Academic Thesis Translation for the USA

Copyright, permissions and deferred publication

At US universities a thesis is usually deposited in an archive, and the author documents the permissions obtained for figures, tables or quotations drawn from other sources; these permission notes and copyright statements are preserved as they stand in the translation. Skipping over a permission statement, or interpreting it, leaves the publication rights position of the work unclear. Source titles, author details and publication references are not translated; an exact match between in-text citations and the bibliography is the mark of scholarly reliability.

An author may prefer the thesis to be kept closed to access for a period (an embargo), whether for reasons of patent or of publication strategy; where such a record exists it is stated in the translation, because it shows when and how the work may be shared. Units of measurement, formulae and symbols are conveyed without conversion. Which part of the thesis is to be translated is settled at the outset; that prevents both a needless widening of scope and the accidental circulation of a section that is subject to permission.

The committee, the defence and academic integrity

In US postgraduate work a thesis is defended before a supervisor and a committee, and the language and clarity of the work play their part in that assessment. Where a Turkish thesis is being prepared for an application or a publication in the USA, it matters that the translation meets the academic writing standards of the target language; a translation that is hard to follow or inconsistent can leave even strong research struggling in assessment. The ordering of the sections and the use of headings are handled with the target expectation in view.

US academia is strict about academic integrity and plagiarism checking, which is why direct quotations must be conveyed accurately, with their source, and kept distinct from the author’s own words. Where quotation and the author’s own expression run into one another, the meaning suffers and a question of scholarly integrity arises. Source titles and publication references are not translated; an exact match between in-text citations and the bibliography is the mark of the work’s reliability.

Some concepts have no settled equivalent in the target language; where that happens, the international usage of the field is taken as the basis and an explanation added where needed. Units of measurement, formulae and symbols are preserved as they stand; converting a formula or a value alters the data of the research. A concept is referred to by a single equivalent throughout the text, because different equivalents leave the reader with the impression of two separate concepts; in a long thesis that consistency is secured by a term list.

Dissertation, thesis and the ProQuest archive

In US academia a doctoral dissertation and a master’s thesis are usually deposited in a central archive such as ProQuest and searched through the abstract. If a Turkish thesis is to be published in the USA or attached to an application, an accurate translation of the abstract bears directly on how findable the work is, because searching and screening go through that section first. Which sections are to be translated, the full text or the abstract and certain parts, should be established from the target university or journal.

University style rules (APA/Chicago)

US universities and journals are bound to particular style and citation systems (APA, Chicago, MLA), and the title, abstract, keywords and bibliography are arranged accordingly. The translation is prepared so as to meet the style expectations of the target without altering the content of the source text. Source titles, author details and publication references are an identity; they are not translated but preserved as they stand. An exact match between in-text citations and the bibliography is the mark of scholarly reliability.

Approval and common mistakes

There is no sworn translator regime in the USA; in academic translation what usually decides matters is not official approval but the scholarly quality and consistency of the translation. An application file may call for a certified translation, that is, a translation accompanied by a signed declaration of accuracy; recognition of a degree, by contrast, is the business of bodies such as WES or ECE and stands apart from the thesis itself.

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

The USA 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 journal concerned.