how to write a book review university uk

Department of History

Guide to writing book reviews.

• start with full bibliographic details of the book discussed in the heading;
• summarise the structure, method and main points of the work, which may include some direct quotes (identified by inverted commas and the relevant page no following in round brackets);
• discuss how the author's arguments fit into other writing on the subject;
• comment on the range of sources used and how they contribute to the argument;
• explain the strengths and weaknesses of the book from your point of view;
• assess whether / how the work will advance relevant debates;
• acknowledge other sources of information in footnotes and a bibliography.

Many websites and discussion fora also offer reviews and related materials, see e.g.:

• Guide to reviewers  issued by the Humanities and Social Sciences internet platform H-Net (esp. passages on 'effectiveness', 'content', 'evaluation', 'professionalism')
• ' JStor ' (database of reviews from numerous journals)
• ' Reviews in History ' (compiled by the Institute of Historical Research in London

Assessment and marking criteria - while similar to regular history essays, particular importance is placed on:

• critical evaluation of methodology, argumentation and conclusions of the book concerned;
• ability to relate a work to the wider historiography of the field;
• clear structuring and lucid presentation of your review.

A first-class review will excel in all these aspects, an upper second will demonstrate good competence in them, while lower marks will reflect limited critique, historiographical coverage and lucidity of argument.

The following is not a definitive list but merely suggestive of books you might like to review. If you have other ideas please discuss them with me:

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• Writing Tips

How to Write an Academic Book Review

4-minute read

• 22nd January 2019

For researchers and postgraduates , writing a book review is a relatively easy way to get published. It’s also a good way to refine your academic writing skills and learn about the publishing process. But how do you write a good academic book review? We have a few tips to share.

1. Finding a Book to Review

Before you can write an academic book review, you need to find a suitable book . There are two main ways to do this:

• Look to see which books journal publishers are seeking reviews for.
• Find a book that interests you and pitch it to publishers.

The first approach works by finding a journal in your field that is soliciting reviews. This information may be available on their website (e.g. on a page titled ‘Books for Review’). However, you can also email the editor to ask if there are book review opportunities available.

Alternatively, you can find a book you want to review and pitch it to journal editors. If you want to take this approach, pick a book that:

• Is about a topic or subject area that you know well.
• Has been published recently, or at least in the last 2–3 years.
• Was published by a reputable publisher (e.g. a university printing press).

You can then pitch your review to a journal that covers the same subject as the book. Some publishers will even give reviewers access to new books. Springer, for example, has a scheme where reviewers can access books online and receive a print copy once a review is published.

2. Follow the Style Guide

Once you know the journal you’re hoping to write for, look for the publisher’s style guide. This might be called the ‘Author Instructions’ or ‘Review Guidelines’, but it should be available somewhere on the publisher’s website; if it is not obviously available, consider checking with the editor.

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And when you have found the style guide, follow its instructions carefully. It should provide information on everything from writing style and the word count to submitting your review.

3. Don’t Make It About You!

You’d be surprised how often academics begin a review by summarising the book in question, only to then abandon it in favour of explaining their own ideas about the subject matter. As such, one important tip when reviewing an academic book is to actually review the book .

This isn’t to say that you can’t offer your own thoughts on the subject matter, especially if they are relevant to what the author is arguing in the book. But remember that people read reviews to find out about the book being reviewed, so this should always be your focus.

4. Questions for an Academic Book Review

Finally, while the content of a review will depend on the book, there are a few questions every good book review should answer. These include:

• What is the book about? Does it cover the topic adequately? What does the author argue? Ideally, you will summarise the argument early on.
• Who is the author/editor? What is their field of expertise? How does this book relate to their past work? You might also want to mention relevant biographical details, if there are any.
• How does the author support their argument? Do they provide convincing evidence? Do they engage with counterarguments? Try to find at least one strength (i.e. something the book does well) and one weakness (i.e. something that could be stronger) to write about.
• As a whole, has the book helped you understand the subject? Who would you recommend it to? This will be the concluding section.

If you can cover these points, you should end up with a strong book review. All you need then is to have it proofread by the professionals .

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Literature Review

• Starting the literature review
• Sources and strategy
• Writing the review
• Examples of dissertations
• Helpful guides

Further reading

Literature review books

How to write your literature review

This engaging guide by bestselling author Bryan Greetham takes students step-by-step through the process of writing a literature review, and equips them with practical strategies to help them navigate each stage. Each bite-sized chapter focuses on a specific aspect of the process, from generating ideas and pinning down the research problem through to searching for sources, citing references and planning, writing and editing the review. Chapters feature examples and exercises to help students apply ideas to their own work. Whether your students are writing a stand-alone review or one that is part of a dissertation or thesis, this guide is their essential companion.

