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Book Review Essays

Click Here to Submit Your Book Review Essay
The Journal of Politics publishes book review essays on major books across subfields in Political Science.

Book review essays are published online, with a list of books reviewed and review authors appearing in the Table of Contents, along with a link to the reviews, of the printed issue.


Submitting Book Review Essays

Please submit your review essay using the original email invitation. That invitation includes a link to the Editorial Manager website that will allow you to upload your review. Since final versions of book reviews must forwarded to the publisher as whether Word document or a LaTex file (with the related PDF) we strongly prefer that you submit using one of these file types. Once your review is uploaded, it will be sent to your Editorial Manager reviewer page for your approval. This will only take a few minutes.

Style Guidelines for Book Reviews

The JOP follows The Style Manual for Political Science (2001 revised edition, published by the APSA) supplemented by The Chicago Manual of Style as necessary. The current author guidelines are posted at The Journal of Politics website, http://www.press.uchicago.edu/journals/jop/instruct.html?journal=jop. 

Book review essays for The Journal of Politics should be should be double spaced, using a standard sized font. All material, including long quotes, should be double-spaced. Please use minimal style formatting in your document. Review essays should normally be between 3,500 and 4,000 words.

The review essay should begin with a hanging indent paragraph for each book in the review that includes its title, subtitle, author/s or (editor/s), and publishing information in the following format:


For Single-Authored Books:

In Time of War: Understanding American Public Opinion from World War II to Iraq. By Adam J. Berinsky. (Cambridge University Press, 2009.)

For Edited Books: 

Why Not Parties? Party Effects in the United States Senate. Edited by Nathan W. Monroe, Jason M. Roberts, and David W. Rohde. (University of Chicago Press, 2008.)

All subsequent paragraphs should be indented. “Page numbers for quotations from the book are done in this matter” (140). There are no footnotes in Journal of Politics book reviews. References to texts not under review should be in parenthetical citations, with a reference list located at the end of the essay. 

Please type your name and institution, exactly as you wish it to be published, at the end of the review. 
For example:

John Doe, University of Southern California

Book authors and (University press) publishers are encouraged to send review copies to:

Jeffery A. Jenkins
Price School of Public Policy
University of Southern California
Lewis Hall 201A
Los Angeles, CA 90069-0626
​

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The JOP is the flagship journal of the Southern Political Science Association. Founded in 1929, the SPSA is dedicated to advancing scholarship in all areas of political science.
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