Many doctoral students, like me, start their publications with a book review. However, this is not to say that a book review is easy or requires no skills at all. Instead, it plays a vital role in training our skills in academic writing and boosting our confidence in academic publications.
In this blog, Ivy shares some insights into writing a book review for academic journals from her own experience.
By Ivy Zhuo
Up to now, I have published two book reviews and have one in progress, which I assume will be published very soon after the submission as the previous two. One of the biggest advantages of writing a book review is that it normally only requires the review opinion from the journal editor, instead of a peer-review process. Therefore, it usually comes out within a month, or as in my case, within a week.
Where to get the chance?
Two of the chances came to me through departmental emails. This happens usually when the journal editor or the journal is from your own department. The most recent one came from the book author directly. Although the topic of the book might not be exactly your area, it does not hurt to know a bit more concerning the broad scope of your subject, particularly if you are early in your PhD journey. Therefore, apply for the chance directly if an email comes saying a book reviewer is required!
How to prepare?
To start with, you will need a copy of the book, either in a paper version or an e-version. If a paper version is available and you are like me, a book collector and one who works more efficiently with paper, please do request a paper version of the book that you are reviewing. Normally, this request will be processed directly by the book editor, as was the case with my first book review. However, it is also likely that you are advised to request a book by yourself, as was the case with my upcoming book review. Second, you need to make sure you have the book review guidelines, including the length, content, format, and submission. If not, ask the book review editor for it.
Then, you will need to get a sense of the tone of the journal by reading some recent book review articles on this journal. Note down some specific points that seem unfamiliar or new to you and incorporate these points into the book review guidelines.
Last, read the book. By saying read the book, I mean, read the whole book in detail. If you aim to give a sound review of a book, it is always safe to go through it from the beginning to the end. Besides, it is always useful to write some notes if you find some interesting points in the book, including the places that echo your ideas or something you have read elsewhere, the places that inspire you, the places that confuse you, the arguments you feel doubtful about, or something just against your best judgement. All these points will become valuable when you start to write the book review.
How to write?
Finally, you have come to the part of writing. Although different journals might require something different, the content that a journal expects from a book review is more or less the same. It is likely that you are required to provide an overview of the content of the book and the evaluation of its place in the field. You can see now why making notes while reading the book matters a lot. Only when you have identified some interesting places in the book, can you discuss and provide evaluative commentary.
During your writing process, if you feel at a loss, you can also check previous book reviews on this journal and the guidelines again, to see how you may carry on with your writing.
When you finish the first draft, please make sure that you also proofread it. If you are confident enough, it can then be sent directly to the book review editor. If not, you can ask your supervisor to read it and give some suggestions. To conclude, it is not a daunting task to write a book review. However, it still requires some work to do it well. If you have not published anything yet, why not start with a book review?
Have you written a book review before? Do you think the above tips (would) help? tweet us @DC_Warwick or email us at doctoralcollege@warwick.ac.uk.
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