The literature review: six steps to success. 4th ed.

The 4th edition features new graphics illustrating the pioneering six-step model, tips for writing in the early stages, and new learning tools and reflection sections.

The literature review : a step-by-step guide for students

Provides a step-by-step guide to conducting a literature search and literature review.

Succeeding with your literature review: a handbook for students

"An excellent and accessible text that will help all students and scholars to develop a strong review and enable them to outline and analyse the key ideas for their study. The structure of the book is really well thought out and the chapters are written in a way which readers will find helpful and easy to understand. I would highly recommend this book to research students." Professor Mark Brundrett, Liverpool John Moores University, UK This step-by-step handbook provides comprehensive and practical guidance on the process of researching a range of relevant literature on a subject, as well as planning and writing a literature review. The book takes a student friendly approach to offer complete novices a simple review of a process which is often central to producing a research study. 

Video resources

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• Last Updated: Jan 26, 2024 2:07 PM
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Professor Fleur Johns

May 7th, 2021, why, when and how 10 tips for academic book reviewers.

0 comments | 68 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Professor Fleur Johns offers 10 rules of thumb that have guided her own reviewing efforts and may prove helpful to others working on book reviews, or thinking of doing so, in the course of their academic lives. 

Image Credit: Photo by  Jessica Ruscello  on  Unsplash

A recent experience prompted me to reflect on the role of academic book reviews and about when, why and how to write them. I wrote a review several months ago of a book that has received widespread and overwhelmingly laudatory attention. While acknowledging the importance and value of the book’s contribution, I took issue with it in no uncertain terms and questioned its attainment of one of its major goals. Several respondents on social media reacted with verbal frowns. One wondered if I had contacted the author prior to the review’s publication (I had not). Another bristled at what they interpreted as audacity on my part, remarking that it was ‘easier’ to write a book review than ‘a book of significance’ (it is). I worried a bit too. Had I been disrespectful, ungenerous? Should I have cushioned my remarks in a fuller recitation of the book’s strengths?

Reflection on this experience led me to formulate, more explicitly than I had previously, some rules of thumb for my own reviewing efforts. I reproduce these here in case they might be helpful to others working on book reviews, or thinking of doing so, in the course of their academic lives. It goes without saying – but let me say it anyway – that these are conditioned by my own unduly privileged circumstances and that I still have much to learn, as a reviewer and otherwise. I have thought and written about lists in the past, and have an affection for them, so I present these as 10 suggestions:

1. Reviewing books maintains one’s sense of being part of a larger, longer, scholarly conversation. It should be as much of a regular responsibility of academic life as peer reviewing (relative to opportunity). And like peer reviewing, it needs to be approached with greater care than it is sometimes afforded.

2. Everyone should write book reviews, at all academic career stages. It’s not just a practice recommended for graduate students needing free books. It keeps one in the habit of close, critical, cover-to-cover reading. And what of the probable response: that contemporary academic work is structured in ways that make the continued cultivation of this habit unachievable? That may be so for many of us at many times. If we concede that across the board, however, then we acquiesce to the very transformation of universities that we often lament.

3. Conflicts of interest, actual or perceived, are best avoided. Book reviewers should disclose anything that could be viewed as such. I have reviewed friends’ books before, to try to lend support to and foster engagement with colleagues’ and collaborators’ work. Upon reflection though, I should not have done so because of the possible perception that I might benefit professionally from advances in my co-authors’ and collaborators’ careers, and that my judgment might be coloured accordingly. I might instead have facilitated reviews of these books by someone at a greater distance from their authors. Of particular importance among conflicts is the following: think very carefully before reviewing a book in which your own work features prominently. If there is any reference to your work in the book you’re reviewing, let it pass. Use of the first-person voice can be refreshing, but a book review ought not to revolve predominantly around the reviewer. Professor Leslie Green’s 2020 review of a section of Professor Joanne Conaghan’s 2013 book (to which Conaghan offered a patient response ) is illustrative of the kinds of perils that can be associated with dwelling, as a reviewer, on the treatment of one’s own work in the book under review.

4. Attend to power imbalances. If you are an established academic, don’t review a first book or a book of an early career researcher with which you fervently disagree. Ordinarily, disagreement can make for engaging writing and productive argument (more on this below). However, in the context of a power imbalance favouring the reviewer, discord may be misread and could do unintended damage.

Image Credit: Photo by  Nolan Monaghan  on  Unsplash

5. Foreground the criticism. Keep summary to a minimum. Be sure to make an argument – about the book, but also by reflecting critically on the intervention that it makes in the field, and what it suggests about the state of that field. Be fair, respectful and try to meet the book on its own terms, but don’t shy away from critical engagement. It is a mark of respect for the seriousness of the author’s endeavour.

