Book Review Guidelines
Guidelines for Women in German Newsletter Book Reviews [PDF], updated October 2011

The Women in German Newsletter publishes reviews of new books by WiG members.

Our goal is to inform WiG members about new publications by WiG members and foster a critical discussion about feminist scholarship in German Studies. Reviews should offer a brief summary of the book’s content and a critical evaluation of the work in the broader context of gender studies and feminist theory.

Possible questions might include: What is the theoretical and analytical framework? How does the book contribute to feminist theory and/or the field of gender studies? Does it offer an interdisciplinary and/or innovative perspective? Does it include a discussion of non-canonical works? What is its classroom potential? Is the book clearly written and does it live up to its claims?

Positive and negative comments should be supported by adequate but concise evidence, errors of fact should be mentioned, but lists of spelling or typographical errors should not be included in the review. Reviews are published in German and English.

It is the author’s responsibility to bring or send a copy of their book to our annual conference where the book review editor will find a reviewer. Copies can also be mailed to the Book Review Editor:

Alexandra M. Hill
Department of International Languages and Cultures
University of Portland, MSC 78
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.
Portland, OR 97203

Reviews are published once a year in the Spring issue of the Women in German Newsletter. They are also available online though our website, and a link to the online reviews is sent out via the H-German mailing list.

Submission:

Please e-mail your review to the book review editor, Alexandra M. Hill, at bookreviews[at]womeningerman.org no later than January 15, 2012. Send reviews as a Word document attachment (any version).

Length and Format:

1,000 words MAXIMUM (excessively long reviews may be returned for revision), single spaced (also, please single space after periods).
Pages: 1-inch margins, 12pt. Times New Roman. No footnotes or lengthy quotes please. 


The book's author/editor, title/subtitle, series/edition, place of publication, publisher, year, pages, and price (if known) must appear at the beginning of each book review. Example:


Westgate, Geoffrey. Strategies under Surveillance: Reading Irmtraud Morgner as a GDR Writer. Amsterdam/New York: Editions Rodopi, 2002. 276 pp. ISBN: 904201458X paperback, $47.00.

At the end of the review, please type your full name and affiliation as follows:

Martina Caspari, International School of Stuttgart


Please be advised that the editors of the journal may make minor changes to the text of the review. Such changes are usually made in the interest of clarity, style, consistency, or brevity, but will not affect the overall argument of the review. The edited review will be sent back to the author for final approval. Since the editors bear the final responsibility for the newsletter's content, they must reserve the right to refuse (upon appropriate consultation with the reviewer) any review that is considered to be unsuitable or excessively tardy.

Reviews that are late or require extensive editing may be returned or held for publication in the following year's Newsletter.

Please note a change in the WiG Newsletter's policy regarding reviews by graduate students: only graduate students who are ABD are eligible to review a book for the Newsletter. In most cases, the book should be closely related to the student's dissertation topic.

Copyright:

We also accept previously published reviews if copyright is obtained by the author.

Alexandra M. Hill, University of Portland, Book Review Editor, Women in German Newsletter
Maria Stehle, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Co-Editor, Women in German Newsletter
Rachel Freudenberg, Boston College, Co-Editor, Women in German Newsletter