Poll: Have you ever paid for a full publication text to use as a reference?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
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Aug 9, 2017

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever paid for a full publication text to use as a reference?".

This poll was originally submitted by Ekaterina Chashnikova. View the poll results »



 
Julian Holmes
Julian Holmes  Identity Verified
Japan
Local time: 07:08
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Hunh Aug 9, 2017

What is this 'full publication text' thing of which thou speakest? A 'full-text publication' of, say, a scientific paper?

Can't begin to answer without some clarification.

[Edited at 2017-08-09 09:00 GMT]


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 22:08
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Neither can I! Aug 9, 2017

Julian Holmes wrote:

What is this 'full publication text' thing of which thou speakest? A 'full-text publication' of, say, a scientific paper?

Can't begin to answer without some clarification.

[Edited at 2017-08-09 08:46 GMT]


I just can't understand the question!


 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:08
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
Me too Aug 9, 2017

I don't understand the question either. Pray explain.

 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 23:08
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Depends what you mean Aug 9, 2017

I don't understand the question either, but I have paid in full for quite a lot of things over the years to use as references.

From various treatises on English Usage - Longman, Swann, Gowers & Co, and the Chicago Manual - and works on the Danish language, to books on my specialist subjects, medical terminology and handbooks, and law.

Apart from that, I have a whole library of exciting reference books I have bought cheaply at second-hand bookshops and even jumble sales
... See more
I don't understand the question either, but I have paid in full for quite a lot of things over the years to use as references.

From various treatises on English Usage - Longman, Swann, Gowers & Co, and the Chicago Manual - and works on the Danish language, to books on my specialist subjects, medical terminology and handbooks, and law.

Apart from that, I have a whole library of exciting reference books I have bought cheaply at second-hand bookshops and even jumble sales as reference and bedtime reading... Food for thought, but they don't keep you awake.

As far as I know, I have never ordered and paid for material by authors of texts I have translated to use for reference purposes, but I have been given a couple of books, usually after the event.
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Elizabeth Tamblin
Elizabeth Tamblin  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:08
French to English
Of course Aug 9, 2017

Who hasn't bought reference books?

 
Alexandra Speirs
Alexandra Speirs  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:08
Italian to English
+ ...
regulations Aug 9, 2017

I think she means things like complete EU Regulations, standards and so on.
Often these cannot be consulted on-line and you are invited to buy one.
I've never bought one though, just kept Googling until I found the bit I needed.

In the good old days before Internet, I of course bought loads of dictionaries.
Oxfam also provided me with a History of the Ancient Catholic Church, which was very useful for one of my frequent customers.


 
Nikki Graham
Nikki Graham  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 22:08
Spanish to English
Journal articles Aug 9, 2017

If you mean journal articles, then yes, I have bought some to research quotes and terminology. But with clever googling this is often unnecessary.

 
Muriel Vasconcellos
Muriel Vasconcellos  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 15:08
Member (2003)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Occasionally, but not very much recently Aug 9, 2017

Nikki Graham wrote:

If you mean journal articles, then yes, I have bought some to research quotes and terminology. But with clever googling this is often unnecessary.


Like Nikki, I've learned that with clever googling it's often possible not to have to pay for an article that the publisher wants money for.


 
Gitte Hoveds (X)
Gitte Hoveds (X)
Denmark
Local time: 23:08
Danish to English
+ ...
Yes, and then I complained about the quality! Aug 9, 2017

Apart from the obvious reference works like dictionaries, I once bought a translation of a legal document, a contract of some sort, to use as reference. When I read it, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, as it was full of mistakes that even I could see, and I am no expert on legal language.

The online company that had sold me the translation was very quick to ask me to leave a rating on 'TrustPilot', which in Denmark is used by all kinds of companies to get customers to rate the
... See more
Apart from the obvious reference works like dictionaries, I once bought a translation of a legal document, a contract of some sort, to use as reference. When I read it, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, as it was full of mistakes that even I could see, and I am no expert on legal language.