6. Some say one should only review books that one loves. I disagree. My version would be the following: only review books by which you feel provoked, and that seem significant to you. This position counsels against reading books that hold you in their thrall. If you are utterly in awe of a book or its author, that might be a good reason not to review it (gushy reviews can be a tad nauseating). At the same time, it militates against reviewing books that you think are good, but which don’t really excite you either positively or negatively. Critique can carry a degree of risk (recall the extraordinary tribulations through which journal editor Professor Joseph Weiler was put by one disgruntled author). Nonetheless, a fence-sitting, anodyne review wastes the writer’s, editor’s and reader’s energies and does the author concerned no service at all. Reviewing books that frustrate you, but that you still regard as important and worthy of attention – this can really help move scholarly argument along.

7. Don’t just review ‘up’ or focus on renowned and established authors. Seek out lesser-known works to spotlight. If you are bilingual or multilingual, seek out books in a range of languages to pitch to book review editors to help disturb the dominance of English in scholarly publication.

8. Don’t send the review to the author, at least not prior to publication. Don’t imagine yourself in direct conversation with the author so much as with the book and its other readers. This does not, of course, override the imperative of being fair.

9. Explore the genre, including the (often undervalued) review essay. Read widely in it. Approach the genre on its own terms, inspired by those book reviews that you have found most arresting and illuminating as a reader. The Los Angeles Review of Books , the New York Review of Books , the London Review of Books , Biblio , the Paris Review , the Singapore Review of Books , The New Yorker , The Nation and the Latin American Research Review all publish excellent book reviews, as do many other online and print publications.

10. There are awards for book reviewing: in the US, the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing , for example. One might learn from taking a look at the work of those lauded for reviewing and trying to unpick what they do well. Accolades for book reviewing are, however, very few. If you are a member of an editorial board or scholarly association, you might consider introducing such an award. Or maybe that suggestion misses part of the point of book reviewing. The poet Philip Larkin’s letters may have presented him as a ‘ habitual racist and full-time misogynist’ . Yet he was on to something, I think, when he ruefully celebrated the unheralded reading and writing of ‘book-drunk freak[s]’ for precisely that – its ingloriousness. Perhaps, when one can, there is some small grace in doing difficult work in honour of reading and readers, with little or no expectation of recognition.

Note: This feature essay gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics. 

About the author

Fleur Johns is a Professor and Australian Research Council Future Fellow in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW Sydney. Her books include Non-Legality in International Law: Unruly Law (Cambridge 2013). Fleur is also an avid reader and a periodic writer of book reviews. Find her on Twitter at @FleurEJ.

Related Posts

How to Write a Book Review: Reviewing an Edited Collection

June 14th, 2019.

Feature: Q&A with Dr Katherine Farrimond, Book Reviews Editor of Feminist Theory journal

May 11th, 2018.

Author Interview: Q and A with Dr Phillipa K. Chong on Inside the Critics’ Circle: Book Reviewing in Uncertain Times

October 30th, 2020.

Editor’s Column: How to write a book review: writing introductions

March 3rd, 2013, subscribe via email.

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Literature reviews

The following guides have been created for you by the  Student Learning Advisory Service . For more detailed guidance and to speak to one of our advisers, please book an  appointment  or join one of our  workshops . Alternatively, have a look at our  SkillBuilder  skills videos.   

What is a literature review?

A literature review is...  

• simply a summary of existing scholarship on a particular topic 
• commonly a prelude to further research
• usually near the beginning of a thesis or dissertation, directly after the introduction. There are exceptions to this, so it is always advisable to confirm this with your supervisor
• based on secondary sources – that is, what other people have already written on a subject
• not concerned about discovering new knowledge or information
• almost entirely focused on relevant academic literature and the data collected or theories put together by recognised experts in the field.  Popular or non-academic sources may be brought in occasionally to illustrate a point, but the central focus is always on academic sources

A literature review will... 

• try to look at as much of this existing research as possible
• review major scholarly books in the relevant area
• also take a keen interest in journal articles, which in many subjects give more up-to-date material than books

Literature reviews: Home

Reviewing for research.

• Stand-alone review
• Scoping and planning
• Screening and appraising

The process of reviewing

• Planning a search strategy

Literature reviews

The writing of a literature review is an essential part of academic work. Most undergraduate students will need to undertake one as part of their final year dissertation or independent project. For most this will take the form of a traditional review which requires you to select appropriate literature to position your topic in its wider field and justify your research choices. For others, particularly those in health sciences, a systematic review is needed which has a completely different methodology with specific criteria for including and excluding material. Sometimes, a stand-alone literature review is set as an independent assignment. Whichever type of review you need to undertake, this guide should help.

