Questions tagged [books]
Related to academic books, including scholarly books, textbooks, and reference books. Considerations related to publishing academic books, choosing textbooks, etc., come under this tag.
83
questions
133
votes
16
answers
28k
views
Is it ethical to profit by having my students buy my textbook?
This question was suggested to me by How can I sell my text book to my students in e-book format? which asked about the practicalities but attracted many comments about the ethics. So this question is ...
47
votes
3
answers
135k
views
Difference between International edition of a book and a non international one
Most of the textbooks I used during my undergraduate studies (outside north America) are International editions, so what is the difference between a national and an international edition of a book?
...
39
votes
6
answers
5k
views
If an author does not intend to make much revenue from a book, why not make it open-access?
Many authors do not intend to make much revenue from books (textbooks or research books) they contribute to, yet they don't make it open access. Why?
32
votes
7
answers
47k
views
How much revenue do academic authors make on their published books?
Is there any dataset that look at how much revenue academic authors make on their published books?
I am aware of the question How much do Springer-Verlag authors make per book sold? but answers there ...
93
votes
22
answers
39k
views
What is the point of a lecture when you have a textbook?
I never really understood the point of having a course with lectures when the course has a textbook. Sometimes the subject is so high-level or specialized or so modern that the contents are changing ...
28
votes
4
answers
30k
views
How does a book chapter in an edited volume compare to a peer reviewed paper?
I have been invited to write a book chapter in an edited volume, relating to my field of work. I have a paper ready that I have not published and was planning to submit it soon. So, I am wondering is ...
38
votes
7
answers
3k
views
What incentives do academics have to write text books?
As noted in this question, academics should write research articles. In many fields, these are way more important than books. It's original research that counts for getting a PhD position, a post-doc, ...
22
votes
5
answers
5k
views
Is there any value in self-publishing a book as an academic?
Recently, I contacted a publisher about the draft of a book that I wrote about a year ago. I found their advertisement over the net. This is a scientific book that I have worked on for about two or ...
14
votes
7
answers
4k
views
How do I improve my ability to learn?
I am decent at learning from videos. But poor at learning from textbooks, wikipedia articles etc. Unless the material is really easy to follow, I am unable to learn most of text content. How do I ...
10
votes
4
answers
9k
views
How do I convert my PhD dissertation so that it can be published as a book?
I have just completed a PhD by research, which I think has some merits in being available as a book (This is, of course, my personal opinion). The research cuts across several fields (e.g. sociology, ...
6
votes
1
answer
672
views
Chapter in printed thesis vs. journal article
My computer science PhD thesis contains a chapter which is heavily based on an already published conference paper. I have published my thesis online, and fulfilled the requirements for my degree this ...
71
votes
7
answers
5k
views
How to publish an academic book but make the PDF freely available online?
Background
I like the idea of writing an academic book.
It currently looks better on a CV when applying for jobs, grants, promotions, etc. than a blog post, or a website.
Libraries and people ...
45
votes
5
answers
18k
views
Is it legal (USA) and ethical to use international edition textbooks? When I pay for a textbook, where does the money go?
Background:
I am a student. I didn't have anything in life for four years, and I worked myself silly at times for it. So now I ask - when I pay hundreds of dollars over the production cost (new ...
32
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Why is the city of publication important in most bibliography format?
Most bibliography formats require the city of publication for books. Why? In this digital era, ISBN would be way more important. But even before the digitalization of everything, why was the city of ...
27
votes
3
answers
20k
views
Is it legal in the US for a student to download a copy of a textbook, to study?
(this is coming out of a comment thread regarding this question.)
The USA has a Fair Use legal provision restricting its copyright law:
17 U.S.C. § 107
Notwithstanding the provisions of ...