Group Facilitation: Book Review Guidelines

Writing the review

When writing a review, please include:

• overall impression of the book
• the highlights and structure of the book
• for whom the book would be appropriate
• what you found particularly helpful, unclear, weak
• your personal learning, if any
• particular benefits to you in your facilitation, if any
• value of the book for facilitators, if any
• significant contribution of the book, if any, to the field of facilitation
• your recommendation of "must read" portions of the book, if any
• a summary or wrap-up of your reading experience.

In addition:

• provide definitions of terms, acronyms, references, and background summary statements where appropriate.
• where necessary, be sure to include complete citations and attributions.
• identify specific texts (usually a sentence or phrase) for possible use in pull quotes.
• publisher; ISBN designation; price ($US)
• background about the book author: facilitation experience and/or other writings. 

What we are looking for

• people familiar with the conceptual and practical sides of facilitation and who are willing to spend the time required to write interesting and thought provoking reviews.
• reviews of books that address facilitation and related issues, such as consensus decision making, participatory problem solving and group decision-making.
• in-depth and critical reviews that help readers decide whether or not the books reviewed are ones that they should consider reading.
• comparative reviews of two or more books that differentiate, compare and contrast the books and thoroughly examine the strengths and weaknesses.
• reviews that place the book in the context of other literature.

Submitting a review

Reviews are typically between 1,000 and 3,000 words. Submissions should be made via email in Microsoft Word or Rich Text (RTF) format. If you are interested in reviewing a book for the Journal, please contact:

Stephen Thorpe
Editor-in-Chief
journal.editor@iaf-world.org