Book Reviews and Review Articles
Modern Asian Studies does not publish short book reviews (conventionally 800 to 1,000 words). Instead, the journal is publishing longer review articles (typically between 7,000 and 14,000 words, although the journal maintains no formal word limit requirements). These review articles in some cases entail broad over-views of a particularly topical theme or area of study (for example, Alpa Shah and Dhruv Jain, ‘Naxalbari at its golden jubilee: fifty recent books on the Maoist movement in India’, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 51, no. 4, 2017, pp. 1165-1219).; in other cases, they may concentrate on a few select books while placing their significance within larger trends in the scholarly cannon (for example, Andrew Sartori, ‘C. A. Bayly and the question of Indian political thought’, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 51, no. 3, 2017, pp. 867-877).
Most of these review articles are solicited by the journal; but the journal will also consider unsolicited review articles. Regardless of origin, these review articles go through the journal’s normal double, blind, peer review process and they are given the same headline status as research articles. Authors who might interested in writing review articles are welcome to contact the Editor in advance to discuss the suitability of their proposed topics.
The sole exception to our policy of not publishing short reviews of single books is that the journal will publish extended reviews (about 5,000 words) of particularly important scholarly works written in Asian languages other than English, which might not normally be reviewed in an English language journal. It is expected that these reviews would include extended synopses of the arguments and conclusions presented in the books under review as well as critical appraisals (for example, Francesca Orsini, ‘Review of Purushottam Agrawal ’s Akath kahani prem ki: Kabir kavita aur unka samay’, Modern Asian Studies, vol. 47, no. 1, 2013, pp. 318-328).
All review articles must include a full bibliography of cited works at the end of the manuscript.
Books for review may be sent to:
Dr Norbert Peabody
Editor, Modern Asian Studies
Centre of South Asian Studies
7 West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DT