Frequently Asked Questions

General Content

What is the London Review of Books?

The London Review of Books is the largest literary magazine in Europe. It has appeared twice a month since 1979, and publishes in-depth reviews of new books in the humanities, as well as features (often on topical and political matters) and poems.

What subjects are covered?

Literature, History, Politics and Political Theory, Law, Philosophy, Classics and Ancient History, Social History, History of Ideas, Art History, Psychology and Psychoanalysis, History of Science and Medicine, Economics and Business, Cultural Studies.

Which areas of the academic community does this resource support?

The London Review of Books is appropriate for faculty, postgraduate, and undergraduate use – and, of course, for use by librarians as a collection development resource. While scholars and students use the London Review of Books to aid them in research for their particular subject, the magazine is also a unique resource for anyone interested in the history of British culture in the post-war period.

Who are the Editors?

All articles are closely edited and rigourously fact-checked by a team of professional editors, lead by Mary-Kay Wilmers who has been an editor at the magazine since it was founded in 1979. A distinguished Editorial Board includes Frank Kermode, Rosemary Hill, Linda Colley, Michael Wood and James Wood.

Who contributes to the London Review of Books?

The London Review of Books publishes only original material, commissioned from academics, journalists and writers, who are leaders in their respective fields and distinguished exponents of the art of the English essay. Contributors in 2008 included Frank Kermode, Quentin Skinner, Colm Tóibín, Andrew O’Hagan, Ian Hacking, Jacqueline Rose, Hilary Mantel, John Ashbery, Alan Bennett, Marina Warner, Terry Eagleton, Adam Phillips, Eric Hobsbawm.

How often is the content updated?

The London Review of Books is published 24 times a year and the online database is updated with each new issue as it is published. This is supplemented with specially commissioned online only material.

How is new content notified to users?

E-mail update alerts and RSS feeds signal when new material is published online.

How many issues are currently published each year?

The London Review of Books is published 24 times a year.

What is the average number of articles published each year?

On average 360 new articles are published each year. Each issue of the London Review of Books contains at least fifteen original review essays and features by leading academics, writers and journalists on a wide range of subjects within the humanities.

What additional resources are included with the Institutional unlimited site-licence subscription?

In addition to unlimited user access to each new edition of the London Review of Books as it is published, Institutional online subscribers have free access to the complete full text digital archive of the London Review of Books dating back to 1979 – over 10,000 original articles.

What is the ISSN number for the London Review of Books?

London Review of Books is a magazine with the ISSN 0260-9592.

Are URLs for content persistent?

Yes Persistent URLs are offered at the article and issue level so links from learning platforms, course packs and reading lists can be made with confidence.

Is there coverage by abstracting and indexing services?

The London Review of Books is indexed by many leading academic indexes including the MLA International Bibliography, and specialist book review indexes such as Book Review Index and Book Review Digest. It is also indexed by many other general services including OCLC FirstSearch, Cengage/Gale’s Expanded Academic ASAP and EBSCO’s Academic Search Complete. Abstracts for all articles are publicly available via search engines such as Google.

Can I get the London Review of Books via any of the full text aggregators like EBSCO, Cengage or Proquest?

No, the London Review of Books is not available via any full text aggregators.

Subscriptions

Do you offer unlimited user licence subscriptions for Institutions?

Yes, unlimited concurrent user licences are available to libraries worldwide by annual subscription. To find out more contact our customer services team.

Is it possible to have a free trial?

Yes, free 30-day trials are available to libraries and institutions considering an Institutional online subscription. Please email customerservice@lrb.co.uk to request a free trial or use our request form. Extended trials are available negotiated on a case by case basis.

Are discounts available to consortia and consortia members?

Special pricing is available for library consortia and for multi-site organisations by negotiation. For further details please contact customer services team.

How do I request an invoice?

An invoice can be requested by emailing online@lrb.co.uk with an official purchase order, and will be sent to you via PDF.

What currencies can I pay in?

Payment can be made in Pounds Sterling or $US.

What types of payment can I use?

Payment can be made via Credit Card, Cheque or Bank Transfer. Please email subs@lrb.co.uk for our bank details. (National Westminster, BMA Branch, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9XA A/C Name: LRB Limited Account No: 79424074 Sort Code: 60-80-07).

How do I request a receipt?

You can request a receipt by filling out a contact form, by emailing online@lrb.co.uk with details of your request, or calling us on +44 (0)20 7209 1141. The receipt will be sent via PDF.

What are the payment terms?

Our standard terms are payment within 30 days.

Is a paper subscription included with an unlimited site licence subscription?

A paper subscription is not included with the unlimited site license.