Dissertations & projects

Stand-alone reviews

How are they different?

Systematic reviews

Help and advice

Selection/evaluation/synthesis

Plan a search strategy

The five stages

Literature Review Workshops (NOT systematic) Trimester 1 only

External literature reviewing resources.

• Literature reviews Useful information from the Royal Literary Fund.
• Avoiding the laundry list literature review Blog post from the brilliant Pat Thompson. Aimed at postgraduates but this is great advice for undergraduates too.
• Synthesize E-Lecture Handouts from the Harvard University E-lecture on synthesizing in literature reviews
• Conducting a Literature Review: Synthesize From Central Michigan University - includes downloadable matrix

Related books and eBooks from our collection

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• Last Updated: Nov 3, 2023 3:13 PM
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IOE Writing Centre

• Writing a Critical Review

Writing a Critique

A critique (or critical review) is not to be mistaken for a literature review. A 'critical review', or 'critique', is a complete type of text (or genre), discussing one particular article or book in detail.  In some instances, you may be asked to write a critique of two or three articles (e.g. a comparative critical review). In contrast, a 'literature review', which also needs to be 'critical', is a part of a larger type of text, such as a chapter of your dissertation.

Most importantly: Read your article / book as many times as possible, as this will make the critical review much easier.

1. Read and take notes 2. Organising your writing 3. Summary 4. Evaluation 5. Linguistic features of a critical review 6. Summary language 7. Evaluation language 8. Conclusion language 9. Example extracts from a critical review 10. Further resources

Read and Take Notes

To improve your reading confidence and efficiency, visit our pages on reading.

Further reading: Read Confidently

After you are familiar with the text, make notes on some of the following questions. Choose the questions which seem suitable:

• What kind of article is it (for example does it present data or does it present purely theoretical arguments)?
• What is the main area under discussion?
• What are the main findings?
• What are the stated limitations?
• Where does the author's data and evidence come from? Are they appropriate / sufficient?
• What are the main issues raised by the author?
• What questions are raised?
• How well are these questions addressed?
• What are the major points/interpretations made by the author in terms of the issues raised?
• Is the text balanced? Is it fair / biased?
• Does the author contradict herself?
• How does all this relate to other literature on this topic?
• How does all this relate to your own experience, ideas and views?
• What else has this author written? Do these build / complement this text?
• (Optional) Has anyone else reviewed this article? What did they say? Do I agree with them?

^ Back to top

Organising your writing

You first need to summarise the text that you have read. One reason to summarise the text is that the reader may not have read the text. In your summary, you will

• focus on points within the article that you think are interesting
• summarise the author(s) main ideas or argument
• explain how these ideas / argument have been constructed. (For example, is the author basing her arguments on data that they have collected? Are the main ideas / argument purely theoretical?)

In your summary you might answer the following questions:     Why is this topic important?     Where can this text be located? For example, does it address policy studies?     What other prominent authors also write about this?

Evaluation is the most important part in a critical review.

Use the literature to support your views. You may also use your knowledge of conducting research, and your own experience. Evaluation can be explicit or implicit.

Explicit evaluation

Explicit evaluation involves stating directly (explicitly) how you intend to evaluate the text. e.g. "I will review this article by focusing on the following questions. First, I will examine the extent to which the authors contribute to current thought on Second Language Acquisition (SLA) pedagogy. After that, I will analyse whether the authors' propositions are feasible within overseas SLA classrooms."

Implicit evaluation

Implicit evaluation is less direct. The following section on Linguistic Features of Writing a Critical Review contains language that evaluates the text. A difficult part of evaluation of a published text (and a professional author) is how to do this as a student. There is nothing wrong with making your position as a student explicit and incorporating it into your evaluation. Examples of how you might do this can be found in the section on Linguistic Features of Writing a Critical Review. You need to remember to locate and analyse the author's argument when you are writing your critical review. For example, you need to locate the authors' view of classroom pedagogy as presented in the book / article and not present a critique of views of classroom pedagogy in general.

Linguistic features of a critical review

The following examples come from published critical reviews. Some of them have been adapted for student use.

