Poll: If your document has a bibliography, do you consult the references to support your translation? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "If your document has a bibliography, do you consult the references to support your translation?".
This poll was originally submitted by Muriel Vasconcellos. View the poll results »
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 12:23
Spanish to English
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I might do so occasionally, but I don't often feel the need.
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I always start by consulting the bibliography to see if there is a translation in Portuguese. What I do next depends on the level of difficulty of the subject matter and the length of the bibliography. I have quite often found there the definition of a term and the meaning of a particular acronym I was looking for.
| | | | Kevin Fulton 
United States
Local time: 06:23
German to English
I have an ongoing gig translating articles dealing with medical research, usually reviews of available literature on a specific topic. Many of the authors aren't particularly skilled writers, so it's often necessary to read the original article in order to understand what the author is trying to express. In some cases, the author misunderstands or, more commonly, misquotes the original text.
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John Silva
Brazil
Local time: 07:23
English to Portuguese
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It's really important to check it, especially when the vocabulary is very specific. I've been working in a medical research project and it is very helpful.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:23
Member (2008)
Italian to English
ProZ.com Staff wrote: This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "If your document has a bibliography, do you consult the references to support your translation?". This poll was originally submitted by Muriel Vasconcellos. View the poll results »
I find it's problematic translating Italian academic papers because many of the sources they cite are in other languages.
These are often the translated Italian editions of English-language sources, or other languages, published by Italian publishers and with publication dates for the translations that don't match the publication dates of the originals.
Were I to look for the original source in English, the page references wouldn't work anyway, so to avoid confusion I usually stick with whatever references the Italian author has provided - no matter what language they are in - and leave them just as they are. The only parts of the references I translate are the place of publication (e.g. "Milano" = Milan) etc.
However sometimes, where a text is quoted directly that was translated into Italian from the original in English, I look for the original in English and thanks to my friend Google I'm often able to find it.
[Edited at 2022-05-28 17:20 GMT]
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 06:23
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
If you see a direct quotation in the article you are translating, and you suspect that it might have been translated and published, it could be helpful to conduct a search to find the published translation. I don't see the need to consult the reference in the source language. Furthermore, in most cases, it is not feasible to do so. How would you consult a reference? Reading the entire article? Are you paid for doing so?
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 06:23
German to English
jyuan_us wrote:
If you see a direct quotation in the article you are translating, and you suspect that it might have been translated and published, it could be helpful to conduct a search to find the published translation. I don't see the need to consult the reference in the source language. Furthermore, in most cases, it is not feasible to do so. How would you consult a reference? Reading the entire article? Are you paid for doing so?
In the US and Europe, scientific articles are accompanied by abstracts (usually in the source language as well as English) summarizing the important points made in the related article. A quick search can yield the link to the abstract which can be read in a minute or two. This can be helpful in figuring out neologisms or other obscure terminology in the material to be translated.
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Since much scientific literature is published in English, and I translate from Spanish and Portuguese into English, I have come to increasingly rely on the references both for the original terminology being back-translated into English and for the sense of the text. In a recent project, from Spanish to English, I found that the authors had misunderstood many of the references they were citing. This research takes extra time, but it gives me confidence that I have grasped the ideas and used the r... See more Since much scientific literature is published in English, and I translate from Spanish and Portuguese into English, I have come to increasingly rely on the references both for the original terminology being back-translated into English and for the sense of the text. In a recent project, from Spanish to English, I found that the authors had misunderstood many of the references they were citing. This research takes extra time, but it gives me confidence that I have grasped the ideas and used the right terminology. ▲ Collapse
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Most of the material I'm sent is in subject areas that are familiar to me, so I don't usually need to look stuff up.
If I do come across terminology I haven't seen before, the bibliography might be helpful, or I might just look for other publications by the same authors on PubMed or elsewhere.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 06:23
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Kevin Fulton wrote: jyuan_us wrote:
If you see a direct quotation in the article you are translating, and you suspect that it might have been translated and published, it could be helpful to conduct a search to find the published translation. I don't see the need to consult the reference in the source language. Furthermore, in most cases, it is not feasible to do so. How would you consult a reference? Reading the entire article? Are you paid for doing so? In the US and Europe, scientific articles are accompanied by abstracts (usually in the source language as well as English) summarizing the important points made in the related article. A quick search can yield the link to the abstract which can be read in a minute or two. This can be helpful in figuring out neologisms or other obscure terminology in the material to be translated.
Thank you for the insight. I have translated many medical research and review articles and I never felt a need to consult any of the references listed under bibliography. The context within the article is usually sufficient for me to come up with a right translation. I tend to think that you generally don't need to read the references to provide an excellent translation, not even the abstracts.
I've never translated any article with a bibliography attached in any subject area other than medicine, so my point above applies only to the translation of academic papers in medicine.
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