Academic Thesis Translation for Germany

The confidentiality note and industry-linked theses

Theses carried out in cooperation with industry in Germany frequently carry a confidentiality note (Sperrvermerk), providing that the thesis be kept closed to access for a certain period, or that particular data not be shared. A note of that kind is conveyed in full and as it stands in the translation, because it is what governs the terms on which the work may be shared. Interpreting or softening its scope is not the translator’s business; the wording is carried across in the form it takes in the source.

In such theses the company name, the project codes and the technical data also carry an identity; institution and brand names are not translated but preserved as they are. Units of measurement, formulae and symbols are conveyed without conversion, because they are the data of the research. Which part of the thesis will enter the translation, and how the confidentiality note bears on that scope, is settled at the outset; leaving it unclear risks both a needless piece of translation and a breach of confidentiality.

Type of thesis and form of submission

In German academia a thesis may be a single continuous text (a monograph), or it may be submitted in cumulative form (kumulative Dissertation), assembling articles already published; which form applies, and how it is to be translated, depends on the examination regulations (Promotionsordnung) of the department applied to. In a cumulative thesis the bibliographic details and publication data of the articles are an identity; they are not translated but preserved as they stand. Which part of the text will enter the translation is settled at the outset, because leaving it unclear can bring about a needless widening of scope.

German academic writing carries its own manner of exposition and its own structure; a good translation brings the text into line with that tradition, so that the work reads not as something translated but as a piece written within its own field. The measured tone of the thesis’s claim and the logical flow of its argument are preserved; rendering it more assertive or more cautious than it is changes the stance of the research. That balance tells above all in the abstract and the concluding sections.

Every discipline has a writing tradition of its own; the language of an engineering thesis is not the language of a thesis in the social sciences. The established German terminology of the field is taken as the basis, and a concept is referred to by a single equivalent throughout the text; different equivalents in different places leave the reader with the impression of two separate concepts. Units of measurement, formulae and symbols, by contrast, are preserved as they stand, because they are the data of the research and converting them alters the content.

The Dissertation and the duty to publish

In the German doctoral tradition, publication of the thesis (Dissertation) is often compulsory, and the Promotionsordnung may require it to be made accessible in a particular form. Where a Turkish thesis is being rendered into German or English in that context, which part of it needs translating, the whole text or the abstract and certain sections, should be established from the Promotionsordnung of the university applied to. A translation begun before that is clear can bring about a needless widening of scope.

Translating the Zusammenfassung (abstract)

In the German academic tradition the Zusammenfassung and the English abstract are the parts of a thesis that get read and searched first, so how accurately they are translated bears directly on the visibility of the work. Because the abstract carries the claim and the method of the thesis in condensed form, the choice of terms matters there in particular. The established German terminology of the field is taken as the basis, and a concept must be referred to by a single equivalent throughout the text.

ZAB and the recognition context

Recognition of a degree in Germany is a matter for ZAB and the anabin classification; that, however, concerns the diploma rather than the thesis itself. A thesis translation carries no claim about recognition; it conveys the scholarly content of the research. In an application file the thesis may be submitted together with the diploma and the academic transcript, in which case the spelling of names and the name of the institution must be consistent across every document.

Approval and common mistakes

In academic translation what usually decides matters is not official approval but the scholarly quality and consistency of the translation. Even so, an application or a recognition file may call for a sworn translation, and the stamp of a beeidigter Übersetzer then comes into play.

• Establish the scope required (full text or abstract) from the Promotionsordnung.
• Translate a concept by a single equivalent throughout the text.
• Do not translate source references or convert formulae.

Germany is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; if official approval is required, confirm the current position from the official HCCH list. You can send us your text through our single office in Ankara Kızılay, see the cost on our pricing page, and upload your work to request a quotation. This page is for general information; confirm the exact requirements with the university or institution concerned.