Book Propsals

PCSE shall maintain an Editorial Review Board (ERB) for publications. The ERB shall function as provided herein. The ERB will look to outside experts to assist in the review process. These experts will come from a broad and diverse spectrum of people. It will include members of the Working Group on PCSE, and many others who are not in the PCSE Working Group.

1. The ERB shall solicit and review individual book proposals.
2. Individual proposals will be given an initial review by the ERB based on submission of a detailed and comprehensive Initial Proposal and plan for the book. This Initial Plan shall provide:
a.  a clear description of the project
b. a demonstration of the originality and significance of the project
c. an explanation of the fit between the project and other books on the market to demonstrate originality, 
d. contribution to the field, and market potential
e. an explanation of fit with PCSE book collection
f. a multi-jurisdictional or global focus of analysis
g. an identification of the market for the book with particular attention to specific groups and associations whose members will be highly interested in the book,
h. an estimated time table for completion of the project
i. the Initial Proposal shall be accompanied by a full c.v. of the author(s)

3. The Initial Proposal with be reviewed by the ERB and a response will be given to the submitting author.

4. If the Initial Proposal demonstrates promise for a potential book within the PCSE collection the submitting author will be encouraged to revise the proposal in accordance with ERB feedback.

5. The author will be requested to submit a revised proposal, a table of contents, and a substantial portion of the manuscript for the book. Manuscript requirements include:
a. mission of written chapters sufficient to judge the potential quality of the book and the fit between the manuscript and the proposal
b. number of manuscript chapters required may depend on the nature and scope of the work, as well as the past publication record of the submitting author
c. the manuscript will be reviewed for quality, originality, fit with PCSE, and for ability to appeal to a broad enough audience, including a reasonable potential to appeal to members of such associations as The Law & Society Association, the Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and Humanities, particular sections of the AALS (property, intellectual property, law and economics, real estate transactions, etc.), and others that demonstrate the ability of the book to reach an ample audience
d. PCSE books should be of a style and scope that makes for a scholarly contribution capable of appealing to a general academic audience including potential markets for academics, students, and professionals (for example the manuscript must demonstrate that it is more than an extended law review article and must be written in a style that is more accessible than the typical law review article)
e. the manuscript, revised proposal, and updated c.v. of the author shall be reviewed by members of the ERB
f. after review of the above listed submission items the ERB will do one of three things: reject the proposal, ask for a revised submission, or forward the submission to at least three experts for outside review of the proposal. The expert reviewers will be identified by the ERB and will be asked to review the manuscript on the criteria established by the ERB. A written evaluation will be requested. Authors will receive the written evaluations without identification of the evaluator and may be asked to provide a written response to the evaluations.
g. Assuming three favorable outside reviews, the ERB will then forward its recommendation and the supporting outside reviews to the Publishing Press, and work with the Press to address any particular concerns not otherwise addressed by the ERB.
h. It is anticipated that the ERB, using this process, will then be functioning as the editorial board for the PCSE book series with the Publishing Press. Thus, a preliminary and conditional contract of publication would be extended to the author, subject to a final manuscript submitted in proper form by the completion date, and acceptable to the ERB and the Publishing Press.