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German to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Psychology / citation in a research review
German term or phrase:zusammenfassend
This word is used before the name and date of the author of a reference. I can't think of an equivalent English term used in scholarly writing.
The context is ADHD in adults, with references here to comorbidity with other disorders:
[Barkley et al., 2008; Miller et al., 2007; zusammenfassend Lauth und Minsel, 2009].
It is unclear what Lauth and Minsel are "summarizing." Maybe it means "summary by L and M," as in "a summary of the field." But this is not explicit.
Explanation: This would be one way of expressing it.
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or 'summary of the research to date' would be a way of 'unpacking' it. That's what it means at all events.
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Congratulations! Onwards and upwards...
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2011-10-11 14:18:55 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
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-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 2 hrs (2011-10-11 14:20:00 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
As it says, they provide a comprehensive summary of the current international research on the subject.
Thanks Helen, and to all for thrashing this out. Alison, that's a great source link that may come in useful in the future. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
I chose "1990" just as an example ( could have chosen 1999, 98 etc) simply because I figured that I would get more relevant hits with a date earlier than 2009.
@ Johanna - bit confused, why did you google "1990"?! have I missed something?
I agree with you and Helen tho, dont really see the problem, there are semi-colons between each publication - to me if zusammenfassend specifically belonged to the other two thered be a comma or some other "hinweis" - I dont see the need to add any more to the meaning - (original?) studies/research on the subject can be found in Barkley and co. and Lauth and Minsel discuss the subject in their 2009 edition as part of their umfassenden Ueberblick of international research - its up to the author to be more exact if they have not read any of these publications or want to say something else!
but my point is that 'zusammenfassend' does not mean what you say. I have never come across an abbreviation for such a circumstance. I have, on the other hand, seen people say that they are aware of the existence of something which they have not been able to access - they would not use 'zusammenfassend' in such a circumstance. Lack of access to something does not mean, and never has meant, to summarize.
I came across this phenomenon in what seemed to be a chapter of a PhD paper. Misquotation is actually there in the literature field. I mean only summerasing (i.e. 'X claimed that...') and actually drawing the wrong conclusion or drawing sentences out of context. It is possible that the work/paper is not available in your library, that you can't get it anymore, that you as a reasearcher don't have time and consult a summarising work, I don't know. Point is, it is possible. Otherwise there wouldn't be an abbreviation for it, would there?
I'm not saying they can't understand it. I'm just saying that it may be easier to read one German paper which cites papers written in English than to read the original English. That's what literature reviews are for - people who don't have the time and/or ability to read everything that's been written.
Well, in all my years as an academic and/or translator of academic work, I have never once come across such a case. You may have. What makes you think that this particular author cannot understand the text in question?
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +3
