Book reviews

Laboratorium publishes reviews of recent books in the social sciences as well as unduly neglected or underappreciated older publications, author-meets-critics forums, and analytical book and journal reviews. Laboratorium may also invite authors, editors, or translators to present recent or forthcoming books.

Types of reviews

New books

Reviews of recent books in sociology or anthropology on Russia or other post-socialist countries, as well as works in political science, history, economics, and other social science disciplines that have special theoretical or inter-disciplinary significance or are relevant to the subject of a thematic issue.

Archaeoreviews

Reviews of older books that were under-reviewed at the time of publication, remain under-appreciated, or warrant a fresh reading, especially if they are relevant to the subject of a thematic issue.

Review essays

Review essays may be wide in chronological scope, but must cover the latest publications in the field.

Forums

Critical discussions of a significant book by one or more reviewers. The author of the book will be given an opportunity to respond to criticism, followed by a brief rejoinder by each of the reviewers.

Recent and Forthcoming

Presentations of recent or forthcoming books by its author, editor, or translator, where the editors deem such a discussion to be of value to the scholarly community. Self-presentations will be clearly marked as such and published separately from critical book reviews.

The editors select books for review and invite reviewers. Unsolicited reviews may be accepted in exceptional cases. Reviews may be published in the print version of Laboratorium, its online version, or both. An effort will be made to have books discussed by reviewers based in a country other than the book’s author. Reviews written in English will in some cases be translated into Russian, but not usually vice-versa.

A standard book review should not exceed 5,000 characters (approx. 1,000 words), and review essays should not normally exceed 20,000 characters (approx. 4,000 words). Do not use footnotes. The rules for style and transfer of copyright are the same as for research article submissions.

The editors invite suggestions for the themes of future review essays and forums as well as comments on reviewing guidelines.

Send your submissions to Reviews editor Sofia Tchouikina at tchouikina[at]soclabo.org and to Managing editor Oksana Parfenova at oparfenova[at]soclabo.org.