Summary language

•     This article / book is divided into two / three parts. First...
•     While the title might suggest...
•     The tone appears to be...
•     Title is the first / second volume in the series Title, edited by...The books / articles in this series address...
•     The second / third claim is based on...
•     The author challenges the notion that...
•     The author tries to find a more middle ground / make more modest claims...
•     The article / book begins with a short historical overview of...
•     Numerous authors have recently suggested that...(see Author, Year; Author, Year). Author would also be once such author. With his / her argument that...
•     To refer to title as a...is not to say that it is...
•     This book / article is aimed at... This intended readership...
•     The author's book / article examines the...To do this, the author first...
•     The author develops / suggests a theoretical / pedagogical model to…
•     This book / article positions itself firmly within the field of...
•     The author in a series of subtle arguments, indicates that he / she...
•     The argument is therefore...
•     The author asks "..."
•     With a purely critical / postmodern take on...
•     Topic, as the author points out, can be viewed as...
•     In this recent contribution to the field of...this British author...
•     As a leading author in the field of...
•     This book / article nicely contributes to the field of...and complements other work by this author...
•     The second / third part of...provides / questions / asks the reader...
•     Title is intended to encourage students / researchers to...
•     The approach taken by the author provides the opportunity to examine...in a qualitative / quantitative research framework that nicely complements...
•     The author notes / claims that state support / a focus on pedagogy / the adoption of...remains vital if...
•     According to Author (Year) teaching towards examinations is not as effective as it is in other areas of the curriculum. This is because, as Author (Year) claims that examinations have undue status within the curriculum.
•     According to Author (Year)…is not as effective in some areas of the curriculum / syllabus as others. Therefore the author believes that this is a reason for some school's…

Evaluation language

•     This argument is not entirely convincing, as...furthermore it commodifies / rationalises the...
•     Over the last five / ten years the view of...has increasingly been viewed as 'complicated' (see Author, Year; Author, Year).
•     However, through trying to integrate...with...the author...
•     There are difficulties with such a position.
•     Inevitably, several crucial questions are left unanswered / glossed over by this insightful / timely / interesting / stimulating book / article. Why should...
•     It might have been more relevant for the author to have written this book / article as...
•     This article / book is not without disappointment from those who would view...as...
•     This chosen framework enlightens / clouds...
•     This analysis intends to be...but falls a little short as...
•     The authors rightly conclude that if...
•     A detailed, well-written and rigorous account of...
•     As a Korean student I feel that this article / book very clearly illustrates...
•     The beginning of...provides an informative overview into...
•     The tables / figures do little to help / greatly help the reader...
•     The reaction by scholars who take a...approach might not be so favourable (e.g. Author, Year).
•     This explanation has a few weaknesses that other researchers have pointed out (see Author, Year; Author, Year). The first is...
•     On the other hand, the author wisely suggests / proposes that...By combining these two dimensions...
•     The author's brief introduction to...may leave the intended reader confused as it fails to properly...
•     Despite my inability to...I was greatly interested in...
•     Even where this reader / I disagree(s), the author's effort to...
•     The author thus combines...with...to argue...which seems quite improbable for a number of reasons. First...
•     Perhaps this aversion to...would explain the author's reluctance to...
•     As a second language student from ...I find it slightly ironic that such an anglo-centric view is...
•     The reader is rewarded with...
•     Less convincing is the broad-sweeping generalisation that...
•     There is no denying the author's subject knowledge nor his / her...
•     The author's prose is dense and littered with unnecessary jargon...
•     The author's critique of...might seem harsh but is well supported within the literature (see Author, Year; Author, Year; Author, Year). Aligning herself with the author, Author (Year) states that...
•     As it stands, the central focus of Title is well / poorly supported by its empirical findings...
•     Given the hesitation to generalise to...the limitation of...does not seem problematic...
•     For instance, the term...is never properly defined and the reader left to guess as to whether...
•     Furthermore, to label...as...inadvertently misguides...
•     In addition, this research proves to be timely / especially significant to... as recent government policy / proposals has / have been enacted to...
•     On this well researched / documented basis the author emphasises / proposes that...
•     Nonetheless, other research / scholarship / data tend to counter / contradict this possible trend / assumption...(see Author, Year; Author, Year).
•     Without entering into detail of the..., it should be stated that Title should be read by...others will see little value in...
•     As experimental conditions were not used in the study the word 'significant' misleads the reader.
•     The article / book becomes repetitious in its assertion that...
•     The thread of the author's argument becomes lost in an overuse of empirical data...
•     Almost every argument presented in the final section is largely derivative, providing little to say about...
•     She / he does not seem to take into consideration; however, that there are fundamental differences in the conditions of…
•     As Author (Year) points out, however, it seems to be necessary to look at…
•     This suggest that having low…does not necessarily indicate that…is ineffective.
•     Therefore, the suggestion made by Author (Year)…is difficult to support.
•     When considering all the data presented…it is not clear that the low scores of some students, indeed, reflects…

Conclusion language

•     Overall this article / book is an analytical look at...which within the field of...is often overlooked.
•     Despite its problems, Title offers valuable theoretical insights / interesting examples / a contribution to pedagogy and a starting point for students / researchers of...with an interest in...
•     This detailed and rigorously argued...
•     This first / second volume / book / article by...with an interest in...is highly informative...

