Running a book review journal like Metascience can be fun and exciting, but sometimes it is exhausting and discouraging. It is fun and exciting when our colleagues jump at the chance to review a new book in their area of research, read the book in short order, and write a thought-provoking review before their 6-month deadline. It is exhausting and discouraging when a respected colleague writes what we expect to be a really good book, which is published by a prestigious press, and we are unable to find a person working in the area who will agree to write a review for us. What is going on here? We do not know. We could survey our past rejectors, but we have a stack of what we expect are really good books that we need to get reviewed, and so we are going to take a different approach.

We ask you: Is there any reason to write a book review?

We think so. And we know that there are many academics who think so too. Metascience is a book review journal that has been running for more than 30 years. That is a lot of book reviews. So clearly many people believe that there are good reasons to write book reviews.

Academic careers can have many twists and turns, and where you are in your career can make a huge difference with respect to what kinds of work you take on. We believe that there are good reasons to write a book review no matter what stage of your career you are at.

Perhaps you are at the early-career stage. Writing a book review is a great way to get started with publishing. We know that publishing can be intimidating. Book reviews are shorter than articles and the review process is not as daunting. So, if you are an early career researcher and you have just read a book that you are really excited about, contact us about the possibility of writing a review. Get yourself out there.

Perhaps you are at a mid-career stage. You are super busy with your research, your teaching, and trying to finally repair the personal life that took a beating as you were putting all of your energy into getting a job, tenure, and that much-needed sabbatical. Writing a review can seem like just another task, but it is not just that. It is not a huge commitment. You read a book. You have things that you want to say about the book. You will most likely use the book for other things that you are working on. Write up the review and send it to us. Maybe you are currently working on a book of your own, or you have just finished writing a book. You are going to want to have your book reviewed, so why not review someone else’s book?

What about those at the late-career stage? You have probably written your fair share of reviews. Thank you. We love to get reviews from you. But let us say that you are a senior member of our community and you have not written many book reviews because you are not sure whether they are worth your time. We want to try to persuade you to consider doing a book review. You have a fantastic perspective on your field. A book review is an easy way for you to share this perspective. You can situate a book within your field in a way that those in the earlier stages of their career cannot. We are guessing that you could read the book and write up a review pretty quickly. Please do it. Remind everyone that you are still engaged with the field. You are a role model to others.

Finally, there is a reason to write a book review that has little do with where you situate yourself in your career. I am guessing that those researchers who respond quickly to our requests to review a book say something like the following to themselves when they receive our request:

“A new book in my area of research. Wonderful! I cannot wait to read it. If the book is good, then I can write a positive review, which is always a nice way to connect with others in my area. But if the book is not worth reading, then I can let the author and potential readers know this. Of course, I would not attack the person who wrote the book. There is no place for ad hominem arguments in professional reviews. We are colleagues and we are all in this together. But if the book has flaws, I am going to point them out. The person who wrote the book needs this kind of feedback, and potential readers need to know what they are getting into. Also, I want to see my area of research flourish. When I do my part in writing a review of a newly published book, I strengthen my community. If I want publishers to keep publishing books in my area, I need to let them know that this research area is important.”

If I have convinced you of the value of writing a book review for Metascience, please send us an email to let us know that you are available. Potential reviewers, please note that we aim to avoid conflicts of interest. As a result, we do not accept reviews from researchers who have one of the following relationships to the author of the book being reviewed: supervisor, student, or recent collaborator. We do, however, accept reviews from researchers who have a professional friendship with the author of the book. This is because it is not uncommon for academics to develop friendships with other academics through the process of critically reviewing each other’s work. But if you think that you would have a difficult time writing an objective review because of your relationship with the author of a book, then you should not write a review of their book. Moreover, if you have strong negative feelings towards the author of a book, and these feelings interfere with your writing a fair review, you should not write a review of the book. As I am sure most of our readers will agree, objectivity is one of the hallmarks of a good review.

In closing, thank you to all of you who have reviewed books for us. The science studies, and history and philosophy of science community is stronger because of you.