One goal of Science in School is to draw attention to books or other resources that would be useful and interesting to science teachers. These may be popular science books, films, websites or other resources. The guidelines below refer to books, but the principles hold for almost any type of resource.
The main purpose of a book review is to explain the scope of the book to the reader, and to discuss how well it achieves this purpose. You should also describe the quality of its contents, if possible by comparing it to similar works on the same topic that you might know of.
As the readers of Science in School are involved in science education, be sure to consider how the book could be useful for science teachers. Would it give teachers or their students a useful overview of the latest scientific developments? Is it written at the right level for the audience? For which subjects and topics would it be appropriate? Which age groups of students would benefit? Is there a clear link to parts of your curriculum?
Generally, reviews should be between 200 and 700 words. If you include an introduction to the scientific field or give an overview existing literature in the field to highlight the contribution of this book, you may need to write a little more.
If you find the language hard to understand, please draw attention to this. Remember that the journal is intended for a European-wide audience, many of whom will not be native English speakers. If you have difficulties understanding the book, it is likely that others will, too.
If you feel the book would not be useful to science teachers, please let us know.
Finally, do not forget to send the completed copyright form with your review.
Suggesting further reviews
We welcome recommendations from our readers. Please send suggestions for books, films, websites and other resources to editor@scienceinschool.org. If you would be interested in reviewing the resource yourself, please say so.
