Tallinn workshops

Writing a scientific paper and getting published

 Elisabeth Heseltine

The purpose of the workshop is to help scientists communicate more effectively, to help them present the results of their research in a way that will best convince the editors of journals, the reviewers and readers that their work is important and reliable.

It is designed to help scientists who already have a good command of English (or for whom English is the native language) to structure their papers—that is, to arrange the necessary material into sections in a logical order so that the reader will be led through the arguments and thus understand the relevance of the results.

Two manuscripts will  be chosen from among those submitted by participants to illustrate the discussion.  Contact will be maintained with the authors of those papers until the manuscripts are actually published.  This includes revising the manuscripts before submission to the journal, for structure, style and language and revising the accompanying letter to the editor of the journal. Once the manuscript has been returned with reviewers’ comments, the revised manuscripts are again looked at for clarity, and comments are given on the answers to reviewers’ comments and the second letter to the editor of the journal.  The remaining participants are asked to send the first paper that they write after the workshop for suggestions on improving structure and for editing.

 

Readability: 10 strategies for improving flow in translated or non-English speakers’ texts

John Bates, head of the Language Service of the Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, Spain ([email protected])

Purpose: To identify 10 salient features of clear, flowing text so that authors, translators and editors can objectively determine whether their texts will be readily understood by their intended audience.

Description: The workshop will describe 10 features of flowing text, illustrate each feature with sentence-level examples or short paragraphs, and give authors, translators and editors clear advice on the strategies they need at the composition and revision stages for their prose to be clear and effective. Participants will be given the opportunity to revise short texts produced by both native and non-native English speakers. Most of the examples are taken from scientific research articles but the principles are broadly applicable to many institutional and business texts.

Structure: Each feature of flowing text will first be described. Participants will then be given short samples to revise or discuss individually or in groups.

Who should attend? The workshop will be useful to all those who have to compose or revise texts, but who lack objective principles for improving their own drafts or other writers’ poorly written texts.

Outcome skills: Following the workshop, the participants will be able to recognize the features of flowing texts and identify obstacles to readability. They will be able to base their composition and revision work on sound, objective principles so the texts they produce will be readily understood by their intended audience.

 

Effective computer-aided translation software: memoQ   

Marek Pawelec, Freelance English-Polish translator, Kraków, Poland

Purpose: Presentation of major features of memoQ, a modern Computer Aided Translation (CAT) tool, which helps in the translation process by simplifying the terminology management and re-use of repeating phrases or sentences.

Description: The workshop will cover the basic description of the use of memoQ, through project creation and document translation to more advanced features of the software, including some useful tips and tricks and the possibility to use earlier translations in a simple way through the corpus feature. Participants will learn how to use the software to translate various types of documents, create and re-use translation memories and term bases – including importing the already existing ones – and perform the quality-assurance procedures, including the review of finished translations and exporting several bilingual text formats.

Structure: Presentation of the software usage. All participants will receive source files and fully functional, time-limited demo version of memoQ software, allowing them to gain a practical knowledge of the program.

Who should attend? The workshop will be useful to all translators and reviewers working with CAT tools or considering using a CAT tool.

Outcome skills: After the workshop, the participants will be able to effectively use memoQ software for translation, terminology management, quality assurance and the review of translations in bilingual formats.

 

How to be a successful journal editor

Pippa Smart

Purpose: The workshop will provide editors with information, tips and guides on how to make their journal more successful – with more submissions, more readers and greater visibility.

Description: the workshop has three parts: “publishers and editors”, “working with authors” and “publishing for readers”. Within the sessions we will consider recent developments in publishing, the role of editors, journal indexing, calls for authors, author services and peer review, how to best present content (especially online) and how to attract and keep readers, and how to increase citations.

Structure: the event is highly interactive with most topics being introduced and then considered through exercises and discussion.

Who should attend? The workshop is aimed at editors-in-chief, editorial board members and senior managing editors

Outcome: by the end of the workshop the participants should have an outline strategy plan for developing and improving their journal.