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Information For Reviewers
Choice Reviewers
Choice reviewers are selected for their expertise and teaching experience within their subject specialties, and for their ability to write clear, concise evaluations. They are expected to maintain familiarity with their disciplines and with the undergraduate environment. The Choice staff updates reviewer information annually, to verify recent activity in the subject area. Choice editors work closely with reviewers to assign them materials within their subject specialties. Reference materials are evaluated by librarians working in a reference environment.
Becoming a Reviewer
To become a Choice reviewer, you must be on the faculty or a librarian at an academic institution of higher education in the U.S. or Canada. If you are interested in reviewing for Choice , visit the Choice Reviewer Web Site.
Choice Readers
Choice reviews target those seeking critical evaluations of books and electronic resources. Our primary audience is librarians and teaching faculty who select materials for academic libraries, especially at the undergraduate level, but we also review with an eye toward students--particularly undergraduates--looking for materials for research and to supplement work in the classroom.
Essential Elements of Reviews
- Overall evaluation of the title's quality & of its value to students, particularly undergraduates.
- Comments on the author's/editor's affiliation, subject knowledge, previous publication(s), writing style, and approach or point of view.
- Information about the title's scope and organization.
- Critical comparison with other works in the field (identify works cited with full bibliographic information--authors/editors, title, publication date). Your editor will check citations and add references to Choice reviews of titles.
- Indication of recommended readership.
- You should not provide a synopsis of content or repeat bibliographic details cited at the head of the review, unless any of these elements bears on the work's overall value.
- See sample reviews for examples of published reviews.
Special Kinds of Assignments
Edited volumes and collected works. Evaluate these in terms of how the whole contributes to its subject field. Since space prohibits commenting on each contribution, you should note one or two representative or outstanding essays.
Combined reviews. Occasionally your editor will assign you two or more titles covering the same subject. Your editor will provide guidelines.
Electronic resources. All the considerations discussed above also apply to reviewing Internet resources and CD-ROMs; for additional guidelines see Guidelines for Reviewing Internet Resources and CD-ROMs.
Language, Style & Grammar
Your review will be edited for length, language, house style, and felicity of organization and expression. Our basic editorial tools are Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed., 2003) and The Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed., 2003); we use other sources as necessary. To minimize editorial emendations, please adhere to the following guidelines and proofread your review:
- Write in active voice, in third-person style, and in language suitable for an informed, general audience.
- Avoid jargon, technical terms, discipline-specific language, acronyms, and nonstandard abbreviations.
- Do not exceed 190 words (reference reviewers have modest license to use up to 300 words).
Submitting Your Review
All assignments come with instructions for submitting reviews.
- Review forms identify the material reviewed and specify editor's name, telephone/fax numbers, and deadline.
- The standard deadline is five weeks from the date the material is sent out (query notices are sent as reminders about late reviews).
- Reviews can be submitted online or by fax, e-mail, or post. Please keep a hard copy of your review.
Declining a Review Assignment
If you are unable to complete an assignment (because of conflict of interest, inability to meet a deadline, lack of familiarity with material, material too specialized or marked by inferior scholarship, etc.)--or if you wish to suggest another reviewer for an assignment--please contact your editor.
After Publication
Tear sheets : Reviews appear in print approximately three months after we receive them. We send tear sheets to reviewers and publishers when the issue comes out; we maintain the original typescripts for 12 months.
Complaints about reviews : If we receive a letter challenging a review, your editor will send you a copy of the letter; likewise, if you receive a complaint, please send a copy to your editor. We have standard procedures for complaints, which include offering the complainant an opportunity to publish comments in our letters column and inviting the reviewer to respond in writing (both letters appear in the same issue).
Copyright : If you want to use something written for Choice, please contact Permissions. American Library Association policy supports granting permission for scholarly use. The Reviewer Agreement you signed enables us to protect both you and Choice from unauthorized third-party use of reviews.
Unpublished Reviews
Sometimes we elect not to publish a review and the reasons are various. Your editor will let you know if and why she decides not to run your review.
Questions?
Go to
Contact US to submit queries to individual subject editors who work in your discipline(s).
