Notes for Authors of Compendium Review Essays

 
  The ISA Compendium Project is designed to serve as the best and largest source of information on international studies. Our materials will be available on-line, in hardback form, and potentially as individual section volumes as well. The basic input of the project is the Compendium Review Essay.  
     
  Each review essay should provide an immediate sense of the topic's intellectual and social context. Literature reviews should begin with the earliest treatments, and include as comprehensive a consideration of the topic as possible. We are looking to provide the widest possible coverage, and not simply the historical roots of the most recent literature. Current and future generations need to know what kinds of questions have been addressed, where to access that material, what questions might have been abandoned, and not just what kinds of questions are currently in our sights. This project was conceived to provide exactly that sort of coverage.  
     
  Review essays will also cover the most recent literature. How are we currently approaching this issue? What do the major epistemological, methodological and substantive considerations look like? Reviews might also undertake to ask about possible future directions, or critical gaps in current coverage.  
     
  Begin the entry with a clear definition of the concept or introduction to the topic. The reader should be able to assess the significance and importance of the entry within the first two sentences.  
     
  Each entry must include:

    (1) major intellectual and social dimensions of the topic

    (2) a comprehensive review of classical and older literatures

    (3) changes over time in the topic, and its current treatment

    (4) sufficient bibliographic material and links to important sources

 
 

Entries might also include:

    (5) an assessment of future directions in research, theory, and methodology

    (6) a critical consideration of important elements that remain unconsidered.

 
     
  We are going to ask that each individual who undertakes a topic to provide a manuscript in six months. There will be a short-form contract that lays out all the particulars, and a complete set of editorial guidelines will be available on several websites.  
     
  Information on available topics is available from your ISA Section, and can be found on the ISA Compendium Website ( www.isanet.org/compendium/ ). Additional information can be found at www.udel.edu/poscir/faculty/RDenemark/denemarkprojects.html , or by e-mail to denemark@udel.edu