Book Review Guidelines

Book Review Guidelines: Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology

Focus. Only reviews of books that are consistent with the mission of this journal will be considered. Therefore, the book must discuss social change work relevant to mental health professionals, psychologists, and/or activists. This includes social transformation toward social and ecological justice and peace that involves, for instance, advocacy, activism, research, policy formulation and implementation, training, legislation, and/or practice broadly defined.

Initial Screening. Authors interested in submitting a book review must first contact the Book Review Editor, H. Russell Searight (hsearight@lssu.edu), to determine the appropriateness of the book to the mission of this journal. The email should include the name of the book, author(s) [editor(s)], publisher, date of publication, and a 150-word statement discussing the relevance of the book to the mission of JSACP. Publishers interested in having a book reviewed should email the Book Editor the name of the book, author(s), and date of publication.

Requirements for Book Reviews

Style. All reviews should adhere to the guidelines found in the 7th edition of the American Psychological Association Publication Manual.

Length. The recommended length for a review of a single book is 1,500 words excluding references and a separate title page. For a review of multiple books, the recommended length is 2,500 to 3.000 words excluding references and a separate title page.

Content of Review.

  • Keep in mind the social justice and action systemic mission of this journal when formulating the book review and the relevance and interest of the book to mental health professionals, psychologists, and/or activists.
  • Do not write chapter-by-chapter summaries, which are often tiresome to read and of limited usefulness.
  • Reviews should be insightful, rich, and integrative, and should identify the strengths and the weaknesses of the book.
  • Reviews must situate the book into the wider context of social justice and action work, and as such, must generalize beyond the content of the book itself. In other words, what is the unique and significant contribution of the book to social transformation toward social and ecological justice and peace.
  • Discuss how the journal’s readership could benefit from reading the book.
  • Cite at least three articles relevant to the book.
  • Short paragraphs and sentences are preferred given the online platform of this journal. 

Title page. Submit a separate title page with the following content:

  • A title for the review (no more than 12 words)
  • Name of the book
  • Author(s) [Editor(s)] Names (e.g., Robin Green and Michael Sloan (Eds.)
  • Publisher Name, Location, Year of Publication, Number of pages (e.g., 230 pp.)
  • ISBN
  • Cost
  • Reviewer(s) Name
  • Reviewer(s) Affiliation

Evaluation of the Review. Book reviews are subjected to a masked (double-blind peer) review.

Submission Process. Submit a word document of the review itself, and another separate word document of the title page. To submit a book review, visit: https://openjournals.bsu.edu/jsacp. As a fully open access journal, all reviews are available free of charge on the JSACP website, and there are no submission fees.