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Terms & Conditions

Centre for the Review of Academic Books (CRAB) Last updated: [22 July 2026]

1. Who we are

The Centre for the Review of Academic Books ("CRAB", "the Centre", "we", "us") is an independent, not-for-profit academic initiative founded and directed by Byron Hyde. CRAB is not currently incorporated as a company or charity — these terms are a personal agreement between you (the "Participant", "you") and Byron Hyde, trading as CRAB, governed by the law of England and Wales.

2. Acceptance of these terms

Submitting the application form, including ticking "I agree to the terms & conditions," is an application to join a programme, not an automatic acceptance of your place. An agreement between you and CRAB is formed only once we confirm, by email, that you have a place on a programme. These terms apply from that point.

3. Eligibility

CRAB's programmes are aimed at early career researchers (for example, postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early career academics). We reserve the right to decline an application, or to ask for more information, if we're not satisfied the eligibility criteria are met.

4. The programmes

We offer two programmes, described in full on our About page:

  • Standard Programme (£100): one book review, co-written with a mentor, who leads on placing the review with a journal.

  • Expanded Programme (£150): two book reviews where the first as in the Standard Programme, the second as lead author, with the mentor in a supporting role.

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Programme content, format, and mentor pairing are at CRAB's discretion, and may be adjusted to fit a participant's confidence level, availability, and the chosen book.

5. Fees, waivers, and institutional agreements

  • Fees are £100 (Standard) or £150 (Expanded), payable [on confirmation of your place, by bank transfer / via the payment link provided.

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  • Some participants are covered by an institutional agreement and pay no fee. Please see our Projects page for current agreements.

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  • Fee waivers for the Standard Programme are available on request, subject to providing a supporting letter from your supervisor or head of department and a personal statement, as described on our About page. Waivers are granted at CRAB's discretion, based on demonstrated need and available funds.

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  • All fees go toward the Centre's running costs (banking fees, hosting, the Operations Manager's time, and small mentor honoraria). CRAB is run on a non-profit basis and does not distribute a surplus.

6. Cancellation and refunds

See our Refund Policy for full details. In summary:

  • If you withdraw before being paired with a mentor, you'll receive a full refund, less any payment processing fees already incurred.

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  • If you withdraw after being paired with a mentor but before your first meeting, you'll receive a [75%] refund.

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  • If you withdraw after work on the review has begun, refunds are considered case by case and are not guaranteed, given the mentor time already committed.

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  • If CRAB is unable to provide your place (for example, no suitable mentor is available), you'll receive a full refund.

7. No guarantee of publication

CRAB is not a "pay to publish" service. Your mentor will use their experience and contacts to try to place your review with an academic journal, but journal acceptance is entirely at the editor's discretion, and CRAB cannot guarantee that your review will be published, which journal will publish it, or how long the process will take. Participation fees cover the mentoring and administrative support CRAB provides, not a guaranteed outcome.

8. Your responsibilities as a participant

By taking part, you agree to:

  • respond to your mentor and the Operations Manager in a reasonably timely way, and engage genuinely with the agreed schedule;

  • submit only your own original work, free of plagiarism, and disclose any conflicts of interest (for example, a personal or professional connection to the book's author);

  • comply with the academic integrity and ethics expectations of your home institution and the publishing journal;

  • treat your mentor and CRAB staff with courtesy and respect.

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We reserve the right to end your participation, with limited or no refund depending on the circumstances, if these responsibilities are seriously or repeatedly breached.

9. Mentors

Mentors are volunteers or receive a small honorarium; CRAB does not guarantee a particular mentor's availability for the full duration of the programme, and may, where necessary, offer to reassign you to another mentor.

10. Intellectual property and authorship

You retain authorship of your review. Copyright and licensing terms for the published review are a matter between you (and any co-author) and the journal that publishes it, under that journal's standard publishing agreement. CRAB will only feature your name, your review, or a testimonial from you on its website or social media with your separate, specific agreement.

11. Confidentiality

Please treat unpublished drafts, discussions, and correspondence connected with your review as confidential until the review is published.

12. Limitation of liability

We provide the programme with reasonable care and skill, but as an unincorporated initiative, CRAB's liability (that of Byron Hyde personally, trading as CRAB) for any loss connected with your participation is limited to the fees you have paid, except where the loss arises from death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or from fraud; liability for which is never excluded. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, including loss of academic opportunity, arising from a journal's decision not to publish your review, or from delays outside our reasonable control.

13. Data protection

Our use of your personal data is described in our [Privacy Notice], which forms part of these terms.

14. Complaints

If something's gone wrong, please contact Byron Hyde, Director, at b.hyde@bangor.ac.uk in the first instance, and we'll do our best to resolve it directly.

15. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction over any dispute, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer protections available to you under the law of the country in which you live, if different.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time; the version in force at the time you apply is the one that governs your participation, unless we agree otherwise with you in writing.

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