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The book is aimed at those who want to investigate
translation-related problems and write a Master’s
thesis that is an academic thesis as part of their
second cycle of studies in the European Higher
Education Area. This target audience may be en-
larged to include Bachelor’s degree students (the
first level) for whom certain remarks and chapters
in the book will be equally pertinent.
The aim of the book is to guide and assist its users at
each stage of their research, from identifying an
area of interest, through selecting a topic, planning
and conducting the research, to submitting their
thesis and defending it in a final exam. Students
may find it useful for self-study and reference,
while teachers and supervisors can use it to enhan-
ce their course material.
The Authors
– a translation practitioner, researcher
Maria Piotrowska
and educator; the editor of Tertium translation series; the
author of Learning Translation – Learning the Impossible?
(2011), A Compensational Model for Strategy and Techniques in
Teaching Translation (2002); Proces decyzyjny tłumacza (2007).
Joanna Dybiec-Gajer works in the Institute of Modern
Languages, Chair for Translator Education, at the Peda-
gogical University of Cracow. Her research interests
include Translation Studies: translator training,
translation quality assessment and sworn translation.
She also researches travel writing in translation.
www.universitas.com.pl
ISBN 97883-242-1753-3
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Maria Piotrowska
Joanna Dybiec-Gajer
ErbA VOLANT
CRI PTA MANENT
How to write an M.A. thesis
in Translation Studies
universitas
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VErbA VOLANT
SCRI PTA MANENT
Maria Piotrowska
Joanna Dybiec-Gajer
ErbA VOLANT
CRI PTA MANENT
How to write an M.A. thesis
in Translation Studies
Kraków
Publikacja dofinansowana przez Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny w Krakowie
© Copyright by Joanna Dybiec-Gajer, Maria Piotrowska and Towarzystwo
Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych UNIVERSITAS, Kraków 2012
ISBN 97883–242–1583–6
TAiWPN UNIVERSITAS
Recenzenci
prof. dr hab. Elżbieta Tabakowska
prof. dr hab. Edita Gromová
Opracowanie redakcyjne
Piotr Paliwoda
Projekt okładki i stron tytułowych
Sepielak
www.universitas.com.pl
FROM:
I do not know what theory I should use!
I do not know how to organise my contents!
I do not know how to start!
I do not know anything.
TO:
My M.A. project has been successfully completed.
For those, who cherish the joy of opening the gates
to the unknown and under-investigated,
this book has been wri(cid:2) en.
CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 1: Motivation and academic honesty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Academia and the institutional environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Translation seminars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Academic supervision – working with your supervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Motivation in choosing an M.A. topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Academic honesty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 2: English for Academic Purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
What is EAP – background information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Understanding academic terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Linguistic and textual considerations in academic writing . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Presenting an argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Paragraph and coherence/cohesion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Signalling words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Useful expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The use of Latin and other borrowings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Problems with lexical items in Polish-English translation . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Abstract writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 3: Translation Studies research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Introduction to research: Polish and English research styles . . . . . . . . . . 49
Disciplinary classifi cation of TS research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Understanding the language of research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
TS research characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Types and areas of TS research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Historical research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Basic models of TS research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Research questions and problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
7
Research methods in TS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Recent developments and new directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Chapter 4: Translation Studies resources and background reading . . 69
Primary, secondary and tertiary sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Publication form: electronic and print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Types of TS resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Chapter 5: Compiling a bibliography and documenting sources . . . . 81
Bibliography vs. works cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Referencing conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
In-text references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Quoting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Chapter 6: M.A. project in Translation Studies –
time management and research design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Research projects vs. M.A. dissertations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Temporal dimension – research in TS is an orderly process . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Textual dimension – M.A. dissertation has a structure and follows
a style sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Chapter 7: Quality checks – editing and revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Time to revise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Types of revision and editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Computer aids in copy editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Typographical errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Inclusive language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Critical point revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Correction symbols and proofreaders’ marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Overview of factors connected with revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Punctuation and typographical signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
8
Chapter 8: Communicating research orally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Orality, se(cid:2) ings and audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Important considerations for successful presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Chapter 9: Preparing for an M.A. exam in Translation Studies . . . . 135
M.A. examinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Self-help techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Question time – thematic areas and sample exam questions in TS . . . . 138
Chapter 10: Tasks and exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Task 1: Information check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Task 2: Formal register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Task 3: Hedges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Task 4: Cohesion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Task 5: Abstract analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Task 6: Contrastive terminological analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Task 7: Textbook analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Task 8: Key word analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Task 9: Identifying types of research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Task 10: Introduction and conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Task 11: Eff ective use of quotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Task 12: Reference list – style sheet conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Task 13: Writing a summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Task 14: Individual research project – critical analysis of a TS text . . . . 153
Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Appendix 1. FAQs (Frequently asked questions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Appendix 2. Frequently used TS abbreviations and acronyms . . . . . . . . 160
Associations, networks etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Appendix 3. Relevant abbreviations in academic writing . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Appendix 4. Diploma thesis timetable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Appendix 5. Research proposals and progress reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
9
Appendix 6. Sample style sheet for M.A. papers in TS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Appendix 7. Sample tables of contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Appendix 8. Frequently used revision abbreviations and symbols –
a key to revision marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Appendix 9. Grading systems – how to understand the grading of
student assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Appendix 10. Evaluating research – a review sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Translation Studies library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Works cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
10
Introduction
AUDIENCE AND AIM
The book is aimed at those who want to investigate translation-related
problems and write a Master’s thesis that is an academic thesis as part
of their second cycle of studies in the European Higher Education Area.