Example extracts from a critical review

Writing critically.

If you have been told your writing is not critical enough, it probably means that your writing treats the knowledge claims as if they are true, well supported, and applicable in the context you are writing about. This may not always be the case.

In these two examples, the extracts refer to the same section of text. In each example, the section that refers to a source has been highlighted in bold. The note below the example then explains how the writer has used the source material.    

There is a strong positive effect on students, both educationally and emotionally, when the instructors try to learn to say students' names without making pronunciation errors (Kiang, 2004).

Use of source material in example a: 

This is a simple paraphrase with no critical comment. It looks like the writer agrees with Kiang. (This is not a good example for critical writing, as the writer has not made any critical comment).        

Kiang (2004) gives various examples to support his claim that "the positive emotional and educational impact on students is clear" (p.210) when instructors try to pronounce students' names in the correct way. He quotes one student, Nguyet, as saying that he "felt surprised and happy" (p.211) when the tutor said his name clearly . The emotional effect claimed by Kiang is illustrated in quotes such as these, although the educational impact is supported more indirectly through the chapter. Overall, he provides more examples of students being negatively affected by incorrect pronunciation, and it is difficult to find examples within the text of a positive educational impact as such.

Use of source material in example b: 

The writer describes Kiang's (2004) claim and the examples which he uses to try to support it. The writer then comments that the examples do not seem balanced and may not be enough to support the claims fully. This is a better example of writing which expresses criticality.

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Further resources

You may also be interested in our page on criticality, which covers criticality in general, and includes more critical reading questions.

Further reading: Read and Write Critically

We recommend that you do not search for other university guidelines on critical reviews. This is because the expectations may be different at other institutions. Ask your tutor for more guidance or examples if you have further questions.

IOE Writing Centre Online

Self-access resources from the Academic Writing Centre at the UCL Institute of Education.

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How to Write a Literature Review

Samuels, P. (2016) How to Write a Literature Review. Technical Report. ResearchGate, Birmingham, UK.

A literature review is not just a sequence of summaries or critiques of selected sources (this is known as an annotated bibliography). Rather, it should take the form of a critical discussion, showing insight and an awareness of differing arguments, theories, methods and findings. It should analyse and synthesise relevant published works.

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Money blog: Cost of £7 pint broken down - how much is tax and profit?

The cost of draught lager has gone up nearly 30% since January 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics. Read this and more in the Money blog, your place for personal finance news. Leave a comment on stories we've covered, or a question for our experts, in the form below.

Thursday 4 April 2024 20:15, UK

• British Savings Bonds announced in the budget go on sale - but experts aren't convinced
• What makes up the cost of a £6 pint - and how much is profit?
• How to make your money work harder while it's sat in your current account
• How much will your take-home pay increase this month with NI cut? Use our calculator
• 'Are they going to go around sniffing people?' Big Issue founder says government has 'lost the plot' over homelessness plan
• Eight big price hikes this week - and six boosts to Britons' pockets
• All the places kids can eat cheap or free this Easter

Ask a question or make a comment

Tens of thousands of people are facing crippling tax demands from HMRC for taxes their employers failed to pay. 

It's a campaign that has driven people to the brink of bankruptcy and devastated families.

At least 23 victims have taken - or attempted to take - their own lives.

For the first time, two people who tried to end their lives have shared their story with Sky News.

The following article contains references to suicide that readers may find distressing.

We've all found ourselves stuck on a delayed train and wished we'd chosen any other route to get home. You might even be on one right now.

Well, thanks to a new study you can at least take note of routes you might want to avoid.

It has listed the worst offending companies on the UK's rail network by looking at official data from the Office of Rail and Road between January 2021 and September 2023.

It looked at trains that were cancelled or delayed by 15 minutes or more during that time period.

The research found Avanti West Coast had 15.36% of its services delayed or cancelled. 

The study's second worst offender, with 12.32% of all trains either cancelled or seriously late, is Grand Central Rail . 

And  CrossCountry was the third least reliable operator, with 12.26% of trains arriving 15 minutes or more late, or being cancelled altogether. 

Axel Hernborg, founder of Tripplo , which conducted the study, said: " It's no secret that the UK's rail network is a far shout from those within mainland Europe in terms of efficiency and reliability, and these findings simply underscore that."

Look at the table below for the full list of the 10 least reliable train operators, as ranked by the travel website. The column on the right shows the number of minutes customers lost in delays.

