Changing Horizons for CBQ

It’s been a time of growth and change for the Communication Booknotes Quarterly (CBQ). This unique journal of annotations about contemporary scholarly books has happily evolved over the 53 years of its existence. CBQ, under the editorship of its founder, Dr. Chris Sterling, began as a series of mimeographed pages, which collated important new books about journalism and mass communication. Born in an age of precable network news programs and a proliferation of daily newspapers, CBQ is a digital-first publication. Its mission is still the same. CBQ aspires to curate short summaries and well-written, incisive longer reviews about topics and issues affecting journalism, media, and related fields. Under my editorship, I’ve been intentional about expanding the parameters of what issues affect the media. I’ve done this by expanding the categories of reviews, so we can examine our core disciplinary functions through the lenses of ever-widening perspectives, including global media, digital technologies, and social constructs, such as race and gender identities.

CBQ has also made even newer advances in the digital realm. With the expert guidance from the Taylor & Francis team, CBQ is a peer-reviewed journal. No longer are reviewers asked to submit raw copy directly to the editor for feedback, copyediting, and preparation for production. Instead, authors can submit directly to an online portal through ScholarOne and have their work blind reviewed by those knowledgeable about the subject.

This new process opens exciting new possibilities for scholars, graduate students and experts in specific ways.

• Scholars and content experts can write and submit reviews that follow CBQ’s guidelines at any time during the year. These can include books they select, or they can request to review a title submitted to CBQ from publishers.

• Graduate students who are studying specific related topics can submit a review and add to their peer-reviewed publications.

• Content experts, librarians and other specialists can participate as peer reviewers and evaluate material for style, clarity, and relevance.

Reviewing CBQ articles—which can range from 850 words to 1,000 words—is in my opinion one of the best ways to stay actively engaged in a virtual intellectual community without borders.

The reviews in this issue reflect a breadth and depth of topics and book titles. Read both the longer critical review essays, as well as the condensed descriptive essays. In the tradition of Dr. Sterling’s original vision for CBQ, we can all participate in an expanding marketplace of ideas by reading, sharing, and recommending the books included in this survey of impactful books.

In the meantime, keep reading!