How To Write A Book Review For Science File

General Considerations

You may write as many reviews as you wish. There is nothing to stop you reviewing a science book which has already been reviewed by another Science File member: indeed, sometimes reading more than one opinion is useful when choosing a book to read.

Your review does not have to be of a new book. You may review books which are many years old, should you so desire. However, the only requirement is that the book must still be in print and/or available to purchase. If the book is not generally available through booksellers, it would be helpful if, in your review, you could indicate where it may be purchased.

Your book review will be submitted for acceptance or rejection. You will be informed by e-mail of the decision. Assuming your review is accepted, it will then be published on the site and will be available to all members. The title of the book you have reviewed will also be available from the Search option on the Main/User menus.

Science File reserves the right to edit your review for style, content, grammar, punctuation and spelling.

For general instructions on viewing book reviews on the site, see the Help option on the Main Menu.

By writing and submitting a book review, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

1. The opinions expressed in your book review do not necessarily reflect those of Science File.

2. Your book review must be your own original work only, and not, in whole or in part, copied from another source.

3. Your book review becomes the copyright of Science File.

4. Your book review does not contain anything which is libellous, defamatory or otherwise contrary to the registration agreement you agreed to when you registered with Science File.

5. Authors may not review their own books.

6. Book reviews will only be published subject to editorial approval.

Writing Your Review

Click the Science Book Reviews option on the Main Menu. You will see an option called "Add". This option is only available to members.

You will then see a screen where you can enter information about the book and write your review. In the list of fields below, an aterisk indicates a field which you must enter information in.

Title*

Enter the title of the book here. You can enter a maximum of 50 characters.

Author*

Enter the name of the author here. You can enter a maximum of 50 characters.

Description*

Enter a description of the book here. This should be a precis of what the book is about. Please try to be as concise and as clear as possible.

Year Published*

Enter the year the book was published. This can normally be found somewhere in the first few pages of the book as part of the publisher information.

Publisher*

Enter the name of the publisher here.

ISBN

Enter the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) here. This can normally be found somewhere in the first few pages of the book. Entering an ISBN will allow anybody reading your review to order the book easily in a library, or from a bookshop.

Although all published books have an ISBN, there is a growing tendency not to print it in the book itself, especially in the case of paperbacks. For this reason, the ISBN field can be left empty. We would ask you, however, to enter the ISBN if you have it.

Price

Enter the price of the book here, plus an indication of which currency it is in. For example, $8.99 or £11.50.

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Review*

Enter the text of your review here. You may enter up to 1,000 characters, or the equivalent of roughly one sheet of A4.

Reviewed By*

Enter your Science File username here.

Meta Keywords

Enter keywords here for your book review. These keywords will be found by search engines when they visit the site to index it, and thus will help to direct visitors to your review.

Meta Description

You can also enter phrases here which will be found by search engines.

Category*

Your book review can be assigned to up to two categories within Science File. You will see a list of sections (Universe, Earth, Life etc.)

To the left of each section title is a plus sign. Click it to see the categories within each section.

Select a category for your book by clicking the category name. Then click the right-facing arrows in the middle of the categories section to add the book to that category.To remove a book from a category it has been assigned to, select the category from the list on the right and click the left-facing arrows.

Safety Code

For security reasons, please enter the safety code shown on the left into the box on the right.

Submitting Your Book Review

When you have completd your review, click "Send" to submit it for approval. You will be informed by e-mail when your book review has been approved/rejected for publication.

Science File would like to thank you for taking the time and trouble to write your book review. It is much appreciated.

Editing Your Book Review

Should you wish to edit your review, click the pencil icon to the right of its title. You need to be logged in to do this. Although when you submitted your review it had to be approved for publication, as the author of an existing review your edits do not need to be approved. Enter the safety code again, click "Send" and your changes will be saved.