This target audience may be enlarged to include Bachelor’s degree stu-
dents (the fi rst level) for whom certain remarks and chapters in the
book will be equally pertinent.
The aim of the book is to guide and assist its users at each stage of
their research, from identifying an area of interest, through selecting
a topic, planning and conducting the research, to submi(cid:2) ing their the-
sis and defending it in a fi nal exam. Students may fi nd it useful for self-
study and reference, while teachers and supervisors can use it to en-
hance their course material.
PRELIMINARY ASSUMPTIONS
This book is not an introduction to Translation Studies (TS), yet it helps
the reader to gain a certain overview of the discipline by addressing spe-
cifi c topics and methodologies. It is also not a style manual or a techni-
cal writing course book. It does not teach how to write in English (this is
a prerequisite) but it does teach how to apply the rules of academic Eng-
lish when writing a diploma thesis on TS. The publication combines in
one textbook two things we need to know: what is required in TS re-
search and what is the language that should be used.
11
THE KEY NOTIONS
One key notion is research. Coming from the Old French recercher, it
means to seek, to search. It is defi ned as a systematic and methodical in-
vestigation of a subject in order to discover new facts and new informa-
tion, or create new laws and to reach a new understanding. It is diffi cult
for research to be truly successful and enjoyable without curiosity, in-
spiration, motivation, discipline and personal enthusiasm.
Another key notion throughout the book is translation research as
this is the target area for the investigations. This involves an academic
study of various translation and translation-related phenomena, both
theoretical and practical, from a number of perspectives that fall within
or cross traditional disciplines, such as linguistics, comparative litera-
ture, literary criticism, philosophy, anthropology and cultural studies.
These perspectives unite within and also go beyond TS, the discipline
dedicated solely to translation research, which is itself an interdisciplin-
ary and international area of scholarship. The book is addressed both to
those who are motivated to do TS research and those who struggle with
such motivation.
THE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION
The book is wri(cid:2) en in English and it is chiefl y aimed at Polish-English
translation students who are writing their M.A. theses in English al-
though most of the information in the text refers to wider problems
than those that concern one particular language pair. Therefore, it is
a useful resource book for anyone undertaking research in TS.
Polish students will additionally benefi t from the comparative and
contrastive aspects that are present at many levels, from the technicali-
ties of writing (lexical problems, styles of academic writing), to actually
conducting TS research (research traditions and styles).
12
AUTHENTICITY
The material in the book comes from the seminar courses that the au-
thors have conducted over several years and, due to the fact that the feed-
back is based on experience, the assumptions refl ected in the book and
the knowledge presented to the reader are well grounded in practice.
The problems addressed usually originated from authentic research
and writing dilemmas, ranging from major diffi culties, such as meth-
odology and thesis design, to the technical details, such as the number
of pages, footnotes, fonts, spacing, paragraphing, etc. The book is illus-
trated with examples taken from the classroom as well as TS disserta-
tions that were actually submi(cid:2) ed and defended.
STRUCTURE
Wri(cid:2) en in a user-friendly and approachable style, the book has a clear
logic and format. It consists of 10 chapters, 10 appendices and, what the
authors call a TS library. Although the necessary theory is included,
the book is not about abstract thinking and theorising but practice. Fre-
quently encountered problems and common mistakes are richly illus-
trated with authentic examples.
Chapter Ten is devoted entirely to practical tasks and exercises. The
Index and FAQs (Appendix 1) allow for a quick search of pertinent in-
formation. Chapters One to Nine follow a similar arrangement. For the
sake of clarity, they begin with sections entitled Key words and Key ques-
tions. The Chapter guidelines at the end recapitulate the major issues and
off er practical hints and advice. Finally, the Recommended reading lists
further reading, including web pages relevant to the topics and prob-
lems discussed in the chapter.
Appendices off er practical and illustrative material, such as, e.g. fre-
quently used TS abbreviations, a sample style sheet and lists of con-
tents. A diploma thesis timetable (Appendix 4) will assist students in
planning their work on their thesis while a review sheet (Appendix 10)
will enable them to self-evaluate their research.
