American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 155, No. 11 : 1080
Copyright © 2002 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
BOOK REVIEWS |
From the Editor
In a recent From the Editor note, I discussed the arbitrary process by which books are chosen for review in the American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) (1
). I concluded my remarks with a solicitation for nominations of books to be reviewed and volunteers to undertake reviews. I now reiterate that invitation. In this note, I would like to describe why books are rejected.
As readers may not fully appreciate, AJE receives, unsolicited, a large number of books from many different publishers that think their publications may have epidemiologic relevance and deserve to be reviewed. Because we can review only a small proportion of these books, most are not selected. Generally, books are rejected for four reasons: they have no obvious epidemiologic content, they may have epidemiologic content but are too basic or redundant for our readership, they are methodologically rigorous but deal with fields too remotely related or unduly technical, and they might qualify for review but are rejected because of the arbitrary decision of your Editor, as described in the earlier communication (1). Here are a few examples from recent submissions:
- No obvious epidemiologic content: The Ecology of Wildlife Diseases. Edited by P. J. Hudson, A. Rizzoli, B. Grenfell, et al.; published by Oxford University Press.
- Too basic or redundant: Observational Studies: Second Edition. By P. R. Rosenbaum; published by Springer.
- Peripherally related but unduly technical: Statistical Methods for the Analysis of Repeated Measurements. By C. S. Davis; published by Springer.
- Qualified for review but "arbitrarily" rejected: The Geographical Structure of Epidemics. By P. Haggett; published by Clarendon Press.
The reader will no doubt take note of the fact that AJE is published by Oxford University Press and wonder whether this relationship has any influence over the selection or rejection of books for review. Thus, it is important for readers to know that the publication agreement between the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Society for Epidemiologic Research (the sponsoring organization), and Oxford University Press guarantees editorial independence of AJE. Editors are bound to scrupulously observe this status.
References
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Winkelstein W Jr. From the editor. (Editorial). Am J Epidemiol 2002;155:485.
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W. Winkelstein Jr. From the Editor Am. J. Epidemiol., July 1, 2002; 156(1): 93 - 93. [Full Text] [PDF]
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