I'm afraid I will have to disagree that this is new SHA book review policy
is supposed to be some good thing.

I have belonged to both the OAH and the AHA, as well as the SHA.  Their
membership dues are comparable, and in one case actually lower, than the
SHAs.

They each put out a quarterly journal of some 300 + pages, including book
reviews that comprise some 40-50% of the page total. The book reviews are
usually out 12-18 months after publication, which is really good by most
peer-reviewed journal standards. SHA takes 3 years?

So -

How is that the SHA puts out a journal of only 100-20 pages, and can't make
ends meet w/o cutting journal content?

Carl Barna


                                                                           
             "Vergil E. Noble"                                             
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             12/19/2007 09:53                                              
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A decision was made some time ago to publish them as pdf files on the SHA's
website, which shouldn't be all that obscure if you're a member. They are
assigned to particular journal issues, and paginated as if pulled directly
out of the bound version. This saves a considerable amount on printing
costs (over 70 pages in the case of vol 41, no 2), as well as postage,
which was part of the rationale. As a former reviews editor for the
journal, I can also say that--largely because of space constraints--it was
not unusal for three years to pass after the publication date before a
review would appear in the journal. That sort of time lag diminishes the
relevance of any review to the journal readership, and this new policy
gives one hope that they will come out in a more timely fashion.





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                      12/19/2007 09:17

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Mornin'  -

Did I miss something?

Does the SHA journal no long include published book reviews?

Are they only available on some obscure WEB site?

Carl Barna
Lakewood, CO