METM10 workshops

Righting Citing: principles and strategies for editors and translators

Far more than a mere formality, citation is an integral part of scholarly writing that affects message, clarity, and even an author's credibility. As such, it has implications for translators and editors who help authors create coherent texts. Professionals who provide language support for academic authors are often faced with citation problems ranging from unclear or ineffective use of references to practices that fall into the category of plagiarism. In addition, texts may suffer from the confusing effects of cut-and-paste or -˜patch' writing. However, it is not uncommon for such problems to be overlooked or for it to be assumed that authors must know how referencing is handled in their fields and never to think of treating it as a textual feature to be examined critically along with grammar, terminology, and general flow of information. Language professionals who are aware of citation issues and who develop skills to recognize and resolve problems will be better equipped to support authors who publish academic articles.

Developers:

Facilitator: Iain Patten

Purpose: To raise awareness of incorrect or confusing citation and to practice ways to correct it and identify issues that require negotiation with authors.

Description: The workshop will begin with a short introduction to raise awareness of how citation is used in academic writing and the effect this has on the way in which the text is received. We will then go on to look briefly at the -˜nuts and bolts' of citation-”the style issues associated with different citing systems and their implications for text structure. The main part of the workshop will explore how citation affects the substance of a text and how substantive editing of citing problems can be used to improve elements such as the flow of information and the -˜voice' of the author. Participants will take a problem-based approach to dealing with citing issues and will consider how to identify changes that need to be negotiated with authors. Discussion of problems will ultimately address the more complex issues presented by minor and more extensive plagiarism, and participants will gain confidence in engaging with them at a textual level in preparation for discussion with authors.

Structure: Following a brief introduction, the workshop will be broadly organized into 4 sections:

  1. Citation systems in the 21st century-”and widespread misconceptions
  2. Citing and substantive editing (1)-”info placement
  3. Citing and substantive editing (2)-”interweaving voices
  4. Plagiarism and querying issues

The workshop will take a problem-based approach and a number of different examples and practice tasks will be discussed in each section.

Who should attend? Anyone involved in helping prepare academic texts for publication. While the examples will be mainly drawn from science and medicine, the principles are relevant to other scholarly disciplines. Emphasis will be placed on the work of editors and translators; however, the workshop will also be of benefit to other professionals who support authors with English academic writing, such as teachers of writing or English for academic purposes.

Outcome skills: Following the workshop participants will have developed skills and confidence in 3 specific areas:

  1. Spotting a citation problem
  2. Resolving citation errors
  3. Preparing to negotiate with authors and correct misconceptions

Participants will be more aware of the place of effective citation in scholarly writing. They will be more sensitive to citation problems in the texts they work with and will have practiced a range of ways to deal with citing problems in texts.

Pre-meeting information:

Citation systems

Participants who are not already familiar with the most common referencing systems, namely the -œHarvard- or name/date system and the -œVancouver- or numbered system recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, may wish to acquaint themselves with these systems before the workshop. A brief overview with links to further information is available at the website of the British Medical Association.

Identifying and resolving citation problems

Click the links below to look at the types of examples we will explore to analyze the nature and possible causes of citation problems, the ways in which they can be directly resolved by language professionals, and approaches to explaining them to authors.

 

Plagiarism, a violation of good citing practice

  • What happens when things go badly wrong? Read about an instance of alleged plagiarism in the British Medical Journal that was publicized by the British newspaper The Guardian.
  • A famous case study involving serious and ongoing academic plagiarism was recently discussed in the British Medical Journal. Read this article to gain further insight into some of the complex medical issues around plagiarism. A variety of perspectives on these issues are expressed in the -œrapid responses- from readers and related articles available as links at the end.
  • Guidelines for training advanced academic writers to avoid plagiarism can be found in material developed for the US Office of Research Integrity by Miguel Roig, a plenary speaker at METM 2006.

About the facilitator: is an independent medical writing and translation consultant. He began his career in biomedical research before spending a number of years in Spain working as an editor and translator of biomedical science. After a period working in a large international medical communications agency, he now shares time between Valencia and London working with clients to facilitate the effective communication of science and medicine to English-speaking audiences.