Workshop 5: Citing

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:	Iain Patten , ikpmet@gmail.com Mary Ellen Kerans, METworks@gmail.com
Facilitator:	Iain Patten
Date:	13 April 2007
Time:	17:30-21:00 h
Location	Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània, Carrer Girona 20, Barcelona.
Fee:	€20—All participants must be members of MET (annual cost €30) before the workshop or join when registering. MET has special arrangements for admitting members of EASE and EMAME as guests and we are forging relationships with other groups-ask us if yours is included: METworks@gmail.com

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

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.

Text A

Text B

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

A case study involving academic plagiarism was recently discussed in the British Medical Journal: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7568/594. Follow-up by reading the responses and related articles provided at the end. They’ll give insight into the variety of perspectives on plagiarism.

Guidelines for training 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: http://facpub.stjohns.edu/%7Eroigm/plagiarism/

About the facilitator

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

Additional material

Text A-for pre-workshop preparation

What confusion is created by the citing in the following text?*

… Cryptococcal meningitis is a common life-threatening infection in patients with advanced HIV disease. It is a major cause of death from AIDS in Asia and accounted for 13, 17, and 44% of all deaths in three cohorts of HIV-infected patients in Africa (1, 2, 3, 4). For comparison, tuberculosis was identified as the cause in 5, 6, and 13% of deaths in these cohorts (2, 3, 4).

REFERENCES
1. Chariyalertsak, S., T. Sirisanthana, O. Saengwonloey, K. Nelson. 2001. Clinical presentation and risk behaviors of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in Thailand, 1994–1998: regional variation and temporal trends. Clin. Infect. Dis. 32:955.
2. Okongo, M., D. Morgan, B. Mayanja, A. Ross, J. Whitworth. 1998. Causes of death in a rural, population-based human immunodeficiency virus type 1 natural history cohort in Uganda. Int. J. Epidemiol. 27:698.
3. French, N., J. Nakiyingi, L. M. Carpenter, E. Lugada, C. Watera, K. Moi, M. Moore, D. Antvelink, D. Mulder, E. N. Janoff, et al 2000. 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in HIV-1-infected Ugandan adults: double-blind, randomized and placebo controlled trial. Lancet 355:2106.
4. Corbett, E. L., G. J. Churchyard, S. Charalambos, B. Samb, V. Moloi, T. C. Clayton, A. D. Grant, J. Murray, R. J. Hayes, K. M. De Cock. 2002. Morbidity and mortality in South African gold miners: impact of untreated disease due to human immunodeficiency virus. Clin. Infect. Dis. 34:1251.

*From Siddiqui et al. IFN-gamma at the Site of Infection Determines Rate of Clearance of Infection in Cryptococcal Meningitis. J Immunol. 2005; 174: 1746–1750.

____________

Text B-for pre-workshop preparation

What citing problems can you see in the following text taken from the Introduction of an article published in an international psychiatry journal?* How might you help an author see and resolve the difficulties?

... The theory of adult learning, identified and popularized by Knowles, describes four distinct qualities of adult learners: self-directedness, resourcefulness for learning from life experience, motivation from tasks required for the performance of social roles, and problem-centered learning (1). Knowles' adult learning theory was a theoretical cornerstone in the transformation of lecture-based curricula into self-directed, problem-based learning programs throughout North American undergraduate medical schools and formed the basis of continuing medical education (CME) models of life-long learning.

Adult learning has recently been challenged on both empirical and theoretical grounds. In his article, "The Adult Learner: A Mythical Species," Norman points to a lack of empirical evidence for the adult learner as intrinsically self-directed. Problem-based learning research shows that undergraduate medical students are motivated by grades and honors (2) and are more motivated by implicit short-term program agendas and final exam objectives than by personal interests (3).

REFERENCES
1. Norman GR: The adult learner: a mythical species. Acad Med 1999; 74:886–889
2. O'Neill P, Baxter CM, Morris J: Does awarding a medical degree with honours act as a motivator or demotivator to student learning? Med Educ 1999; 33:66–571
3. Newble DI, Jaeger K: The effect of assessments and examinations on the learning of medical students. Med Educ 1983; 17:165–171

*Keri-Leigh Cassidy. The Adult Learner Rediscovered: Psychiatry Residents' Push for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Training and a Learner-Driven Model of Educational Change. Acad. Psychiatry 2004 28: 215-220.