13
Because research is understood as social communication, the book
also discusses aspects of the academic environment, such as working
with a supervisor (Chapter 1), communicating research results (Chap-
ter 8) and taking the M.A. examination (Chapter 9).
The Translation Studies library is a helpful TS bibliography which
provides an overview of canonical TS reference works, journals and rel-
evant publications on translation theory (mainly companions and man-
uals), as well as other important works that are arranged thematically.
The themes range from audiovisual and multimedia translation to legal
translation and translator training. The TS library could be a starting
point for TS reading and is useful when evaluating research in the fi eld.
Further TS reading is included in the section Works cited.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful to their seminar Students whose motivation
and work on their theses made the work on this book purposeful and
worthwhile. Considerable inspiration for this publication came from
The Map by Jenny Williams and Andrew Chesterman. The book con-
vinced the authors that it is possible to write a simple, brief, yet infor-
mative and useful resource book on translation research for translation
students.
We hope that undertaking research on translation can be an exciting
voyage of discovery.
Bon Voyage!
Szerokiej drogi!
The Authors
Kraków, March 2012
14
Chapter 1: Motivation and academic honesty
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
KEY WORDS
academia, academic environment, international, motivation, plagia-
rism, seminar course, supervision, supervisor, topic selection
KEY QUESTIONS
What are seminar courses in TS?
How best to approach the selection of your topic?
What to consider in choosing an M.A. supervisor?
What is plagiarism? What are its consequences? How can I avoid it?
ACADEMIA AND THE INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
In those European universities where the Bologna Agreement has been
implemented, certain similarities in the academic systems have start-
ed to appear. A discipline like Translation Studies, which is relatively
young, interdisciplinary, ‘multilingual’ and multicultural in nature,
in particular calls for communication and international exchange. It is
hardly an overstatement to label TS institutes across Europe as ‘corpo-
rate academic culture’. Many translation research projects are conduct-
ed ‘horizontally’ – with scholars participating from diff erent universi-
ties in various countries. Therefore, M.A. work in TS done by a student
from Italy, or Spain, for instance, will share characteristics with the
work of a Polish student because it is a TS dissertation, rather than be
distinctive because it comes from another country. In other words, TS
research and papers have become international.
Institutional conditions may and should have some infl uence on the
work done. If the translation institute in which you are studying for an
M.A. degree specialises in audiovisual translation, for example, the
15
availability of AVT research tools, AVT data corpora and experience in
designing AVT studies will be greater than in an institution where AVT
material is less central and not easily accessible because the research fo-
cus is elsewhere.
Generally, the choice of the research study depends on existing
knowledge of the subject and the resources available. Hence, it is neces-
sary to pose various questions with the enquiry to be undertaken depen-
dent upon diff erent research designs.
TRANSLATION SEMINARS
In academia, writing academic papers in order to a(cid:2) ain academic de-
grees is a central part of studying and a considerable time investment in
your own development. In Polish M.A. programmes, research is the fo-
cus of courses called ‘seminars’. Seminar guidelines address writing and
argumentation but the main objective is the preparation of an individu-
al research project and writing a diploma thesis according to the criteria
established in a given discipline, in this case – the Translation Studies.
Translation seminar courses focus on teaching students about ac-
ademic research in the area in question and preparing them for writ-
ing and submi(cid:2) ing a diploma work based on their research. A seminar
is not a technical writing class, although it may incorporate some ele-
ments of technical writing towards project preparation and apply the
principles of academic English usage when writing a diploma thesis.
Competence in English is a prerequisite, however, any opportunity to
improve and expand your linguistic repertoire during the seminars is to
be encouraged. Two perspectives are usually adopted for such courses:
a global view, in which TS as an autonomous discipline is recognised
and TS research is mapped onto TS; and a regional approach, which fo-
cuses on an individual student’s research work towards their M.A. de-
gree. The seminar course encompasses elements of general TS research
and specifi cally off ers supervision and guidance with regard to an in-
dividual M.A. project.
As far as teaching arrangements are concerned, the seminar course
is off ered over the four semesters of a master’s degree, and consists of 30
16
contact hours every semester plus an estimated 45 hours of individual
homework in the fi rst two semesters’ time, which gradually increases
in semesters three and four.
ACADEMIC SUPERVISION – WORKING WITH YOUR
SUPERVISOR
Academic supervision is another factor to consider. Your research work
for your dissertation will go more smoothly if your and your supervi-
sor’s intellectual styles are not dissimilar. Communication is vital to
your progress and that is why in your choice of a supervisor you should
be guided by how easy communication might be between you and your
supervisor.
