*Guidelines+for+Book+Reviews

GUIDELINES FOR BOOK REVIEWS 21. **__Use the standard protocol for your name at the end of the review__** (see Dr. Figueira’s book reviews on closed library reserve!). 22. Use your word-processor program’s spell-checker, but with care. 23. **__Proofread your final draft before submission__**. 24. For your own protection, back-up electronically and photocopy your book review before submission!
 * 1) Consult the photocopies of Dr. Figueira’s reviews on closed library reserve for general reference in preparing your review.
 * 2) There is **__no need__** for a separate title page.
 * 3) **__Use the standard protocol for bibliographic information at the head of the review__**; simply follow standard protocols (see Dr. Figueira’s book reviews on closed library reserve!).
 * 4) **__Do not__** embed a header in the text that is repeated on every page.
 * 5) The book review is to be typed, doubled-spaced, on a typewriter, word-processor, or personal computer printer with a dark ribbon in a 12-pitch font, preferably Times New Roman.
 * 6) Print early drafts as you work; in case of machine failure or similar disaster, you can at least prove to me that you tried to complete the book review on time.
 * 7) The book review will be graded on content, proper form, sufficient length, style, grammar, syntax, and orthography.
 * 8) Reprint corrected pages; avoid penned-in corrections.
 * 9) **__No bibliography is needed__**.
 * 10) **__No formal footnoting/endnoting is required__**; instead, any reference to the assigned text for a quotation or for evidence or for your own statements should be supported by a noted page number in parenthesis. Statements other than quotations should not receive page references.
 * 11) Direct quotation from the assigned text should occur very infrequently, if at all, and only when the author’s exact formulation is at issue.
 * 12) **__Avoid using statements with “I” or “me” as the subject or object__**. If you must - and then only very infrequently - employ the terms “the/this reviewer” as the subject or object of a sentence.
 * 13) **__Do not__** address your reader – or anyone else – as “you.”
 * 14) **__Do not__** use contractions – e.g., “can’t” or “don’t.” Acronyms are, however, acceptable if properly introduced.
 * 15) **__Do not__** use slang or colloquial expressions.
 * 16) If your word-processor program permits, do not skip extra lines between paragraphs. If not, then do not concern yourself about this.
 * 17) The first line of your first paragraph should be flush left to the margin.
 * 18) Always indent the first line of subsequent new paragraphs roughly five spaces.
 * 19) **__Vary the lead sentences in your paragraphs__**, especially the paragraphs summarizing portions of the book (see below).
 * 20) **__The content of your review should include__**:
 * a general lead sentence stating what the book is about; do not repeat full or partial book title in this sentence – your standard header (see item 3 above!) makes this unnecessary
 * a summary of each portion/chapter of the book
 * an estimation by you of the book’s general value as a work of historical scholarship
 * an evaluation by you of the effectiveness of the author’s argument(s) and conclusion(s)
 * an evaluation by you of the author’s writing style and the book’s organization
 * an identification of the book’s target audience (is it suitable for general readers? for undergraduates in general? for history majors? for history graduate students and scholars?)
 * a final sentence summing up your appraisal of the book

September 2016