The Park Library
School of
Journalism and Mass Communication
University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
International Journalism
Research
Prof.
Anne
Cooper-Chen
JOMC 846
Prepared by Barbara Semonche
Park Librarian, April 2008
Book Review Guidelines
General Instructions: The idea of a book review is not to repeat what the book says or describe it. Rather, a review analyzes the book and critiques it. Examine the thesis and arguments, use of evidence, contribution to the field, readability for its intended audience, and general usefulness.
These are the questions you can ask as you read and address in your review:
- What is the purpose and thesis of the book? Look at the Preface or
Introduction to find out what the author set out to do and why.
- What are the themes of the book? Look at the Table of Contents as
well as the Introductory material to find out what key ideas and issues the
author addresses.
- What is the author's point of view? Is there an unstated bias, or
does the author clearly define the point of view or approach the book will
take? Examine the thesis and arguments, as well as the handling of evidence,
to see what that approach is.
- What sources does the author use and how effectively does the book
use evidence to support arguments? Look particularly for primary source
evidence.
- Who is the audience and how well does the author write in a style and
with an organization that speaks to that audience?
- What structure, organization, and supporting aids does the book have
that make it effective? Look at notes, bibliography, maps, charts, diagrams,
etc.
- For the purposes of this class, how does the book contribute to our understanding of the Crusades? How does it fit in with other things we have read? . . . .
Some warnings:
- Don't describe the book's contents, unless the description is
subsumed under one of the questions above. For example, a listing of the
chapters might serve as evidence of a good organization.
- Don't adopt the author's voice as your own. The review should be in
your voice, analyzing the author. For example, do not write "The four main
motives for the Crusades were...". Do write: "The author argues that the
four main motives for the Crusades were..." (then tell me what you think of
the argument).
- Don't quote excessively from the book. Use quotes only when you want
to give the exact flavor of the author's work or when you want to comment on
style.
- Don't criticize the author for what s/he didn't intend to do. No book
can cover everything. Judge the book by its stated aims, and how well it
fulfills them.
- Don't reject a book on style or audience just because you don't fit the profile of the target audience. Recognize that scholars write books for different needs and audiences and evaluate it accordingly.
Book Review Essay structure
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Columbia Law Review book review essay sample
Scholarly Book Review instruction guides
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Note: For most scholarly journals, selection of titles to be reviewed and assignments to specific reviewers are made by the editors, so unsolicited reviews should not be submitted without a prior query.
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Note: To read full text of book reviews in selected scholarly journals, search the database "Communication & Mass Media Complete" in http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/eid/
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The American Historical Review [Note: (from the book review editor): We expect reviewers to write thoughtful and engaging critiques that explain the basic argument of a book, assess its strengths and weaknesses, and place the book in its historiographical contex. And we would like them to do so in a way that addresses readers outside the bounds of their particular specialty.]
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Book Review Guidelines (5 pages & includes a check list for organization)