Writing a Book Review for an Academic Journal: Summarise Less, Evaluate More

A doctoral student agrees to write a 1,200-word review for a journal in her field. Her draft has eight paragraphs, each summarising a chapter, ending with “a useful book for anyone interested in the topic”. The editor returns it with a note: “We need to know what the book contributes, whether its argument holds, and who should read it. Please cut the summary to a third.”

The academic book review is a genuinely useful genre. It helps colleagues decide whether a book deserves their time, and it lets you join your field’s conversation under your own name. For newcomers it is also good practice in reasoned evaluation within a tight word limit.

How to get a review commissioned

• Check the review sections of journals in your field: which ones run reviews, how long they are and what kinds of books they cover.
• Look for books-received lists: many journals publish the titles publishers have sent, sometimes with an invitation to volunteer.
• Email the book review editor: introduce yourself in two sentences, name the book you would like to review (published in the last year or two), explain why you are qualified to assess it and confirm you have no conflict of interest.
• Ask before writing. Most journals only publish commissioned reviews and do not accept unsolicited ones.

Conflicts of interest are easily overlooked in reviewing: do not review books by your supervisor, co-authors, departmental colleagues or direct rivals. If unsure, ask the editor.

Reading to review is different from reading to learn

When reading to review, you need to answer five questions, and it helps to take notes under exactly those headings as you go:

1. What is the author trying to do? (Look in the introduction for aims, questions and intended readers.)
2. What is the central argument, in two or three sentences?
3. Do the evidence and methods support that argument?
4. Where does the book sit relative to other work on the topic?
5. Who will benefit from reading it, and for what purpose?

Record page numbers for anything you might quote or criticise. “Chapter 4 lacks data” is far more persuasive with a specific example and a page reference.

Structure for a 1,000 to 1,500-word review

Judge the book by its own aims

The most important fairness rule: review the book the author wrote, not the one you wish they had written. If the author says it is an introductory textbook, criticising its lack of theoretical depth is unfair. You may argue that an important dimension is missing, but explain why that absence matters for the author’s own stated goals.

Useful evaluative questions:

• Does the argument hold together from start to finish, or do the chapters read as separate essays?
• Is the evidence varied and credible? Does any conclusion outrun the data?
• Does the book offer something new (data, framework, synthesis), or mainly organise existing work? Both have value, but different value.
• Is the style suited to the intended readers?
• For edited volumes: do the chapters speak to each other, or is quality uneven?

Tone: frank but respectful

A review is public and stays attached to your name. Aim criticism at arguments and evidence, not people. Compare:

• Avoid: “The author clearly does not understand the literature on this topic.”
• Better: “Chapter 3 relies mainly on studies published before 2010 and so does not engage with more recent findings on…, which might complicate the argument on page 87.”

Avoid the opposite extreme too: vague praise (“an important contribution to the field”) without saying what the contribution is. Specific praise is as valuable as specific criticism.

Common mistakes

• Summarising chapter by chapter, leaving no room to evaluate.
• Using the review to showcase your own research.
• Devoting space to typos and printing errors; one summary sentence is enough if they genuinely matter.
• Never saying who should read the book.
• Missing the deadline. Review editors juggle many reviewers; lateness is the surest way not to be asked again.

A three-week plan

1. Week 1: skim the whole book, then read the introduction, conclusion and two key chapters closely; take notes under the five questions.
2. Week 2: read the remaining chapters, find two or three comparison works, write a full draft.
3. Week 3: cut the summary, check page references, reread asking “would the author feel fairly treated?”, then submit.

Next step: pick two journals in your field with review sections, read the three most recent reviews in each to absorb their tone and length, and send a three-paragraph email to the review editor. A first book review is often the easiest door into a journal.

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