How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

Book (and other media) reviews
How to write opinion (Letters to the editor, editorials, book reviews, and essays)
Doing other writing for publication

Textbooks. Reference books. Specialized monographs for scientists. Trade books for the public. Science abounds with books. And many journals, magazines, and other publications include reviews of books on science. As well as helping readers choose books to obtain or consult, book reviews can inform readers by sharing content from the books. They also can provide useful feedback to authors and publishers and help guide future authors. Reviews of other media—such as journals, electronic resources, and museum exhibits—can serve similar functions. Regardless of whether a book or other item is reviewed, the principles are much the same. Thus, guidelines for writing book reviews generally apply to other types of reviews.

At journals, book review editors typically take the initiative in recruiting reviewers. However, they usually are glad to have potential reviewers volunteer, either to be approached as needed or to review specific books. Of course, if you have a conflict of interest (for example, because a book is by a close colleague), you should not offer to review the book or accept an invitation to do so.

A good review should both describe and evaluate the book. Among questions it may address are the following (Gastel 1991): What is the goal of the book, and how well does the book accomplish it? From what context did the book emerge? What is the background of the authors or editors? What is the scope of the book, and how is the content organized? What main points does the book make? If the book has special features, what are they? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the book? How does the book compare with other books on the same topic or with previous editions of the book? Who would find the book valuable?

Normally, answering these questions entails reading the book thoroughly. For a reference work, however, sampling the content is more feasible and better reflects the intended use. If you take such an approach, consider drawing on your skills in research design in determining how to proceed. For instance, when reviewing a multivolume encyclopedia, you might evaluate randomly selected entries, evaluate entries on topics you know best, or both. You might also have potential users, such as students, read some entries and share their reactions.

To facilitate writing, take notes as you read or mark passages of interest in the book; tagging with self-adhesive notes can help you easily locate relevant pages later. Write down ideas for points to make as they occur to you. To help formulate your ideas, perhaps talk to someone about the book.

Although some journals have featured structured book reviews, with standardized headings for specified types of content, the reviewer generally can choose how to organize the book review. One format that can work well is a variant of the IMRAD (introduction, methods, results, and discussion) structure commonly used for scientific papers. In this format, the “introduction” presents an opening comment on the book, the “results” section describes the book, and the “discussion” evaluates it. No “methods” section may be needed if you read the book from cover to cover and did not otherwise test it. But if, for example, you systematically sampled content in a reference book, you would summarize your procedure in the “methods.”

A review is not an advertisement; it should not gush with praise. Neither should it nitpick or ridicule the writing (or the author). Rather, it should take a reasoned tone. By presenting information about the book and drawing careful conclusions, you will serve the readers of your review well.