Ethical issue - potential plagiarism Thread poster: Amanda Haste
|
|---|
I specialize in academic texts and I'm becoming increasingly worried about potential plagiarism.
Scenario 1: I'm getting jobs from students who put their papers through anti-plagiarism software before asking me to proof read the English. The implication is that if the software doesn't pick up plagiarized text, they leave it in.
Scenario 2: With the ever-increasing pressure to publish, what if someone asks me to translate a paper which (in whole or in part) does not belo... See more I specialize in academic texts and I'm becoming increasingly worried about potential plagiarism.
Scenario 1: I'm getting jobs from students who put their papers through anti-plagiarism software before asking me to proof read the English. The implication is that if the software doesn't pick up plagiarized text, they leave it in.
Scenario 2: With the ever-increasing pressure to publish, what if someone asks me to translate a paper which (in whole or in part) does not belong to them, but that they wish to publish as their own in translation; in this case it would not be detected by anti-plagiarism software.
I don't have specialist software myself, neither do I have the time to surf the open literature. How do I protect myself from accusations of aiding and abetting plagiarism in the event that I unknowingly delivered work involving IP theft?
Should I ask the client to sign a document to say they own the IP of the source text?
Should I have a disclaimer clause in my contract?
Suggestions gratefully received!
Amanda ▲ Collapse
| | | | Phil Hand 
China
Local time: 09:17
Chinese to English
AmandaHaste PhD wrote:
I specialize in academic texts and I'm becoming increasingly worried about potential plagiarism.
Scenario 1: I'm getting jobs from students who put their papers through anti-plagiarism software before asking me to proof read the English. The implication is that if the software doesn't pick up plagiarized text, they leave it in.
Scenario 2: With the ever-increasing pressure to publish, what if someone asks me to translate a paper which (in whole or in part) does not belong to them, but that they wish to publish as their own in translation; in this case it would not be detected by anti-plagiarism software.
I don't have specialist software myself, neither do I have the time to surf the open literature. How do I protect myself from accusations of aiding and abetting plagiarism in the event that I unknowingly delivered work involving IP theft?
Should I ask the client to sign a document to say they own the IP of the source text?
Should I have a disclaimer clause in my contract?
Suggestions gratefully received!
Amanda
You should absolutely do both of those things. We are people who work with intellectual property, and it is absolutely right that we should be concerned about abuse of it.
When you translate a text, the copyright automatically belongs to you. Under some interpretations, it belongs inalienably to you. But if the IP that you used to create your translation was compromised, that could have an impact on your copyright.
Like you say, you can't guarantee that you personally can catch every plagiarised text. And it's not your job to police students' work. But you can protect yourself legally.
About your scenario 2, though: When I'm translating a document, I do a lot of Googling, and I'll inevitably find a paper if it already exists on the net. If that happens, and the name on the paper isn't your client's name, then it's reasonable to ask what's going on. If you get a logical answer then you accept it; if the answer is unconvincing, then you might reconsider the job.
| | | | Jo Macdonald
Spain
Local time: 03:17
Italian to English
+ ...
| If in doubt, turn the job down | Mar 15, 2013 |
Hi Amanda,
I've been in this sort of situation before (work I considered wrong to be a part of) and turned the job down.
I think having the client sign clauses that give you some limited legal protection is a good idea but as far as I know if you are an accessory to a crime (even unknowingly) you can be prosecuted for your part in it, especially if it was you who made the crime possible. Get some legal advice but I remember once asking about this hypothetical case: I buy a st... See more Hi Amanda,
I've been in this sort of situation before (work I considered wrong to be a part of) and turned the job down.
I think having the client sign clauses that give you some limited legal protection is a good idea but as far as I know if you are an accessory to a crime (even unknowingly) you can be prosecuted for your part in it, especially if it was you who made the crime possible. Get some legal advice but I remember once asking about this hypothetical case: I buy a stolen bike off the bike thief thinking it was their bike to sell. I can be charged and tried for "receiving stolen property" which will get me more prison time than if I'd stolen the bike myself. If I sell the bike to someone else, that's even worse.
If I was in your situation though the big issue wouldn't be legal but moral. Do I want to be part of this? If I had any doubts at all, I'd contact the client and talk about it, and accept to start/finish/deliver the work if they could convince me the work was theirs to sign, or if they quoted the author of text they were using. If I had no doubt the work was theirs, I wouldn't worry about it.
Best of luck, not an easy situation to be in I know.
Jo ▲ Collapse
| | | | David Wright
Austria
Local time: 03:17
German to English
+ ...
| Aiding and abetting | Mar 15, 2013 |
only apply to crimes, and plagiarism, as far as I know, is not a crime.
Copyright is a different issue. If you translate a work that is not the copyright of your client and for the translation of which he/she has not obtained an authorisation, that is a breach of copyright by you (ignorance in copyright is no excuse). You can get your client to sign an agreement guaranteeing to pay your costs if an action is brought against you (but: could you actually enforce it if the client is pe... See more only apply to crimes, and plagiarism, as far as I know, is not a crime.
Copyright is a different issue. If you translate a work that is not the copyright of your client and for the translation of which he/she has not obtained an authorisation, that is a breach of copyright by you (ignorance in copyright is no excuse). You can get your client to sign an agreement guaranteeing to pay your costs if an action is brought against you (but: could you actually enforce it if the client is penniless?). Your translation is itself not likely to be in breach of the copyright in someone else's translation unless you accidentally produce an identical translation.
Under scenario 1, I don't think you can be certain that it is indeed plagiarised (and how do you know they have run it through a-p software - whcih as far as I know is not easily accessible)
If I am convinced that the paper (Scenario 2) is indeed not theirs (proof?), then I would inform the client and refuse the job.
