By Kimberly Davis, senior editor of Reading Religion, American Academy of Religion
and Evan Sandsmark, PhD, publications coordinator, American Academy of Religion
The Role of Book Reviews in the Scholarly Ecosystem
- Quality control. Reviews evaluate books, and just as importantly, they bring books to people’s attention.
- The 30,000-foot view. Reviews give you a good sense of an entire field and reveal trends in scholarship. They also point you to books to engage with in more depth.
- Knowledge dissemination. Reviews often become important scholarly artifacts in themselves.
- Inside the academy. Reviews of one’s work can aid promotion, and writing reviews can be a form of service to the university.
Book Reviews in Religious Studies
- Diversity of traditions. Scholars generally specialize in a single religion, and so reviews can help them stay informed about other faith traditions.
- Interdisciplinary. Similar to the last point, religious studies encompasses several disciplines (history, sociology, philosophy, etc.), and so reviews can help you stay abreast of fields you aren’t expert in.
- Reading Religion. We are unique because (1) we are openly accessible (public), and (2) the volume of books we review (much more than a standard academic journal).
The Basics of a Good Review
- Structure. The foundation of a review, lending it coherence and making it easily legible to readers.
- Introduction: frames the book, and makes an evaluative statement about the book (a thesis statement).Summary: gives an overview of the book, ideally indexed to the parts of the book.
- Clarity. Book reviews, more than other genres, are utilitarian. They need to convey a lot of information concisely and clearly. To aid in clarity, reviews also should have a beginning, middle, and ending.
- Fairness. Books should be reviewed charitably and must be accepted on their own terms. Conflicts of interest and relations of power must also be scrutinized.
- Analysis: states where the book succeeds or falters, in both content and writing style, and may also include information about the audience, potential uses, and paths for future research. Occasionally contextual analysis and technical details are relevant. Within the analysis, you must also be sure to present evidence to back up your arguments or claims.
The Importance of Revision
- Revision. An ongoing process that means to “see again”; it’s an opportunity to revisit your writing from a critical, thoughtful perspective and ask yourself questions about your review.
- Rethink your arguments: What makes sense and doesn’t? How could someone reading this argue against it?
- Reconsider your evidence: Is the passage or quote you selected the most illustrative or convincing for your argument?
- Check the organization: Do your sentences and paragraphs bring clarity or confusion?
- Factcheck: Check everything that isn’t your opinion.
- Guidelines: Have you read and adhered to the review guidelines and style guide?