Righting Citing—principles and strategies for editors and translators
Barcelona
10 June 2006, 10.00 – 14.00 h
Citation is an integral part of scholarly writing and has implications for translators and editors who help authors create coherent texts. Some professionals who work with academic publications report that they often come across citation problems ranging from unclear or ineffective use of references to instances that fall into the category of plagiarism, even when a reference is given for copied text. Others say they assume that authors must know how referencing is handled in their fields and never 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 develop skills to recognize and resolve problems will be better equipped to support authors who publish academic texts.
Developers: |
|
Facilitators: |
Iain
Patten and Mary Ellen Kerans |
Fee: |
€25
All participants must be members of MET before the workshop or join
when registering. MET has special arrangements for admitting members
of some other organizations or guests. Consult the workshop chairperson
if you think that policy might apply to you: metmworkshops@gmail.com |
Purpose
To raise awareness of incorrect or confusing citation and to practice
ways to correct it and negotiate change with authors.
This workshop will start from the premise that citation problems—including some that lay an author open to an accusation of plagiarism—are associated with a lack of training in academic writing skills. As such, they are amenable to tactful improvement by editors and translators, who are in a unique position to correct misconceptions. We will begin by looking at citation systems that are currently in widespread use and the ways in which these systems are effectively employed. We will then go on to look at the sorts of problems that can arise in texts and discuss ways to resolve them in different contexts. We will also consider how plagiarism can be addressed by taking a practical approach based on information structure within the text to see how authors can ethically use information obtained from external sources to support their own ideas effectively.
1) Citation systems in the 21st century—and widespread misconceptions
2) Spotting a citation problem
3) Resolving citation errors
4) Negotiating with authors and correcting misconceptions
In each section a number of different examples and practice tasks will be discussed. The workshop will end with a discussion of the responsibilities and limitations of editors and translators in addressing plagiarism.
Coffee will be served. Afterwards, discussion can continue at a nearby restaurant over lunch (optional).
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 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 through editing
or talking to authors about changes.
Pre-meeting
information
Participants who are not already familiar with the most common
referencing systems, namely the “Harvard” or name/date system
and the “Vancouver” 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:
http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/LIBReferenceStyles
Identifying and resolving citation problems
Click the links 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
What happens when things go badly wrong? Read about an instance of alleged plagiarism in the British Medical Journal that was recently publicized by the British newspaper The Guardian.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1674338,00.html
Issues associated with plagiarism and guidelines for training academic
writers can be found in material developed for the US Office of Research
Integrity:
http://facpub.stjohns.edu/%7Eroigm/plagiarism/
About the developers
Iain
K. Patten,
PhD, is a freelance translator and editor based in Valencia, Spain. He
comes from a research background in biomedical science and is interested
in issues associated with effective communication of scientific information.
e-mail:
ikpmet@gmail.com
Mary
Ellen Kerans, a specific-purposes English instructor, biomedical
translator and author’s editor, received her MA in TESOL. She is
the MET council chair.
e-mail:
METworks@gmail.com