Editorial: Conceivable book reviews.
A short poetic editorial that inspires reflection on scholarly craft, not a how-to guide.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Mandell (1984) is a one-page editorial. It uses a poetic metaphor about book reviews. There are no participants, data, or graphs.
What they found
The paper offers no findings. It is a reflective piece, not a study.
How this fits with other research
Cengher et al. (2024) turns the same reflective spirit into a step-by-step primer on how to write a helpful manuscript review. Where Mandell (1984) muses, Cengher et al. (2024) lists four concrete pillars: responsibility, audience awareness, constructive kindness, and merit evaluation.
Cengher et al. (2022) extends the idea further. They build a whole reviewer-mentoring program. Survey data showed reviewers wanted guidance. The program pairs novices with seasoned reviewers, something the 1984 piece never imagined.
Coleman (1987) keeps the reflective tone but shifts the lens. It celebrates JEAB’s kind editorial culture rather than poetic creation. Both pieces sit in the same practitioner-development space, yet one dreams while the other thanks.
Why it matters
Read Mandell (1984) when you need a quick reminder that scholarship is a creative act, not just a production line. Then move straight to Cengher et al. (2024) for the checklist that actually improves your next review. The editorial plants the seed; the primer gives you the watering can.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Skim it in three minutes, then open Cengher et al. (2024) and pick one pillar to strengthen your next manuscript review.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
A person produces a poem and a woman produces a baby, and we call the person a poet and the woman a mother. Both are essential as loci in which vestiges ofthe past come together in certain combinations. The process is creative in the sense that the products are new.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1984 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1984.42-165