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Browse our Editor’s Columns for the latest discussion on running academic blogs and tips on innovative forms of academic communication.

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Editor’s Column: LSE Review of Books publishes its 1000th book review: here are the numbers behind the reviews

To celebrate LSE Review of Books publishing its 1000th book review since launching in April 2012, assistant editor Anthony McDonnell takes a look at some of the numbers behind the reviews. Identifying some interesting findings, Anthony talks us through the academic status and gender breakdown of reviewers, the different subjects covered, and the regional breakdown of the site’s audience. Thank you to all of our readers and reviewers, and to the publishers who supply such a great selection of titles. Read more…

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Editor’s Column: Using Pinterest to create reading lists: a step by step guide 

With Autumn well on the way, students and academics are preparing for the excitement of the new term and publishers everywhere are looking to attract our attention with a bountiful selection of new academic and fiction releases. Bringing these together, LSE Review of Books Managing Editor Amy Mollett talks readers through making beautiful reading lists using social bookmarking tool Pinterest. Read more…

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Editor’s Column: 5 ways to increase the readership of your book review (and get it seen by the right people)

After weeks of careful note-taking, contemplation through the early hours, and a spot of precision editing, seeing your book review published and shared online is a satisfying and rewarding experience for many contributors. Here are several small but effective ways that reviewers can ensure that their work gets seen by an even wider audience and by the right people, writes Amy Mollett. Read more…

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Editor’s Column: how do we encourage diversity in academic calls for contributors?

A recent call for new LSE Review of Books contributors seemed to appeal mostly to groups already over-represented in academia, despite the intention of the call to reach reviewers of diverse gender and ethnic backgrounds. Once the call was updated to explicitly encourage a wider selection of candidates – without excluding any group – the gender and background of new candidates completely shifted. Amy Mollett, Managing Editor of LSE Review of Books, discusses why semantics matters in academic calls and why we need more diversity in academic debate. Read more…

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Editor’s Column: How to write a book review: writing introductions

The words that launch a book review can often be the hardest to write, but there are many structural devices and stylistic choices that reviewers can employ to engage their reader, writes Amy Mollett. In the first in a series of posts on writing book reviews, Amy highlights some of the most interesting forms that LSE Review of Books contributors have used to attract the attention of their readers. Read more…

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Sound_WaveEditor’s Column: The Simple Guide to Academic Podcasting: Post-Production and Audio Platforms

In her final post on academic podcasting, Digital Editor Cheryl Brumley talks about post-production and beyond. She gives tips for the novice sound editor, discusses the variety of sound platforms available online. She also gives a list of podcasts that might inform and inspire your own audio project. Read more…

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LSE Review Books podcast CollageEditor’s Column: The Simple Guide to Academic Podcasting: Microphones and Recorders 

As part of the on-going series of Editor’s Columns on academic podcasting, Digital Editor Cheryl Brumley explores the technical side of the medium, arguing the range of recording equipment available makes it easy for the entry-level podcaster to gain surer footing and for the already confident podcaster to gradually take on a more challenging format. Read more…

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cheryl-interviewing2Editor’s Column: The Simple Guide to Academic Podcasting: Know Your Audience and Your Schedule 

Podcasts are rapidly becoming a regular feature of online research dissemination and university brand-building, so why do only a minority of academics use them to share their research? In the first of a three-part series, Digital Editor Cheryl Brumley demystifies academic podcasting, showing that it can be a labour of love or an inexpensive side-hobby, with a vast spectrum running in between. Whichever direction you choose to go is dependent on your audience, your interests, and your schedule. Read more…

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hangEditor’s Column: Using Google Hangouts for Higher Education blogs and workshops 

Much has been written about the ways that Twitter and Facebook can be used by academics and research groups as part of strategies to disseminate their work and increase their online visibility, but what else is out there? Google+ and its video chat service Google Hangouts offer enormous potential for academics and researchers to connect and collaborate, writes Amy Mollett, as she shares some of the ways that LSE Review of Books plans to use this new social platform. Read more…

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gender180180Editor’s Column: Achieving a gender balance in contributors is not so hard: tips for editors and journalists 

In some areas of online academic discussion and public debate, the under-representation of female voices continues to cause concern. As we enter 2013 and mark fifty years since second wave feminism, shouldn’t we have achieved a more healthy representation of women’s views and voices? Amy Mollett, Managing Editor of LSE Review of Books, discusses the steps that the team have taken to ensure near equal gender balance in their reviewers, and assures other editors and journalists that it can be done without too much fuss. Read more…

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This work by LSE Review of Books is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 UK: England & Wales.