How can I find out about an Institutional paper subscriptions?

Institutional paper subscription information can be found here, by emailing subs@lrb.co.uk, or calling us on +44 (0) 20 7209 1141.

How do I claim a missing issue?

A claim for missing issues can be made by post, via email or by filling out the online claim form.

Access & Technical

What types of access are supported?

The London Review of Books supports UK Access Management Federation, IP range, Referring URL, Library card, Username and Password. See our Access Information page for more information.

I can’t use IP-based access. Can I still set up access for my institution?

Yes there are a number of alternatives, please contact us for more information, or see our Access Information page.

Is Library card access supported?

Yes Library Card access is supported. Please contact us for more information, or see our Access Information page.

What branding for my institution will appear?

Your Institution name will appear at the top of the screen when a user is logged in.

Is the London Review of Books OpenURL compliant?

Open URL links for reviewed book titles and London Review of Books volumes and issues is under development.

How do I gain access as an Administrator?

To be added as an Administrator for your Institution, please contact our subscriptions team. You may be asked for supporting evidence of your position.

Are usage reports available for my Library/Institution?

Yes usage reports are available. COUNTER is supported by the London Review of Books. COUNTER Code of Practice for Journals and Databases Release/Level 3 Journal reports (1-4) are available. The data can be downloaded from the Administrator’s area of the site. The data can be displayed in HTML and chart form and downloaded in CSV and Excel formats. You will require an Administrator username and password to access this facility.

How do I access my institution’s statistics?

The data can be downloaded from the Administrator’s area of the site. The data can be displayed in HTML and chart form and downloaded in CSV and Excel formats. You will require an Administrator username and password to access this facility.

I forgot my site Administrator username or password. How can I retrieve them?

To receive details of your username and password, please contact our subscriptions team at online@lrb.co.uk. You may be asked for supporting evidence of your position.

If our LRB site licence subscription expires in the future will we have access to all the subscribed years of the online issues?

Customers retain perpetual access to all online content that they have specifically subscribed to. London Review of Books retains the right to provide customers with the purchased online content in a digital medium for local hosting in the future.

Display, Searching & Content

Which browsers are supported?

The site should be accessible to general users using a variety of browsers but is designed to display and function correctly on the following browsers: IE 6, 7 and 8, Firefox 2 and 3, Safari, Chrome, Mozilla and Opera.

Does the London Review of Books support federated searching and meta-search?

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How is the content delivered, can it be printed?

Articles are delivered in HTML, can be printed out in a printer-friendly format, and e-mailed. Articles are delivered as HTML pages conforming to the ‘HTML 4.01 Strict’ specification with a content type of ‘text/html’ and a character encoding of ‘UTF-8’.

Can I change the way the content is displayed?

You can use our view options to change the way all pages on the website are displayed. Your browser must accept cookies to use these options (most browsers accept cookies by default). You can change text size, contrast and width.

Is the content covered by copyright?

All material on the London Review of Books website is protected by copyright law. No material from the website may be reproduced without prior written permission from the London Review of Books. You may print one copy of any material on this website for your own personal, non-commercial use. For terms and conditions of the Institutional unlimited user site licence please request a copy of the Licence.

What are terms and conditions of use?

For terms and conditions of the Institutional unlimited user site licence please request a copy of the Licence.

Can I request a copy of the Licence agreement?

Yes. Please contact us at online@lrb.co.uk to request a copy of the license agreement.

How do I cite the London Review of Books?

You can use your preferred referencing style but we have also included a citation-export icon at the foot of each article to enable you to add it to you preferred reference management tool.

How do I report that one of the links does not work?

Please use our feedback form to report broken links.

Is the site accessible to visually impaired users?

London Review of Books strives for the highest standards of accessibility, to the extent that the chosen content and functionality permit. Where possible, standards conform to level AAA of the web content accessibility guidelines, though they may degrade to level AA where conformance to level AAA would prove impractical. All parts of all sites conform to level A.

Is there a contributors index?

Yes there is a full index of contributors.

What fields are available for search?

Contributor, Article Title, Issue and Publication Date, Article Type, and Reviewed Book(s) Bibliographic Data.

Is the content classified by subject?

Yes, articles are classified by Subject, Keyword, Period, Place, and People. This is presented in a faceted interface that allows you to filter your results.

What Bibliographic data is available for reviewed books?

Bibliographic Data includes Title, Authors, ISBNs, Publishers, Publication Date, and number of pages.

I am having problems with searching, is there a tutorial?

Yes, there is a comprehensive searching tutorial which is also available as a pdf download.

How do I report an error in an article?

Please use our feedback form if you happen to come across an error.