By Faith Ridler, news reporter

At the start of the year, I set myself what felt like an impossible challenge - to make enough cash to finally go on my dream holiday to Japan – all through side hustles.

After a few false starts – and a lot of cat sitting – I discovered Vinted, a second-hand selling app which had the very convenient side effect of helping me declutter my very tiny London flat.

I set up my account at the very end of January, listing a few items that were spilling out of my wardrobe – jackets, dresses and shoes I hadn’t worn once since purchasing them.

I also listed some craft supplies that had become a hobby graveyard on my cluttered desk during COVID lockdowns.

To my surprise, pretty much everything sold.

And to date, I've made the hefty sum of around £1,500. 

This was more than enough for my flight to Japan, a new suitcase, and a hotel for my arrival in Tokyo this summer.

Here are the tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way…

Do your research

The biggest piece of advice I could give you if you’re thinking about selling on Vinted is to make sure you know the value of what you're selling.

I was surprised to find through my own selling experience that some brands hold their value much better than others. 

For example, a dress I bought for £40 from a brand called Louche sold (after some weeks) for only £4.

On the other hand, a Lucy & Yak T-shirt I bought for £30 sold used for £20.

You may ask, how do I know what something is worth?

The best way to investigate this is to check what other people are doing on the app. That way, you don’t list things too cheaply and end up losing out.

Other items I found hold their value are Nintendo Switch games, some of which I sold on for face value after completing a playthrough myself.

An important note – make sure you check which items you can sell through Vinted before listing. If you have listings deleted too often, you can get your account banned. You can find this information through the app itself.

No printer? InPost lockers are your friend

A key element of Vinted selling is physically posting the items, which can become a bit of a headache if you don’t know the ins and outs of the app.

I fell victim to the many shipping options at the start of my selling journey – until a kind friend mentioned you can actually switch off methods not available in your area in the Postage tab of Settings.

My advice would be to have a good look at what you can offer for delivery, and make sure those are the only options available for people buying items through your page.

If – like me – you don’t have a printer, you can turn off every option but InPost lockers.

These are postal lockers you simply need to scan a QR code to open and leave the parcel inside.

No label, no problem.

Learn how to haggle

This was something that shocked me about the app.

Although you set a price for your items, almost everybody will try to haggle the price down.

You can ask for people not to send offers in the description of the items, but I’ve had very limited success with that method.

What I find works best is to list the item for slightly more than you would accept, and just let people haggle down. You're still earning the best price, and the buyer goes away with a "deal".

Everybody wins.

Taxes and Vinted

When it comes to earning money through any method, you always have to consider the tax ramifications.

However, as Vinted explains clearly on its website , if the money you make on the app over a year is less than what you paid for the items initially, you pay no tax.

It adds: "The only time that an individual item might be taxable is when you sell it for more than £6,000 and there is a profit from the sale.

"Even then, you can use your capital gain tax-free allowance (which is £3,000) to reduce this profit."

Essentially, if, like me, you're simply decluttering your way to Japan, you're very unlikely to find yourself crossing paths with HMRC.

Trade groups have warned of higher food prices and empty supermarket shelves because of new post-Brexit border fees being introduced this month.

A maximum charge of £145 will apply on imports of plant and animal products, such as cheese and fish, entering the UK through the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel from 30 April.

The fees are intended to cover the cost of operating new border control posts required after Brexit, and will not apply to goods brought into the UK for personal use, the government said.

But importers warned the new charges could lead to higher prices for consumers.

Read more here ...

Ted Baker is the latest in a string of high-street giants to call in administrators in recent years. 

But how does it affect you? 

Let's use Ted Baker as an example. 

Purchases and returns

You can still purchase online or walk into a Ted Baker shop and buy items, but you could run into trouble returning them. 

If the retailer stops trading, it may not be able to get your money back to you.

If that is the case, you would have to file a claim with Teneo (Ted Baker's administrator) to join a list of creditors owed money by Ted Baker – and even then there's no guarantee you'd get your money back.

You could also file a claim with your debit or credit card provider - but again, no guarantees. 

TL;DR: If you have one - use it as soon as possible. 

Teneo has made no changes to the way gift cards can be used at Ted Baker, but as is the case with all administrators, it can change the terms and conditions at will. 

As above, if you lose out on cash because of a company going into administration, you can raise it with the administrators themselves. 

Credits and debits

As we mentioned earlier, you can file a claim with your debit or credit card provider to recover lost funds - but how exactly does that work?

