presented at the IJS Conference, 21st–23rd June 2005. Edited by D. M. Jacobson and N. Kokkinos. 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, Books 6-7. 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.

Submission

The preferred format of submission is Microsoft Word (.docx), as some editorial markings (such as italics etc.) can be lost during the conversion of other formats.

Reviews should be submitted to the Review Editor by e-mail (at arctos-reviews@helsinki.fi). The e-mail should also contain the name, affiliation and postal address of the reviewer. The reviews will be read and assessed by the Review Editor and by select members of the Editorial Advisory Board. The language of the accepted reviews will be subjected to examination by a qualified professional. The final corrections are always made by the author himself prior to publication.