Folklore Forum Review Guide

General Review Guidelines:

General Procedures: Folklore Forum is interested in publishing reviews from a range of relevant publications in folklore and ethnomusicology, from the academic as well as public sector. These include books, journals, films/videos, museum exhibits, catalogues, and festivals, among others.

Folklore Forum does provide books to review. Anyone may review a book, journal, film/video, or audio material, which then is kept by the reviewer.

Due to the volume of reviews which we receive, we cannot guarantee to publish all reviews which are submitted.

Book Requests: Please write folkpub@indiana.edu, with “Attn: Book Review Editor” in the subject heading. In the body of your email, please include your name, institution, and mailing address, along with the title you wish to review.

You may have up to two items to review at a time.

Unsolicited Reviews: In line with Folklore Forum‘s interest to provide a channel for reviews of many different kinds of media, we encourage unsolicited reviews, particularly of public sector work. However, we will only consider reviews on work published, performed, or exhibited within the last two years.

Deadline: We appreciate prompt reviews, but you have up to six months after receiving the material to complete your review. If the review cannot be completed for whatever reason, the material must be returned to Folklore Forum. Be aware that if you request two items at the same time, both reviews are expected within the same six months.

Length: Reviews should be approximately 500-1000 words including summary and criticism of the work. If you have interest in writing a much longer review essay, please check with the Book Review Editor ahead of time.

Content: The major purpose of a review is to communicate the content and relevance of a work. Your opinion, while valuable, is secondary to letting your reader know what is in the work as well as the author’s intent. In your review you may wish to consider the author’s theoretical stance, methodology, scope, content, organization, readability (quality of performance, soundtrack, shooting technique), conclusion, the relation of the work to past or current scholarship, the usefulness of the work as a bibliography or instructional aid, and to who the work might be of interest or use.

Format: All manuscripts should be submitted electronically as Word documents to folkpub@indiana.edu with “Attn: book review editor” and your name in the subject heading. Please use Times New Roman 12 point font and double space the manuscript. Include the citation for the work, your name, institution, and of course don’t forget to attach the review. Citations should appear at the top of the first page in the following form:

  • Book: Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives of Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology. Edited by Gregary F. Barz and Timothy J. Cooley. 1997. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xi+256, halftones, line drawings, index. $35.00 cloth, $17.95 paper.
  • Audio Recording: A Corn Licker Still in Virginia. Gil Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. 1997. Voyager Recordings CD 303. One compact disc, liner notes, definitions of terms. $16.95 compact disk.
  • Journal: Tabula, 2:2 (1999). Fejss Zoltin, ed. Pp. 3–185, articles, map, photos, reviews. $22.00 per year.
  • Web Site: About.com: The Human Internet, 1997 [Cited 16 October 1997]. N.S. Gill. Ancient/Classical History. Available from World Wide Web: (http://ancienthistory.miningco.com/). Pp. 20, mail, archives, links.
  • Film or Video: Quilts in Women’s Lives. Pat Ferrero, producer. 1980. Distributed by Ferrero Films. Film. 28 minutes, 16mm, color. $21.00 film.

In case of doubt, more information is better than less. Consult the Chicago Manual of Style and back issues of Folklore Forum for further guidelines.

Correspondence: Please send all correspondence concerning reviews to the Book Review Editor at folkpub@indiana.edu.


Blog Review Guidelines:

General Procedures: Folklore Forum publishes reviews of blog of interest to the fields of folkloristics, ethnomusicology, and related disciplines. Examples include blogs operated by/chronicling a particular museum or research project, a blog devoted to exploring a theme in these fields of study, a blog by a particular scholar or community of scholars.

Length: Reviews should be approximately 500-1000 words including summary and criticism of the content. If you have interest in writing a much longer review essay, please check with the Review Editor ahead of time.

Content: The major purpose of a review is to communicate the content and relevance of a work. Your opinion, while valuable, is secondary to letting your reader know what is in the work as well as the author’s intent. In your review you may wish to consider the blog’s scope, readability and quality of content, organization, underlying theoretical stance, and method of approaching its subject. You might also consider the frequency of updates, how the blog enhances understanding of new scholarship in the field, the usefulness of the blog as a portal to other sources of information, and the intended audience. You could also consider the presence or absence of bibliographic references, depending on the blog’s intent and purpose.

Format: All manuscripts should be submitted electronically as Word documents to folkpub@indiana.edu with “Attn: blog review editor” and your name in the subject heading. Please use Times New Roman 12 point font and double space the manuscript. Include the citation for the work, your name, institution, and of course don’t forget to attach the review. Citations should appear at the top of the first page in the following form:

If you have doubts on how to cite a work, more information is better than less. Consult the Chicago Manual of Style and back issues of Folklore Forum for further guidelines.

Correspondence:

Please send all correspondence concerning reviews to the Blog Review Editor at folkpub@indiana.edu.