Review Contents and Style Guide

Contents of Reviews

A review of a mathematical work should give a brief and clear account of its contents. Reviews of papers in applied mathematics should concentrate on the mathematical aspects. Reading the review is not intended to be a substitute for reading the original paper; the primary purpose is to help the user to decide whether he or she needs to read the original. Therefore, the main results of the paper should be briefly described, preferably in a non-technical manner. You as a reviewer have, in principle, no responsibility for checking the correctness or novelty of the original, but if you do discover that it contains a significant error or that it overlaps significantly with other work, you should mention that fact. If you come to the conclusion that the summary or another part of the paper's text describes the contents in the best way, you may decide to take such a text as (part of) your review. In this case, please inform us accordingly, clearly indicating which part of your review is directly drawn from the paper.

Style and Format

Language
Reviews should preferably be written in English. However, German or French are accepted in exceptional cases. They should be clear in style and consistent with the standards of usage in the language chosen. A reader with a moderate knowledge of the language in question should be able to understand the review. In case of a translated title of the original, please check its correctness.

Format
The review may vary in length from a few lines to a more elaborate text, depending particularly on your evaluation of the importance of the work you review.
Please do not include tables, large diagrams, drawings or formulas of minor importance. Please use alternative fonts (bold, italics etc.) only if necessary, e.g. in formulas or for highlighting the authors of cited publications (see below).

References
References to related work are always appreciated. When giving references, please be always as specific and accurate as possible so that the references can be identified unambiguously.

Example 1: journal article (Zbl 1170.35066)

Example 2: book (Zbl 0493.14028)

You may look up the Zbl number in our MATH Database.

For a more detailed exposition of Zentralblatt's citation standards please go to our
Citation Manual in A4 or in Letter format.

Proof reading
Please note that we now handle some 120,000 items a year and we cannot send proofs; it is thus extremely important that your manuscript is free from errors (especially if somebody else has typed it).

Subject Classification

Today, most of the published articles come with one or more classifications according to the Mathematics Subject Classification 2010.
Please check carefully whether the preassigned classifications are correct or whether you would suggest to classify the paper in a different way.

Keywords

Please describe the publication's content also by a set of keywords that give a quick outline of the subjects covered. If there are preassigned keywords, you may also use (some of) them if you consider them suitable.

Please read also: Organizational Aspects of the Reviewing Task, Legal Matters and Benefits and Privileges for Reviewers.

For a printable version please go to our complete Guide for Reviewers in A4 or in Letter format.