Hello! We are Cherie Avent (Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) and Aileen Reid (Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro), co-section editors of Book Reviews for AJE. We are thrilled to serve in this capacity!
When was the last time you read a book review that inspired you to purchase the actual book? Book reviews critically analyze books for their targeted audience and can advance knowledge in the field. Authoring a book review also benefits those who write it because they sharpen their writing and analytical skills. As a writer, you also gain insight into the publication process.
The vision of the Book Review section is to highlight single books applicable to the broad field of evaluation. In addition, this section may include reviews of other kinds of resources for evaluations (e.g., web-based resources, manuals, and handbooks). Book reviews should be less than 2,500 words long. On rare occasions, we also consider essay reviews–in-depth, peer-reviewed articles that examine one or more recent books of particular significance on a single topic. Essay reviews are between 5,000 and 8,000 words long. We also welcome recommendations for books to review.
Ideally, the reviewed books will represent a range of topics, diverse authors, and various publishers.
Book reviews often include the following content:
- Overview of the text
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Information about who may be the target audience for the book
- Concluding thoughts or observations
All book reviews are commissioned by the section editors. Therefore, the book review manuscripts generally do not go through blind peer review. We will provide feedback and work with you, typically going through multiple rounds of drafts.
We invite both seasoned and new (inclusive of graduate students) evaluation scholars to submit a book review.
For additional information or to answer questions, please contact section editors: Cherie Avent (cmavent@illinois.edu) or Aileen Reid (amreid3@uncg.edu).
Rad Resources:
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