• Credit card:  If you bought any single item costing between £100-£30,000 and paid on a credit card, the card firm is liable if something goes wrong. If any purchase was less than £100, you may still be able to get your money back via chargeback
• Debit card:  Under chargeback, your bank can try to get your money back from Ted Baker's bank. However, be aware that this is not a legal requirement and it can later be disputed and recalled back to Ted Baker's bank

A US state is considering a bill giving employees the right not to respond to calls, emails and texts from their bosses outside of paid work hours.

The so-called "right to disconnect" would allow California's labour commission to fine employers for interrupting personal time, reports our partner network NBC News.

The bill makes exceptions for emergencies, scheduling and collective bargaining.

The state's Chamber of Commerce called the proposed legislation a step backwards for flexibility.

However, Professor Amira Barger told NBC the changes would help tackle an "epidemic of burnout" and were a "necessary adaptation" for the future of work.

The planned £15bn mega-merger of UK mobile networks Vodafone and Three is to face an in-depth investigation by the competition watchdog.

The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it will launch a so-called Phase 2 probe after both firms told the regulator they would not be offering measures to ease its concerns ahead of the deadline, 2 April.

The CMA said last month that the tie-up could have a "substantial" impact on competition, warning it may lead to higher prices and reduced quality.

Read more in our full story .

School strikes over teachers' pay and funding could be staged in September, the leader of a teaching union has warned.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), the largest education union in the UK, did not rule out launching a ballot on walkouts for the autumn term.

Teachers at the NEU’s annual conference in Bournemouth will vote today on whether the union should "build capacity" to deliver national industrial action.

Ofgem is considering plans for rules on the use of artificial intelligence in the energy industry amid fears the technology could risk "tacit collusion", reports  The Times.

Algorithms that make pricing decisions for companies would make it more difficult to identify who is accountable when it comes to competition issues, the regulator said.

Customers also need to be protected from higher-risk AI used to help balance supply and demand that could cause power outages if they fail.

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

The FTSE 100 is up more than 0.4% this morning, after a rise in the price of gold boosted precious metal mining firms.

Also up is British fintech Cab Payments. Its shares have shot up 11% in early trading.

It comes after the firm secured a payment provider licence in the Netherlands, paving the way for it to expand in the country.

Meanwhile, the cost of oil continues to slowly creep up in the wake of investor concerns over the Middle East and Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries.

A barrel of Brent crude is currently trading at just over $89 (£70).

The currency markets remain stable, with £1 buying you $1.26 US or €1.17, with the rates almost unchanged from yesterday.

Google is considering charging for premium AI-powered features, the Financial Times reports.

It would be the first time the tech giant put any core products behind a paywall, as it seeks to gain ground in the fast-moving AI space

The FT cited sources familiar with Google's plans as saying it could incorporate a generative AI-powered search engine in its subscription services, which already provide access to its new Gemini AI assistant in Gmail and Docs.

Google's traditional search engine would remain free of charge and ads would continue to appear alongside search results even for subscribers.

"We're not working on or considering an ad-free search experience. As we've done many times before, we'll continue to build new premium capabilities and services to enhance our subscription offerings across Google," the company told Reuters.

Google, which invented the foundational technology for today's AI boom, is locked in battle with two industry players that have captured the business world's attention - ChatGPT's creator OpenAI and its backer Microsoft.

Every Thursday we look at a different savings option, explain the pros and cons, and reveal the best deals on the market (see table below for that).  This week we're talking about the top interest-paying current accounts. Savings Champion founder Anna Bowes  writes...

From time to time there are plenty of incentives available to attempt to encourage people to switch their current accounts - but switching is not always necessary. There are also some current accounts that offer competitive interest rates, even if there's not a switching incentive. 

While not as prevalent as they have been in the recent past, interest-paying current accounts can offer some very competitive interest rates – especially bearing in mind that most current accounts offer no interest at all. In fact, according to the Bank of England, there is £253bn currently held in these non-interest bearing accounts.

These accounts are usually more complicated than a traditional savings account and there are a number of hoops to jump through and potential hazards to avoid, in order to get the returns on offer. 

Potential traps to look out for are: low maximum balances, introductory rates, monthly fees, a requirement to set up direct debits, a minimum amount to pay in each month and a minimum amount to maintain in the account.

All of these factors need to be taken into account when choosing an account and if you feel that you may fall foul of the rules, take a look at one of the alternatives that will suit your circumstances better. 

Setting up standing orders is an easy way to ensure you deposit and withdraw the qualifying amounts each month and can be effective in managing multiple current accounts. It may take a while to set it all up, but the rates on offer could make it worthwhile. It is also worth remembering that many of these accounts can be opened without having to switch your main current account. 

A final point to bear in mind is that some of these accounts give you access to exclusive savings accounts, which often pay competitive rates - especially true with regular savings accounts.

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