Taylor & Francis is launching an initiative to translate academic books into English using AI-powered translation tools. After a year of testing, the publisher will begin rolling out translated titles in 2025, with AI handling the initial translation and human editors—including the original authors—providing post-editing and quality control.
Benefits & outcomes
- Makes more non-English academic content available to global audiences.
- Reduces time and cost compared to traditional translation workflows.
- Uses domain-specific glossaries to preserve technical accuracy.
- Maintains quality through human review and editorial oversight.
Notes & quotes
According to Publishers Weekly, all AI-translated books will undergo full editorial review. Taylor & Francis described the approach as a way to surface important scholarship that otherwise wouldn’t be translated due to cost or complexity.
Quote from Jeremy North, Managing Director of Books:
“We have always been aware that our translations programme represented just the tip of the iceberg, which is why we were keen to explore whether AI could help.”
Publisher / company: Taylor & Francis
Date of case study: 30/04/2024
Source: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/97417-taylor-francis-to-translate-books-into-english-using-ai.html