HJAS does not publish unsolicited reviews. The editors, in consultation with members of the editorial board, select books and invite established scholars to review them. From February 1, 2022, invitations will come through the Editorial Manager (EM) system.
Publishers, please send copies of books for review, announcements, and catalogs to the Book Review Editor.
HJAS uses Editorial Manager (EM), an online manuscript-managing system, to invite, submit, track, and review manuscripts. You must have an EM account in order to submit to HJAS. To create or access your account, follow the instructions on the HJAS EM home page at https://www.editorialmanager.com/hjas/default1.aspx.
Audience
HJAS publishes in a multidisciplinary forum. We seek analytically rigorous book reviews and review essays that place specialized research findings in a broader context for scholars working across East and Inner Asia. Reviews that provide guidance to scholars teaching survey courses are a particular service to the field.
Review essays should use critical evaluations of one or more recent books addressing a common topic as a platform to discuss broader issues or emerging trends in a field.
Citation Practice
Citational diversity is a priority for HJAS. Studies show endemic undercitation of the scholarship of women and people of color (see, for example, this Inside Higher Ed op-ed and this annotated bibliography of gender bias in academia from LSE scholars). In that spirit, HJAS asks reviewers to consider whether authors have engaged with all relevant scholarship, including work by women and in Asian languages.
Conflicts of Interest
While we recognize that review authors often have professional relationships with authors of books under review, we do strive to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. Thus, as a matter of policy, we do not ask current colleagues or former teachers or students of a book’s author to review a book. We cannot, however, detect all potential conflicts. With rare exceptions (usually in very small fields), we prefer that scholars who had any role in the publication process, including prepublication manuscript reading or vetting, or who have a close personal relationship with the book’s author recuse themselves.
Please do not agree to write a review for HJAS if you have already agreed to review a book for another journal.
Reviewers should maintain the spirit of objectivity inherent in the review process. Please avoid making public statements, commentaries, or electronic media posts or comments about a book you have agreed to review, particularly if they might call your objectivity into question.
If you have any questions about a possible conflict of interest, please contact the Book Review Editor.
Length
Review essays should not exceed 4,000 words, and book reviews should not exceed 1,500 words. In all reviews, notes should be minimal (under 20 percent).
Do not include any figures or tables in the main manuscript file; they must be in separate files. See the HJAS Style Sheet for detailed instructions.
Figures and Tables
HJAS publishes figures—including art illustrations, genealogies, maps, and the like—and tables that facilitate understanding a review author’s analysis, but authors should be aware that we publish color figures only in the online version of HJAS; our print version allows black-and-white or grayscale figures.
Collect all figures together in a single MS Word file; each figure must have a number, title, caption, and source. Collect all tables together in a single MS Word file; each table must have a number, title, and source. There should be a callout to each figure and table (by number) in the main text.
Because book reviews and review essays are not subject to peer review, review authors must submit figure and table files that meet all our publication specifications, including documentation of permissions. See the HJAS Requirements for Publication of Figures and Tables.
Style & Formatting
Please review our Style Sheet closely before submitting your manuscript to ensure it is formatted properly. The style sheet explains our standards for grammar and style; formatting of texts, notes, figures, and tables; romanization of Asian languages; use of Asian characters; and citation of sources. We will return manuscripts that do not adhere to our Style Sheet.
Authors are responsible for providing complete citations for all works referenced and quoted, including the book(s) under review. Review authors should insert into the main text all page references to the book under review. If more than one book is under review, use a short-form of the book title (or author name) to distinguish in-text page references. Use notes for all other references. Our Style Sheet provides sixty-five sample citations, including sources in English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and several other Asian languages.
Submission of an Invited Review
You must submit your invited review using Editorial Manager at the HJAS EM home page: https://www.editorialmanager.com/hjas/default1.aspx.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does HJAS accept submissions of unsolicited book reviews?
No. HJAS reviews a limited number of books in depth, so our editorial team takes great care in selecting books for review. Moreover, because HJAS book reviews are not peer-reviewed, we solicit reviewers from established scholars in the appropriate fields.
Does HJAS publish translations or book reviews about translated works?
We do not publish translations of literature or scholarly works. We very occasionally publish book reviews of translated works, but only when the original work is seminal to one or more scholarly fields.
Do authors of HJAS articles and book reviews need to acknowledge HJAS in any reprints or excerpts?
Yes. Even if you hold the copyright (if the article or book review was published on or after March 1, 1989), our contract agreement requires you to cite the original publication in HJAS whenever you republish material from HJAS.
What if I have another question?
Please contact hjas@fas.harvard.edu.