Business History welcomes expressions of interest to become a peer reviewer and a book reviewer for the journal. If your research is connected in any way to business history and you would like to be contacted to evaluate submissions to the journal or to write a book review please get in touch with us. We especially encourage emerging scholars and doctoral students to become reviewers to be more involved in publishing in the field of business history and more familiar with the academic publishing world.
The following lines explain the main roles of peer reviewers and book reviewers in Business History;
A peer reviewer is contacted once a paper has been first accepted. The main role of the peer reviewer, selected based on research specialization and experience in a certain field, is to assess and ensure that a submission is suitable for the specific journal. Generally, a journal editor selects 2 or 3 reviewers per article. Each reviewer is expected to provide a structured, succinct assessment on whether the paper should continue the peer review process or be rejected. The editor may find that the reviewers disagree about the quality and revisions that a paper should undergo. The journal editors are ultimately the ones in charge of communicating to the author/s what changes are needed. If the paper will continue towards the publishing process, the author/s might be asked to either Review and Resubmit with minor corrections or Review and Resubmit with major changes. Once the paper has been reviewed and resubmitted, along with a letter addressing the reviewers’ comments, the editor can either track the paper toward the publishing pipeline or recommend that the previous reviewers, or new ones, check and confirm that the paper.
Book reviews editors receive requests from publishers and from authors for their books to be reviewed in Business History. Next, book reviewers reach out to researchers that work in the field or in related fields. If a reviewer agrees, he/she/they will receive a copy of the book. The book reviewer and the reviewer will then agree on a deadline within the next few months. The review, once submitted, goes through the usual copyediting process.
A good book review presents the main findings of the book and evaluates whether the book is successful in demonstrating the main argument. Book reviews are also welcomed when they do not simply summarize the book, but when they point out to the contributions and significance of the manuscript within the most recent debates.
Taylor & Francis Group offers an array of resources to guide you in the process of peer review and book review:
5 tips on how to become a peer reviewer
The role of early career researchers in improving peer review diversity
Peer review is fundamental to the scientific process
If you are interested in becoming a reviewer, please create an account in Manuscript Central https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fbsh and get in touch with the editors-in-chief and book review editors of the journal:
Veronica Binda – Università Bocconi, Italy
Stephanie Decker – University of Bristol, UK
Adam Nix – University of Birmingham, UK
Neil Rollings – University of Glasgow, UK
Organizational History Network 