In the context of topic selection, interest is another signifi cant fac-
tor: it is more sensible to choose a supervisor whose research area cov-
ers your M.A. topic. Their help will be more fruitful then. Otherwise,
if you insist on sticking to a topic of your choice (that you have selected
randomly without proper enquiry and background knowledge, for ex-
ample, on the basis of few internet articles) which has nothing to do, or
not much to do with the seminar theme and your supervisor’s speciali-
sation, your work may be held back due to a lack of adequate guidance.
Use the opportunities you have – seminar time, offi ce hours, to com-
municate with your supervisor. E-mail correspondence works well for
simple ma(cid:2) ers and arrangements but is not really suitable for concep-
tual queries.
MOTIVATION IN CHOOSING AN M.A. TOPIC
Let us quote a fragment from the conclusion of a book wri(cid:2) en by two
acknowledged translation scholars, Williams and Chesterman: “Re-
search is a journey with no ultimate end-point. But the travelling can
be fun” (2002: 128). And let us disagree. Research is abstract – it never
ends, true, but on the other hand, a specifi c study conducted within the
framework of a wider research scheme and undertaken with the inten-
17
tion of completing it does have and should have an end. Not always is
this end an end in itself. Sometimes it may be a means to another end,
as in, for example, a pilot study to investigate translation market needs
in a specifi c target area, which may also inquire into theoretical models
of translation competence.
Translation research, like other kinds of research, should be moti-
vated, should have some inspiration, a researcher’s drive to go further,
to explore, to aim at a goal. The researcher’s joy and fun, as Williams
and Chesterman put it, starts already at the very beginning of a given
project. In other words, in your TS research try to explore the areas you
really do want to investigate, and fi nd a topic that promises satisfaction
in delving more deeply into something you are truly interested in. Ir-
respective of what you intend to a(cid:2) ain, the goal of gaining a degree, of
having your text published, of completing an academic project, of ful-
fi lling institutional or academic requirements, the path to your destina-
tion may either be nightmare when doing research that is boring or the
pleasure of discovery and a scholarly adventure. Aside from the satis-
faction of completing the task and gaining an M.A. degree, writing can
be both challenging and creative, provided you do it with the right mo-
tivation and passion for translation.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Writing an M.A. thesis, and indeed any academic text, involves more
or less direct dialogue with other authors through their books and ar-
ticles. In each and every act of communication in which the parties re-
spect and take each other seriously, which is the ideal of the academic
community, we would not like to have our words distorted, misinter-
preted or simply stolen. Maintaining the principles of academic hon-
esty and integrity involves avoiding a serious breach of such principles,
which is plagiarism.
Literally, plagiarism means kidnapping (from Latin plagiarus, ‘kid-
napper’). In the context of research papers it means appropriating some-
body else’s words or ideas without giving them credit. It can have a num-
ber of forms. Another author’s expressions (sentences or even passages)
18
are quoted verbatim yet are not marked as quotations, or are wri(cid:2) en in
a slightly paraphrased way, likewise without specifying the source. Fi-
nally, another author’s book, article or argument may be copied. It is in
the last case that it may be the easiest to commit what is called uninten-
tional plagiarism. Reading a well-wri(cid:2) en and well-structured text on
a closely related topic, a student may – somewhat inadvertently – fol-
low another author’s argument, structure or line of thinking.
With the editing possibilities of modern so(cid:15) ware and the availability
of material in electronic form, you may copy something without noting
the source and later assume this is your own work. Good note-taking
can save you a lot of time, trouble and embarrassment. Further, easy ac-
cess to free, on-line texts does not mean that internet publications can
be copied and distributed as you please. This is the same with regard
to audio-visual material (photos, diagrams, fi lms, recordings, etc.).
Good academic practice has it that information from personal commu-
nication (e-mails, le(cid:2) ers, conversation) should also be acknowledged.
No ma(cid:2) er whether you deal with print or internet material, it is vital
to properly acknowledge sources whenever quoting, paraphrasing,
summarizing or borrowing ideas (see Chapter 5 for details).
In the student context, self-plagiarism, also referred to as recy-
cling fraud, text recycling or text reuse, may take place when you de-
cide to write your M.A. thesis on a topic very closely related to that of
your B.A. diploma work, reuse a substantial part of one of your texts in
a diff erent one or submit a course paper already completed for another
course. Discuss such cases with your instructors and ask their permis-
sion to stick with the topic addressed in your B.A. thesis or to rework
a paper prepared for a previous course.
In the academia, authors who use some of their earlier publications
typically make a note of this and quote the pertinent material (self-ci-
tation). Self-citation which is excessive and/or unjustifi ed tends to be
approached with distaste. Follow good academic practices and avoid re-
cycling your work.
Some writers, unfortunately, for a number of reasons decide to com-
mit plagiarism advertently. Yet plagiarism is easier to detect than some
students may think. On the one hand, anti-plagiarism so(cid:15) ware has
become widely available and is used by many universities as a default
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