Scholarly reviewing and the role of choice in the postpublication review process

Abstract

Publishers of books for the library and scholarly markets use prepublication reviews to reduce the risk of publishing a book that does not meet scholarly standards or is not economically justifiable. Book purchasers use postpublication reviews to reduce the risk of spending their budgets unwisely. Despite problems associated with both sorts of review, they are integral to the processes of scholarly communication and academic career advancement. The role and policies ofChoice, a book review journal directed toward scholars and librarians of undergraduate-level collections, are discussed in detail.