There is also the situation where the client's text is actually based on - or is a direct translation of - a text in another language (esp. English in the modern world of academics). If you find the original, you cannot use it as a "translation". At this point, I would inform the client of the existence of the translation and wash your hands of the job. If he/she uses it, it will by picked up as plagiarism by the a-p software. ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 19:17
Dutch to English
+ ...
I would also recommend getting malpractice insurance.
| | | |
AmandaHaste PhD wrote:
Should I ask the client to sign a document to say they own the IP of the source text?
Should I have a disclaimer clause in my contract?
I think your posting here is probably a bit rhetorical. We often ask in professional fora just to get some kind of confirmation, while at the same time deep inside we already know the answer and are already aware of what we need to do to prevent concepts of risk from looping around in our heads.
In this case, if you feel that these two things will cut the loop of doubt in your head, you definitely need to do them. And of course, we are all entitled to lead a healthy, sane professional life and should never translate something that we feel is damaging to anybody. If you notice plagiarism while you are working on someone's essays... you should politely decline to continue to do the job.
Maybe a third question you can ask yourself is:
"Should I add a clause stating that I reserve the right to stop working on an accepted translation at my sole discretion for ethical and/or legal reasons?"
| | | | | Plagiarism in translation - never heard of | Mar 16, 2013 |
I would ask what with two stolen sentences in the whole essay to be translated? Am I guilty of something if I didn't spot it? Who can convict me when I take a good lawyer and be ready to go to the Supreme Court if need be?
[Edited at 2013-03-16 16:55 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-03-16 16:55 GMT]
[Edited at 2013-03-16 16:55 GMT]
| | | | Amanda Haste
France
Local time: 03:17
French to English
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks for your advice | Mar 17, 2013 |
Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for your sane advice which, apart from one exception, bear out my concerns. This is certainly a moral as well as a legal issue, and if I suspected plagiarism at the start NTS I would refuse the work on moral grounds.
Oddly enough, for my 'Scenario 1' it was a student who (very honestly) recently proposed a partly plagiarized essay for proof reading which set me thinking seriously about this problem. The ST they sent me had, as they informed ... See more Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for your sane advice which, apart from one exception, bear out my concerns. This is certainly a moral as well as a legal issue, and if I suspected plagiarism at the start NTS I would refuse the work on moral grounds.
Oddly enough, for my 'Scenario 1' it was a student who (very honestly) recently proposed a partly plagiarized essay for proof reading which set me thinking seriously about this problem. The ST they sent me had, as they informed me, been 'run through AP software' and they had highlighted the offending sections picked up by the programme as they would need to be 'rewritten'. I pointed out that if the sources were valid and relevant it was fine to quote them SO LONG AS THEY WERE FULLY REFERENCED and cited in the bibliography. [I have to say that the plagiarized sections stood out a mile anyway as the English suddenly became faultless!] In my reply I specified that I would not be rewriting anything for them , but simply correcting their text for grammar, style and content, and that I would only accept the finalized, plagiarism-free essay. The point is that students do appear to have access to AP software...thus for some, the obligatory AP disclaimer does not mean 'this is all my own work' but more 'catch me if you can'. This I find distressing on moral grounds.
In my 'Scenario 2' I would only be able to spot a plagiarized paper if that paper were already in the open literature and thus visible to my Copernicus software.
Following your comments, I am certainly going to strengthen my contract with an IP declaration, based on those which I always have to sign when publishing my own research. And I'll be looking into malpractice insurance. I'm also going to make a point of asking for sight of the full text before proceeding to contract, so I have a chance to do some basic checks before spending time on administration for work which I may subsequently feel I have to turn down. I certainly don't want to find I have to suspend work (and thus probably foregoing payment for any work already done). And I shall be asking clients to specify their academic institution: faculty members generally have an internet profile but it's not always possible to trace students...
Thank you everybody.
Amanda ▲ Collapse
| | |
|
|
|
| It is unethical to question content or motive | Apr 14, 2013 |
I disagree with the majority opinion.
As an industry professional, you are not supposed to question the motives or content of what you are translating, as long as your own actions do not violate the law. It is in fact unethical to be anything other than completely emotionally detached from your profession.
A lawyer must take to the grave confidential information, even confessions to murder.
A priest may never pass judgement.
A translator should never reveal who their clie... See more I disagree with the majority opinion.
As an industry professional, you are not supposed to question the motives or content of what you are translating, as long as your own actions do not violate the law. It is in fact unethical to be anything other than completely emotionally detached from your profession.
A lawyer must take to the grave confidential information, even confessions to murder.
A priest may never pass judgement.
A translator should never reveal who their clients are or what they translated.
If you do come forward and raise a flag, stating someone is committing plagiarism, you will have broken an ethical norm. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nor Afizah
Malaysia
Local time: 09:17
English to Malay
| It's not a crime | Apr 14, 2013 |
Plagiarism, as far as I know, is not a crime.
| | | |
So if you were asked to translate an exchange of emails plotting a bank robbery, you'd have no problem with that?
| | | |
Yes I would, because I would be committing a crime, assisting others in the planning of a crime.
I wouldn't have a problem translating a text lifted from another source, presented as the client's own work though. I might not like it, but I wouldn't raise a flag or turn down the job at the moment. The best I can do for myself is to turn down future jobs from that client.
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Ethical issue - potential plagiarism | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
| | Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
The system lets you keep client/vendor database, with contacts and rates, manage projects and assign jobs to vendors, issue invoices, track payments, store and manage project files, generate business reports on turnover profit per client/manager etc.
More info » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
