Éditions de l’Université de Bruxelles

Peer review procedure

Les Éditions de l’Université de Bruxelles (EUB) is an academic publisher founded in 1972 and affiliated to the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Disseminating excellence and very high-standard research is one of our missions as a university press. Therefore, our governance aims at ensuring the best quality of the contents we publish on different levels: the editorial board of the Press, which brings together the series editors; the Press’ President, who assesses every book proposal submitted to the Press; the series editors; the scientific board of each series; the peer reviewers.

At EUB, nearly all the manuscripts are published within a discipline-focused series covering (e.g. History, Political Science, Gender Studies, Religious Studies, etc.).

The procedure:

Every book proposal is submitted directly to the Press. It includes a summary, a table of contents, and the description of technical features. Our acquisitions editor subsequently sends the proposal to the series editor of the targeted field to obtain preliminary approval. In parallel, the proposal is also submitted to the editorial board.

Once approval secured, we will ask the author for the full manuscript (if/when ready). The series editor suggests a list of several scholars specialized in the topic who could peer review the manuscript. The acquisitions editor sends a blind manuscript to two reviewers. The reviews are generally provided within a period of 8 weeks. They are examined by the Press and by the series editor.

If the overall decision on the manuscript differs from one report to the other, the manuscript will be sent to a third reviewer. Reviewers are asked to assess the following aspects in the manuscript:

• the quality of the contents,
• the methodology,
• the structure of the book,
• the added-value of the manuscript to the field of expertise,
• and also the overall language and writing quality of the manuscript.

The reports are sent to the author, without mentioning the identity of the reviewers. The series editor also receives a copy of the reports.

In case the reviewers are very positive about the publication and do not require any further changes, the manuscript will enter production. When both reviews are negative, however, the manuscript will be rejected.

In case the reviewers request changes, the author submits a new version of the manuscript and, usually, addresses a letter to the reviewers explaining the changes that have been made. Once the referees and the series editor provide their approval, the manuscript can enter production.

It can happen that the series editors contact the reviewers directly to collect their reports. In that case, the EUB is kept informed all the way through the process.

To thank our reviewers, we offer all peer reviewers a selection of 3 titles from our publishing portfolio. Once the book is published, the reviewers also receive a copy.