Book Reviews

A conflict of interest exists when a participant in the publication process — editor, reviewer, CFA Institute staff member, adviser, or author — has ties to activities that could inappropriately influence his or her judgment, whether or not the judgment is, in fact, affected.

Policies on disclosure of interests:

• The editor, CFA Institute staff members involved in editorial decisions, and external reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could bias their opinions of a manuscript. Those serving in these editorial positions must offer to withdraw from reviewing specific manuscripts if they believe a significant conflict may exist that prevents them from providing objective editorial decisions or recommendations
• Reviewers must disclose to the editors any potential conflicts of interest that might bias their work, including all financial support received in connection with the work, when they submit a review. If the editors view these disclosures as material to readers, they will publish the information in a note to the review. Depending on the nature of the disclosure, the editors may determine that publishing the authors’ affiliations is sufficient to inform readers of the authors’ interests
• If the editor submits a book he or she authored for review consideration, the editor must refrain from any involvement in the review or acceptance process for the review. This recusal will be disclosed in any review where the editor is the book author. The editor must also take no part in the scheduling and placement of the review

Fairness in handling authors’ works and ethical standards for participants in the publication process help ensure the overall integrity of the Book Reviews. Participants must adhere to the following standards, operating principles, and procedures:

• The editor and CFA Institute senior editorial staff are jointly responsible for ensuring that proper procedures are followed in the review process and for making final decisions about the acceptance/rejection of articles. Reviews by the editor and CFA Institute staff are to be conducted in a timely and unbiased manner, and accepted articles are to be published in a timely fashion
• Editorial Board members and external reviewers are expected to complete reviews in an unbiased and timely fashion. A reviewer who is unable to complete the review — because of time limitations, bias, or limited experience with the subject matter — must notify the editorial staff as soon as possible so that the book can be reviewed by an alternate reviewer
• Reviewers are responsible for submitting complete and accurate information about the research performed, providing proper credit to other sources, and securing written permissions for the use of copyrighted material

Book Reviews adheres to best practice standards in the field of publication. When evidence of plagiarism, duplicate publication, or another breach of ethical best practice arises after publication, CFA Institute investigates the allegations. If the allegations are confirmed, readers will be informed in a subsequent issue.

The book review editor in coordination with CFA Institute staff shall select those reviews to be included in the Financial Analysts Journal (FAJ). Reviews published in the FAJ shall follow all guidelines set out above. Reviews selected for FAJ publication will be based on the strength of the books and the reviews judged on the criteria: content relevance, readability, and overall fit for publication. Other factors include space and availability in FAJ.