- Please do email us with a proposal if you are interested in reviewing a book (you only need include the title and author(s) of the book, and some brief information about why you are suitable as a reviewer for this particular book).
- Please do not send us unsolicited reviews (we may already have someone on the case, so you’d be wasting your time!).
- Reviewers will be provided with a hard or electronic copy of the book (whichever is the reviewer’s preferred option).
- All book reviews are entirely free to read.
- Books on the philosophy of science (broadly construed) published in the last 2–3 years.
- Books on history of science, STS, science, and philosophy published in the last 2–3 years likely to be of particular interest to philosophers of science.
- Books from publishing houses that will issue, upon request, hard copies for review.
- Reviews should be 1500–2000 words in length (longer reviews are possible, but only by arrangement with the editors).
- The primary function of a book review should be to give the reader a sense of whether they want to read the book. A critical engagement with the book makes the difference between a bland and an interesting book review, and is by no means discouraged. But the philosophical critique should not over-shadow the primary function of describing the book and identifying who might want to read it and why. In this sense, book reviews differ from critical notes.
- Reviews should meet the normal scholarly standards for citations and reference lists. (We will need this information before publication, so it will be easier for you if you can provide this information when it is still fresh!)
- Publication remains at the editors’ discretion.
- The editors reserve the right to edit reviews to meet the journal’s house style.
- Please ensure we are the right venue for your book—browse previous reviews to get a sense of what we’re interested in.
- If we are an appropriate venue, get your publisher to contact us. Do not request they send us a hard copy, but rather that they email us (bjps@thebsps.org).
- If your publisher does not send out hard copies to reviewers, we will not review your book. For example, since Springer rarely send hard copies, we rarely review their titles.
- Even when we decide your book is suitable, we cannot guarantee that your book will in fact be reviewed, since it is wholly dependent on finding a willing and able reviewer.
- Please ensure we are the right venue for your title—browse previous reviews to get a sense of what we’re interested in.
- If we are an appropriate venue, please email us (bjps@thebsps.org).
- Please do not send us a hard copy. However, if we do decide to review your title, we will only do so if you are willing to mail a hard copy to the reviewer.
- We cannot guarantee that your title will in fact be reviewed, since it is wholly dependent on the reviewer actually returning a review (or returning a review of publishable quality).
Your question not answered here? Let us know.