The online company that had sold me the translation was very quick to ask me to leave a rating on 'TrustPilot', which in Denmark is used by all kinds of companies to get customers to rate them and, presumably, attract more customers. I left a rather negative comment, giving the company (not the document) two stars out of five. Within five minutes, I had a phone call from the company, asking what had gone wrong, and how could they make it up to me? I explained the problem, and was offered a full refund and the chance to translate the document professionally. Obviously, I didn't want the job, as I did not feel competent to do it, but I passed it on to someone else. So something good came out of a disappointing experience...
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Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 23:08
French to English
Scientific publications: full-text access rather than just the abstract Aug 9, 2017

If you have done it, you will probably see what the Asker is getting at. Tools such as Zotero and End Note will also have meaning for you! Useful in translation, not just in research.

Here's an example. If you consult a scientific article, here's an example of one (link below) on autism and genetics where you will see top right there is a link to the full article. More often than not, access to abstracts is free of ch
... See more
If you have done it, you will probably see what the Asker is getting at. Tools such as Zotero and End Note will also have meaning for you! Useful in translation, not just in research.

Here's an example. If you consult a scientific article, here's an example of one (link below) on autism and genetics where you will see top right there is a link to the full article. More often than not, access to abstracts is free of charge. However, if you need to see the theoretical background whcih has led the team to investigate the issue in the first place, their chosen pethods, the experimental protocol, the results, analysis/discussion, conclusion and, most importantly, the bibliography, you will often wish to access the full article to see those details.

There are increasing moves to make all research publications "open access", i.e. free access to the full paper. There are fors and against, and nuanced arguments too. Elsevier, which holds the copyright to zillions of medical and scientific papers, would prefer everything to remain as is: abstract only to get you drooling and full whack for full access.

Certain types of research on the net can enable you to get round this to a certain extent, Google Scholar, Google Books, but also collaborative sites like "Researchgate".

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28774669

And yes, I have paid for full access when it has been essential, although rarely, as I am enrolled at Saint Andrews Uni in Scotland for a post-grad course I'm doing and at Tours Uni in France for a Masters course, I am prepared to pay for a paper if it's essential. The other way round it is to write to the firs-named author who will sometimes send a copy, or a link to the source on Researchgate.

P.S.: Isn't the term "full-text publication" rather than "full publication text" by the way?

[Edited at 2017-08-09 13:46 GMT]

[Edited at 2017-08-09 13:48 GMT]
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Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 19:08
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Aug 9, 2017

I started working in the 1980's, so I had to buy some dictionaries, and I used the libraries a lot to find references, since there was nothing like internet, Google, etc.
But I really don't think this question is applicable in the 21st Century. There woundn't be a use for that, unless the person is not very good at searching the internet, and prefers the old style (I know some do). But we need to translate terms and expressions, and that does not require full-text articles or so many hours
... See more
I started working in the 1980's, so I had to buy some dictionaries, and I used the libraries a lot to find references, since there was nothing like internet, Google, etc.
But I really don't think this question is applicable in the 21st Century. There woundn't be a use for that, unless the person is not very good at searching the internet, and prefers the old style (I know some do). But we need to translate terms and expressions, and that does not require full-text articles or so many hours of dedication to understand a certain topic. At least, I don't have time for that. All I need to find is the term or expression in the target language. I don't need to become an expert in the topic to translate, although that could help a lot. But the money I's spend buying these articles and the time I'd spend reading and understanding them sound like more damaging to my job and income than profitable for a type of knowledge that I'll very unlikely need again in the future.

[Edited at 2017-08-09 13:59 GMT]
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Fiona Grace Peterson
Fiona Grace Peterson  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 23:08
Italian to English
No Aug 9, 2017

If we are talking about scientific articles, then no, because I would have to subtract the fee I pay for access from the price I'm paid for that job. Often it's not economically viable, and I can probably find the same information elsewhere with a bit of research.

 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 23:08
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
I have always got by with the abstract, googling and asking the client... Aug 9, 2017

... and sometimes been given a section of text as reference. The work I do is very rarely specialised enough to call for a specific paper as reference. As a former librarian, I am quite good at finding things that are generally available.

If I did pay for a full text just for the one job, I would ask the client first, and if they agreed, invoice them for it afterwards.


 


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Poll: Have you ever paid for a full publication text to use as a reference?






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