Book Review Guidelines

Review Head: This heading must appear at the top of your review in the format below.

Title of Book(s) Being Reviewed:The Aeneid
By Author, translated by Translator [if applicable]:By Vergil, translated by Sarah Ruden
Publisher, Year:Yale University Press, 2009
Reviewed by Your Name:Reviewed by J. Kates

Content: Before beginning the review, think about the reader:

  • What should the reader of the review know?
  • What does s/he need to be told?

Reviewers should also think about the purpose of the review: e.g., to introduce a new author, genre or form, to discuss patterns in the field or genre of which the book is an example.

1 Process: Submit your book review according to the guidelines mentioned on this page. A sample review is on the site to give you a feel for the writing style.

2 Delivery: Email your review to admin@whenwomenspeak.net as an attached Word document (.doc). Please do not send the text of the review in the body of your email, as this can cause problems with formatting.

3 Book review length should be between 750-1,000 words. Sample review on the site to give you a feel for the writing style.

4 Review Process and Approval: Your review will be edited by Kara Martin and submitted to site editors: Moyra Dale and Cathy Hine.

Minimum Requirements For Background Comments
  • Details of the book, genre etc.
  • Brief background on the author(s)
  • Subject and thesis statement of book, or summary of plot if fiction
Minimum Requirements For Critical Comments
  • What contribution does the book make to the field?
  • Is the Bible/Christian perspective handled well (if appropriate)?
  • What is the contribution to Christian perspectives / interactions with Muslim women?
  • What questions raised by the book remain unanswered?
Some Things Reviewers Should Avoid:
  • Long quotations
  • References to works / authors not generally known to most readers
  • No spoilers if work of fiction

Short Bio of Reviewer: Please also include a short bio at the end. A sample is:

Moyra Dale spent over two decades in the Middle East (particularly Egypt, Jordan, and Syria) with her family working in education, specializing in Adult Literacy (Arabic) and teacher training. She is an ethnographer whose research has included exploring adult literacy in Egypt and the women’s mosque movement in Syria through women’s accounts and understanding of their own lives and realities. Currently based in Melbourne, Australia, she writes, teaches, trains, and supervises students in Islam and cross-cultural understanding, with a focus on Muslim women. Moyra holds a PhD in Education (La Trobe University) and DTh (Melbourne School of Theology).

Some Stylistic Guidelines:

  • 12-point Times New Roman in text (double spaced) & 10-point in footnotes (single spaced)
  • 1 inch margins all the way around
  • Align text left margin (do not justify)
  • Bold, align left margin, section titles (do not resort to second level subsection titles if at all possible)
  • First page: bold, center title; double space; bold, center you name; double space; being text (no need to insert “Introduction” for the first section)
  • Full footnotes (do not use reference list) first reference, following Turabian or CMS and author & short title for subsequent references; no need for bibliography or reference list at end

References should be following Turabian or CMS

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