About TJ

Reviews Guide

BACKGROUND TO ‘THE REVIEWS SECTION’

Every year hundreds of new books, DVDs, experiential training packages, CD-ROMs and online learning sites become available. Of these, the journal is interested in receiving reviews of those resources that are relevant to learning and development professionals, and because our readers have an interest in wider business issues, TJ is also interested in receiving reviews of resources on general topics such as business effectiveness and personal development.

What do readers of reviews want?

Readers are interested in books, CDs and DVDs, experiential training packages, online solutions, games, simulations and courses to increase their knowledge and for information. Aside from a general description of content, readers are also interested in the following.

In books

  1. How well they are written.
  2. How well information is organised and presented.
  3. Whether or not any new ground is covered or a new approach taken.

In online solutions

  1. Whether there is a sufficient overview of the program and its content.
  2. The media required.
  3. The amount of user interface.
  4. The instructional design.
  5. The standard of graphics.
  6. What support materials are supplied.

In general

  1. What learning or training needs the product addresses.
  2. The ways in which it addresses them.
  3. How effectively it addresses them
  4. Whether the learning outcomes are clearly defined and stated.
  5. Whether the materials offer a variety of different methods and approaches.
  6. The overall value of the product.

Whatever it is you have reviewed, readers want to know if it comes recommended and why.

HOW TO PREPARE AND SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW

How should I prepare my review?

As you prepare, write and check your review, please try to consider it from the reader’s point of view.

  1. You should supply some details such as the correct heading for the book, the name of the author (please check that the spelling of this name is correct), the publisher, contact details of the publisher, an ISBN number, the format of the resource (for example, paperback, web-based, CD or DVD and so on) and the price.
  2. Somewhere within the review itself you need to give details such as how long the book is, how long the DVD runs for, whether additional materials are supplied and so on.
  3. Readers may want to know something about how the resource came about, the idea behind it, the experience of the ‘author’ to put together this material, what it aims to do and whether or not it succeeds in those aims.
  4. Readers may also be interested in whether the resource is part of a series or a follow-up to a previous resource.
  5. Finally, and most importantly, readers will want to know what you, the reviewer, thought of the resource. It’s fair enough to list what it contains, but please back this up by giving your opinion of its usefulness, content, standard, value for money and so on.

What else do I need to do?

  1. You may find it relevant to use small extracts from the resource itself or from its publisher to support your arguments for or against its usefulness.
  2. You should always provide a ‘rating’, which gives an instant evaluation of content, usefulness and value.

What are the rating categories?

The ratings categories for all reviews are as follows.

  1. Content (the ideas, concepts and skills covered, the key messages, the objectives and the relevance of these, the order and amount of information in terms of its usefulness, plus additions such as handouts and overheads).
  2. Innovation (whether the resource presents common knowledge in a creative way and/or brings new knowledge to the reader’s attention).
  3. Clarity (whether the format itself is clear and easy to follow, and whether the ideas or information expressed are clear to readers with or without experience of the subject matter).
  4. Value for money.
  5. Overall recommendation.

The categories are each marked from one to five stars, with one star being ‘poor’ and five stars being ‘outstanding’. Five stars should be awarded only rarely. Basically, the stars should be coveted and striven for. For example, resources that are perfectly OK, do a fine job and make money for their publisher should attract three stars in most categories. Three stars means, ‘perfectly OK’. Four stars means ‘very good’ and five stars implies the presence of some special spark or magic that causes this resource to excel.

How long should my review be?

You review should be between 400 and 500 words. Sometimes, it may be relevant to review two or three items together if they form part of the same series or if they are directly relevant to each other in some way, in which case you will probably need to write more than 500 words but you should liaise with TJ before embarking on a longer review.

How should I format my article

  1. Please leave a line space between paragraphs, and please avoid indents, pre-programmed header levels, double columns of text and linked text (such as automatic footnote numbering). All of these have to be taken out prior to design to allow us to flow the text easily into our page layout templates.
  2. Please save your review in Word or RTF format and send via e-mail as an attachment. If your file originates on an Apple Mac please manually add .doc to the end of your filename. Alternatively, simply paste your review it into an e-mail message.
  3. Please can you always keep a back-up version … just in case!

Who should I send my review to?

Please submit your copy by e-mail to elizabeth.eyre@trainingjournal.com