Stay updated on the latest news, advancements, and changes that are shaping the textbook and academic authoring industry with our bi-weekly Industry News Round-Up. Have an item to share? Email Sierra.Pawlak@TAAonline.net.
Institutions Prepare for New Accreditation Regulations (May 18, 2026)
McMahon Tussles With House Democrats at Latest Hearing (May 15, 2026)
Will Paying Reviewers Ease the Peer Review Crisis? (May 14, 2026)
Four 2026 TAA Institute for Textbook & Academic Authors presenters have been interviewed on the Defend & Publish podcast. All four will be sharing their expertise in sessions or Learning Labs at this mini-conference, which takes place June 12 and 13, and is aimed at providing both new and veteran textbook and academic authors a deep dive into topics such as AI and authoring, navigating DEI issues, contracts, publishing in the modern age, and more. Get $50 off registration with code DP26.
sing a transdisciplinary method combining art history, literary studies, and neuroaesthetics, A Neuroarthistory of The Painters of Modern Life Embodying Baudelairean Modernity by Lauren S. Weingarden, examines the modern urban experience of nineteenth-century Paris through language and images of fragmentation and transformation.The volume includes new empirical research conducted in collaboration with neuropsychologists, which tracks present-day viewers’ physical and psychological responses to nineteenth-century painting and photography, thus providing data to model an experiential aesthetic for Baudelairean modernity.
By Dr. Noelle Sterne
Q: It’s time for me to find a dissertation chair. I’m panicked. How?
—Chairless
A: You’re right to have at least a little trepidation. Here’s what a new “doctor” said in a study of how the choice and behavior of chairs affect doctoral students’ satisfactions:
It is impossible to overestimate the significance of the student-advisor relationship. . . . This is both a personal and professional relationship that rivals marriage and parenthood in its complexity, variety and ramifications for the rest of one’s life. (Zhao et al., 2007, p. 263)
The TAA AI Committee, led by Chair Brenda Ulrich, has been working diligently on its three-prong goals of advocacy, education and support to TAA members around the issues that AI, and in particular GenAI and LLMs (Learning Language Models), present in the academic and textbook publishing areas. To that end, it has developed a position statement to reflect the views of TAA regarding the challenges and risks of GenAI to creators, educators and learners. TAA members were invited to provide feedback on the statement during a 30-day comment period that commenced on March 15, 2026.
By John Bond
Whatever your political point of view, I hope we can all agree libraries (of all types) and librarians are essential.
For academic authors, they’re more than just hallowed buildings or subscription portals. They’re the infrastructure behind your thinking. If you use them strategically, they can quietly elevate the quality, depth, and efficiency of your work in ways that aren’t always obvious at first.
