KALFOU
Book Review Guidelines for Kalfou
Writing the Review:
-
Briefly summarize the book(s), including the range and nature of its content, its
main purpose or theme, the methods or devices the author employs to achieve the
purpose or develop the theme, and its conclusions.
-
Evaluate as well as describe.
-
Explain how the book relates and compares to other work on the subject and what
it contributes to the discourse on its topic.
-
Note the extent to which the author addresses appropriate issues of race, ethnicity,
class, sexual orientation, and gender.
-
Assess practical applications, such as teaching, creative endeavor, and activism.
-
Avoid quoting long passages from the book you are reviewing. Paraphrase when
possible.
-
Use language and style accessible to a diverse international readership, avoiding
jargon, technical terms, and references to texts that would be unfamiliar to those
outside specific disciplines.
-
Avoid using references and footnotes. If a quotation from another work is
absolutely necessary, please incorporate the reference into the text.
Formatting and Submission Requirements:
-
The review should be 1000-1250 words in length. Individual reviews and review
essays (especially on clusters of books) may be longer, subject to the discretion of
the editors. Please include word count at the top of the first page.
-
The heading for the review should include all the following elements:
Title by/edited by author(s)/editor(s).
City, state: publisher’s name, year of publication (as shown on title or back of title
page).
Number of pages (last printed page number).
Hardcover or paper, price.
If you are working from a publisher’s review copy, the publisher’s letter usually
contains all of this information if you cannot find it on the book.
For example:
The Shifting Grounds of Race: Black and Japanese Americans in the Making of
Multiethnic Los Angeles by Scott Kurashige. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 2007. 362 pp. Hardcover, $32.00.
Reviews should be double-spaced and submitted as a Microsoft Word attachment
by e-mail to:
Kalfou does not accept unsolicited book reviews. If you would like to propose a
book review, please send us a proposal at kalfou@cbs.ucsb.edu. Your proposal
should include:
- the title, author/editor, and date of publication of the book(s) you propose to
review;
- how you believe the book relates to the academic, artistic, or activist mission of
Kalfou;
- your qualifications to review the book (a full CV may be included but is not
required), as well as disclosure of any real or perceived conflicts of interest that
would make you an inappropriate choice to review the book; and
- two examples of other book reviews you have written.
Kalfou’s Commitment
• We reserve the right to edit reviews for style, conciseness, and consistency.
• We will send you a copy of the issue of Kalfou that contains your book review,
along with a PDF version of your review.
• Two copies of your book review will be sent to the publishers of the book.
• You may keep the book(s) you review.
Download the Book Review Guidelines for Kalfou in PDF format.
