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Reviewing a book you were a referee for?

In our March "how can we help you?" thread, a reader asks:

Some time back I wrote a referee report for a book for OUP. The book is now out and I have been invited to write a book review. This would be easy to do since I’ve already carefully read (an earlier version of) the book and already have some thoughts about it, but for reasons I can’t quite articulate I worry there might be something unethical about it? What do people think?

Hmm, this doesn't seem problematic to me. Maybe I'm missing something? 

What do you all think?

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3 responses to “Reviewing a book you were a referee for?”

  1. book reviewer

    You should disclose to the editor who invited you that you were a referee for the Press. Some journals would regard that as a conflict of interest.

    Reply
  2. just a thought

    Does it feel weird if/when the book review is published, the anonymity of the referee report will be publicized to the author?

    Reply
  3. Circe

    Yes, I suppose you should disclose, just to be sure. But I think referees make good reviewers. As a colleague said to me once: refereeing a book, you know where all the skeletons are in its closet. So you’d be well placed to exhume them for readers.

    Reply

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