Reviews submitted to The Library Quarterly are copyedited for conformity with press style as outlined in The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). They generally run between 800 and 1200 words in length. It is important that reviews contain certain essential information that is often available only to the reviewer. Reviewers are requested to include in their reviews the following:
- Page numbers (in parentheses) when using quotations. For example, “this is a quote” (33).
- Quotation marks around chapter or section heads, or any other passages, when these are referenced in the exact language used in the book.
- Authors’ full names, title, place, and date of publication of other works cited. This information should be incorporated within the text of the review if possible, rather than in footnotes. Footnotes may be used for lengthy bibliographical references or for explanatory passages incidental to the text, if their inclusion would, in the opinion of the reviewer, seriously disrupt the continuity of the text.
- Full name of every person cited for the first time
- Full title of organizations cited for the first time. If the organization is known by a common acronym (e.g., ALA, ASIS, IBM, etc.), the acronym should be identified with the full title in the first reference. [e.g., “
... the American Library Association (ALA)...
”]
- Reviewer's name and institutional affiliation—including name of division, department, or library—immediately following the text, aligned left. If unaffiliated, give city of residence.
- Parts of the book, including chapters and appendices, are not capitalized unless using its title. For example: chapter three, section two, and afterward.
- Serial/Oxford commas are used in the Chicago style.
- Historical present – use present tense verbs when discussing what the author says, argues, asserts, etc.
Formatting Library Quarterly Book Reviews
- Margins: Please set top and bottom margins to 1 inch and left and right margins to 1.5 inches.
- Spacing: All text, including offset/indented quotations and the heading, should be double-spaced. A single space should be used after all sentences.
- Indenting: The first paragraph of each section should be flush left; additional paragraphs should be indented.
- Page numbering of document: Top right corner of each page.
- Please italicize titles, words, or phrases as they appear in the final printed text.
- Quotations: All quotations of less than 100 words in length must be set in quotation marks and placed within the paragraph. Quotations of more than 100 words should be offset from both margins as an indented paragraph (block quotation) and double-spaced.
- Heading: The heading of your review should be styled as follows. Please be sure to include all information listed in the heading, some of which may require the physical book to complete:
- Title of Book. By Book Author. Place of Publication: Publisher, 2012. Pp. xxii + 306. $49.95 (cloth or paper). ISBN 000-0-00000-000-0.
- Please do not include a header or footer on any page of the review.
- Justification: left only.
- Additional rules: percent (%) and all Arabic numerals (excluding years, numbered lists, numbers with decimals, and numbers above 100) should be spelled out in full. Periods of years, such as “2009 to 2010,” should be written “2009-10.” Please number all lists, itemized phrases, or categories. Bullets may also be used.
Contacts
If you have further questions, please contact Rachel Gammons or Lindsay Inge Carpenter, the Book Review Editors.