From the Editor’s Desk

After five years as Review Editor, it is at once a humbling and an exhilarating task to begin serving as Editor in Chief of the French Review. Humbling, because Chris Pinet is a tough act to follow, and because one of the Editor’s main duties is to maintain a tradition of editorial excellence that stretches back to the founding of the journal in 1927. Exhilarating, because the French Review is not only one of the best scholarly journals in the world, it has a special place in French and Francophone studies. As an AATF publication, as the most widely read journal in the field, it is in many ways la vitrine of our profession. At a personal level, to be entrusted with the general management of such an institution is without a doubt the greatest honor of my career. By way of introducing myself, let me briefly say that I spent part of my childhood in Senegal and in Côte d’Ivoire, that I was later a lycéen in Tours, a student at the Université François-Rabelais, and a teacher at the Institut de Touraine. I have now been living in the United States for two decades. Having studied at the University of Kentucky and at Ohio State University, I now teach French film and culture at Western Washington University— which, since I am often asked, is in Bellingham (in between Seattle and Vancouver). Although this is my first year as Editor, there are already several people I have to thank. Wynne Wong, the former Managing Editor, was very helpful during the period of transition. As the person who now has the most institutional memory within the editorial team, Ronnie Moore, our Typesetter, has been consistently dependable and effective. Jayne Abrate and Ann Sunderland, respectively Executive Director and President of the AATF, have been very supportive. I would especially like to thank Chris Pinet, who during his years of service as Editor in Chief painstakingly maintained very high standards for the French Review, and whose advice has been invaluable. His influence will continue to be felt, since most of Vol. 84 and part of Vol. 85 are the result of his planning and scheduling. This is a good time to remind our readers, and especially those who wish to write articles and reviews, that work on an issue of the French Review begins over a year before its publication. Our journal has an excellent record in terms of evaluating submitted articles and replying to authors in a timely fashion. However, editorial and printing deadlines are set well before an issue is mailed to our readers. Since several colleagues have asked me about the process and the likelihood of publishing in the French Review, I would like to make two apparently contradictory statements: our journal is very selective (nearly two thirds of the submitted articles are not accepted for publication); and yet, more colleagues should try to publish (both articles and reviews) in the French Review. To continue in this seemingly paradoxical vein, there are advantages— and here I speak from personal experience—to receiving a rejection letter from the Editor of the French Review. The evaluation process is thorough, relatively quick, and accomplished by some of the best scholars in their fields. The (blind) evaluations which are sent on to the authors provide detailed comments and suggestions that are useful to those who wish to revise and resubmit their manuscripts. Most of the articles that actually are accepted also require considerable rewriting, as a result of the high level of quality demanded by our evaluators. Here again I speak from personal experience, having submitted fifteen articles to the French Review over the years. The numerous evaluations I received, which pointed 273 From the Editor’s Desk 274 FRENCH REVIEW 84.2 out weaknesses and called for improvements, helped me to improve my scholarship and my writing. As for the rejection letters, well, let’s say they build character (they can also, through the process of rewriting, lead to publications in other journals). I am therefore in a good position to encourage more colleagues to try to publish in the French Review. Our evaluation process, while it...