Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: January 31, 2020

Hall of Fame basketball player Michael Jordan once said, “You must expect great things from yourself before you can do them.” When writing for publication, we must expect great things from ourselves and our research in order to accomplish those goals of writing a journal article or textbook. This week’s collection of articles from around the web offers insight into just how to achieve the greatness we expect of ourselves and our work.

We begin with discussions about collaborating with others on research projects, choosing relevant literature for empirical studies, and understanding conference proceedings. We continue with measurements of commitment to research transparency and practical strategies for disseminating research in various ways. Finally, we close with a look at ways to manage a career in publishing.

Whatever your goals in this realm of textbook and academic publishing, expect great things from yourself and then do them. Happy writing!

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TAA’s 2020 Conference Textbook Track

Early registration is now open for TAA’s 33rd Annual Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference in San Diego, CA this June! This event is always an incredible opportunity to network with authors from a variety of disciplines and to learn about the latest trends, best practices, and industry changes.  

Textbook authors have a solid lineup of sessions in this year’s including eight 60-minute sessions on topics including royalties, contract negotiation, and author branding. A 90-minute double session on accessibility is also included in the Textbook Track for 2020. A complete overview of the Textbook Track sessions is below.

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Member Spotlight: Lisa Daniels

TAA member Lisa Daniels is a Professor of Economics and International Studies, and is both a textbook and academic author in the economics and statistics writing disciplines.

Her most recent publication is Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis Using Stata: From Research Design to Final Report, published by Sage in 2019. Over the course of her career as a consultant in the field of international development and later as an academic, Daniels has published over 50 academic articles, book chapters, and consulting reports for international agencies.

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: January 24, 2020

A common theme has surfaced throughout this week in various places. Perhaps it’s that we’re at that point in January where many are giving up on their New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps it’s because in my academic circles most students are past the point of getting their money back for the semester. Perhaps it’s because there are so many reasons to quit and so many opportunities to start something new in the modern world. Whatever the reason, perhaps you’ve figured out that the theme that has emerged this week is perseverance.

Our collection of articles from around the web share this theme as well – whether you are working to finish an article or dissertation, are considering innovative research with inherent risks, or you’re battling bureaucratic obstructions in your pursuits. Whatever challenges you are facing this week – never give up – PERSEVERE!

Olympic gold medalist, Kerry Walsh, once said, “That wall is your mind playing a trick on you. You just need to say, ‘One more step, I can do this; I have more in me.’ You will be so proud of yourself once you push yourself past your threshold.” Happy writing!

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: January 17, 2020

Ralph Waldo Emerson once noted, “that which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased.” In our collection of articles from around the web this week, we see several suggestions on how to make our lives as academic writers easier by increasing our ability to do.

Suggestions include writing for the public for more impact, forming a brain trust, expanding our knowledge set with new literatures, collaborating around Big Data, and providing choice on how to pay for peer review and publication. This week, we encourage you to explore these and other ways to make your tasks as an author easier and to increase your ability to do. Happy Writing!

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Member Spotlight: Paul M. Vitanyi

TAA member Paul Vitanyi is a professor emeritus at the University of Amsterdam, CWI fellow at the Netherlands National Research Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI), and is both a textbook and academic author in the computer science discipline.

His most recent publication is the fourth edition of An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity and Its Applications published by Springer. 

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