Hi there,
I was curious as to what IR theory journals might be willing to publish a book review by PhD students, and whether or not they had a list of books eligible for review. Millenium has such a list, for example.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Don't waste your time. You won't get credit for a publication, so there's minimal upside. The downside is the possibility of looking sycophantic or pissing someone off.
But since you'll doubtless listen, here you go: journals have these things called "book review editors." Send them an email. Good journals don't have lists of books they want some random asshat to review. This is why Millennium does have such a list.
Reviews aren't considered peer reviewed work and I wouldn't divert attention from your own work to write a book review, but I disagree with ^ that they're a waste of time. If you're in grad school, there's something to be said for the experience of working with a journal editor. You should be reading books anyway and writing a review for publication will make you study the work more carefully. Plus you get a nice new book for free. Compared to facebook, it's not such a waste of time. I would say though, if you have some say in what you review, pick the most promising title -- I agree with ^ that you don't want to **** someone off with a harsh review or dole out undeserved praise.
Agreed, book reviews don't accomplish much in the way of prestige on your CV, but they do provide some extra padding as a an incoming first year grad student.
Agree with ^ and ^^. Reviews aren't worth much but they are worth something, however small, on your cv. Every little bit helps, and they give the appearance that you're making yourself part of the profession. Also agree they're good practice; when was the last time you sat down and read a book cover-to-cover and really analyzed it? You should be able to bang one out in a few days, so why not? Besides I remember as a grad student being asked to review a book for a journal (that my advisor conveniently edited); it was a good confidence boost to think that my opinion was being taken seriously.
I don't even write the book reviews to my CV anymore as I consider it a "service" to the field. I also agree that you cannot really write what you think of the book as a student- what are you gonna say? "Prof X of Harvard University comes up with yet another boring version of his 1970 research"? In short, you won't be able to express your real opinion, people won't take it seriously as you are a student anyway and you will be losing some time that you could be dedicating to your own work. There is a reason why they do not call PhD students to ask for a book review (or to be a discussant in high profile panels).
Last year I published a book with Cambridge and was named Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs, but I don't bother putting that on my cv anymore. CUP books are a dime a dozen, and State's budget is so small it hardly matters. As for book reviews, since I know that the fate of nations rests on their total veracity, I would never write one if I felt constrained in any way. Only the President should be allowed to review books as only he would never pull his punches so as to not make any enemies.
Look, we get it, you like book reviews. Others obviously disagree. It's a wide tent, man.
Another related question: how the hell do I get the chance to complete a book review?
Journal of Politics publishes book reviews by graduate students. I'm not sure if they maintain a book list, but you could contact the book review editor, let them know you are interested in reviewing something, tell them your areas of interest, and see if they give you something to review.
As others have mentioned, it doesn't count as a publication but it does show that you are involved in service to the discipline and that you are up on current work in your area.
Just make sure not to **** the book editor off by making up lies and venting on PSJR like that PSU guy.
oh right, ralston