Book Reviews
Book Review Guidelines
Your insightful book review is a vital segment of the journal. The review should offer a thoughtful discussion of the book considering the author's purpose (theses), organization, use of sources, and the contribution of the book to co-created, university-community knowledge; community engaged research (CER) and its impact on urban settings.
Book reviews for ENGAGE! should be no longer than 700 words, including author, title, date, publishers, number of pages, cost, ISBN, references cited as well as the reviewer's name and institution. The review should follow the APA 6th Style regarding formatting and other stylistic points. Reviews must be in English. Australian, British or American spelling is acceptable. As a community-university journal with a broad, multilingual readership, clear, accessible language is important. All materials in the ENGAGE! journal are peer reviewed and copy edited.
ENGAGE! uses a single-blind review system for book reviews. The editorial staff and reviewers know the identities of those who write book reviews but the authors of the reviews do not know the identity of those commenting on their pieces. We do not dictate the content of reviews, but we do reserve the right to modify or decline to publish reviews that, in our judgment do not meet the standards of professional scholarship.
Tips for Organizing a Book Review for ENGAGE!
In the beginning: The opening paragraph of a good review not only grabs the reader's attention, it delineates the main theme(s) of the book. Let the book's details surface in the body of the review.
The body: A worthwhile review gives a short overview of the book's contents and then highlights the strengths, and its merits as well as the book’s weaknesses or shortcomings. The majority of a review should be devoted to providing details that illustrate why an aspect of the book is thought-provoking and/or valuable. Convey the content of the book, not chapter by chapter so much as the entire book. Strive to make your review richly informative, even insightful. Offer a description of the way the author approaches their topic, the rigor of the scholarship, and the readability.
Be sure to address your audience: What can others interested in community engaged research and its impact, learn from this book? What implications does the book have for the practice of the community-university researchers or those interested in CER?
Conclusion: End the review with a conclusion that captures the best and worst features of the book. Do you recommend the book to others? (Why or why not?). The review should close with implications for community engaged scholarship and practice.
Book reviews should be submitted via the ENGAGE! journal’s online submission page.
