T he academic book review seems like a straightforward task. A journal editor sends you a book closely related to your expertise, offering an excuse to dig in and think about the shape of your field.

When James M. Lang published the book On Course in 2008 and garnered notable success, his editor invited him to dinner. She suggested that Lang might be interested in writing a book about cheating.

Academics have long been accused of jargon-filled writing that is impossible to understand. A recent cautionary tale was that of Ally Louks, a researcher who set off a social media storm with an ...

In a world of dwindling reviews, the author Lydia Davis’s new work charts a more serendipitous path to reading.