Requirements for Book Reviews in the Journal

Requirements for Book Reviews in the Journal Essays on Religious Studies

Requirements for the Reviewed Book

  1. The reviewer must read the book, which they are planning to review.
  2. The reviewer should have a high level of proficiency in the language in which the book is written.
  3. The book should relate to religious studies in a broad sense, addressing the study of religion or related academic (or popular non-fiction) descriptions of religion, religious phenomenon, manifestation of religion, etc.

Formal Requirements for Book Reviews

  1. The book review should range from 6,000 to 10,000 characters, including spaces (3–5 pages) in Microsoft Word, Times New Roman font, 14 point size, with 1.5 line spacing.
  2. The book review should be written in Ukrainian or English.
  3. The full bibliographic reference of the reviewed book must be provided, including the translator if applicable. For example: Gentile, E. (2006) Politics as Religion. Translated by G. Staunton. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford.
  4. An abstract of 130–150 words in English must accompany the book review, clearly highlighting its main idea.

Content Requirements for Book Reviews

  1. The introduction should discuss the relevance or fundamental nature of the book’s topic, including historiography of the issue, including Ukrainian sources.
  2. Outline the book’s purpose and the level of its realization.
  3. Describe the general structure and logic of the book.
  4. Highlight the most interesting points (e.g., author’s definitions or concluding theses, etc.).
  5. Discuss the author’s methodological position (approaches, methods).
  6. Address the writing style and the accuracy and consistency of the terminology.
  7. Analyze how the author considers previous research and uses contemporary foreign literature, reflecting the quality of the source base and materials.
  8. Describe the originality of the author’s concepts or positions, if any.
  9. Evaluate the adequacy of the book’s title and its correspondence to the content.
  10. Highlight errors in research results or interpretations, excessive material, plagiarism, or questionable statements. If plagiarism is identified, the reviewer should provide a comparison table demonstrating the borrowings.
  11. Comment on the presence or absence of academic significant conclusions ("knowledge growth").
  12. For translated books, the book review must assess the quality of the translation, including accuracy, stylistic correctness, and the adequacy of the original content’s representation.