Reviews of Peer-Reviewed Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences
We give you the scuttlebutt on academic journals—aiding you in selecting the right journal for publication—in reviews that are sometimes snarky, sometimes lengthy, always helpful. Written by Princeton University graduate students and Wendy Laura Belcher.
The French Review
For those interested in publishing articles on French and Francophone literature, cinema, culture, linguistics, and pedagogy (e.g., original lesson plan ideas).
The official journal of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), The French Review publishes around 50 original articles a year, plus a large number of reviews. If you are passionate about teaching French and discussing recent pedagogical trends, this is the perfect journal for you. Most issues of the journal contain the following sections: literature, film, “society and culture,” and “focus on the classroom.” You will often find interviews and “dossiers pédagogiques” as well. Note that the journal does not publish many articles about French linguistics, but this may be due to a lack of submissions in that category.
Graduate students may have a difficult time publishing articles in the journal, as almost all articles printed over the past 5 years were written by senior faculty or language lecturers. The journal publishes an enormous number of reviews (about 60 per issue), however. So students might have more success by contacting the reviews editors and publishing in the reviews section first. Reviews are listed under the following categories: “methods and materials,” “film,” “literary history and criticism,” “society and culture,” “creative works,” and “linguistics.” For reviews of books, films, or teaching materials, reviewers should contact the appropriate Review Editor before writing a review.
In terms of themes and trends, over the past ten years, the journal has published a significant number of articles about the “tu” vs “vous” debate (Which “you” should professors use to address students?) and many articles about gender in the classroom. Articles about the gender neutral pronoun “iel” and l’écriture inclusive may be published soon if this trend continues. While many articles about cultural differences, social justice movements, race, and gender in the Francophone world appeared over the past five years, surprisingly few were about class issues. Interestingly, almost all of the lesson plans published involve teaching films to students. Few articles discuss contemporary Francophone music or plays and their incorporation in the classroom. There are more articles about social justice issues and the environment than ever before.
The Introductions to articles vary depending on their “category.” If an article is about a novel or film, its introduction tends to be about 4 paragraphs long. If the article falls under the “Focus on the Classroom” category, its introduction is typically shorter (1 or 2 paragraphs). French articles often include a mention in the introduction of “un plan”: “Dans cet article, je présenterai…”; puis…; “Enfin, je présenterai…” Using “nous verrons” and other “we shall see”-type formulations is perfectly acceptable. Articles written in French often include traditional “problématiques” toward the end of the intro. These articles’ theses are often less explicit that those of the English-language articles. Authors who hope to publish articles about pedagogical practices should clearly state their research questions, methodology, results, and implications (using subsections/subheadings). The more “scientific” the article, the clearer its claim to significance. Articles about literature, culture, film etc. do not usually include pithy theses/claims to significance.
Most research articles about literature and film include subheadings and clear thesis statements or problématiques in their introductions. They include about 10-15 endnotes and around 20 citations. Articles about pedagogy and classroom practices are formatted like social science articles, with a methods section, appendices, etc.
The “dossiers pédagogiques” fall into one of the aforementioned categories and are aimed at students of a certain level (B1, B2…) of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. You can access all of the previous dossiers on the journal’s site here. Articles about pedagogy uses quantitative methods (lit reviews, surveys, experiments…), while articles about other topics tend to be more theoretical.
Every two years, the journal publishes a special issue. In 2021, it published “L’enseignement aux temps de la pandémie,” and its 2023 special issue is entitled “Enseigner la diversité de la France.”
Bibliography (articles in the journal consulted for this review)
La littérature contemporaine pour la jeunesse: une ressource pertinente pour l’oral en classe de langue?
Pronunciation in the L2 French Classroom: Student and Teacher Attitudes
“Érostrate” de Jean-Paul Sartre: de la contingence existentielle à la violence démentielle”””
Useful Information for Submission
Word count: 7,000 words or less
Issues per year: Four
Articles per year: 50
Current issue: Volume 95.4
Citation style: MLA (Modern Language Association of America) style
Typical number of citations per article: 30 or less
Typical number of endnotes per article: 10 or less
Abstracts length (if required): Yes, 100 words or less
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Submission method: By email (still)
Authors: Must be a member to submit and publish an article there and also to publish there
Online? both online and in print
Relevant editor: Carine Bourget
SJR Impact Factor: .5 or under
JCR Impact Factor: 0.131
H5-index Impact Factor: 4
Upcoming special issues: Enseigner la diversité de la France
Submission guidelines: Guide for Authors
About Wendy Belcher
