English abstracts in electronic translation studies journals in Spain, 2011--12
Daniel Linder · 2013
In a study of 197 abstracts that appeared in 10 specialized Translation Studies (TS) journals published in Spain during 2011--12, 73 were found to contain grammatical, vocabulary and/or typographical errors. Journals that did not comply with the length of abstracts stated in their own author guidelines, monographical guest-edited issues of journals and journals that are published online only (no paper-printed version is produced) were found to have a higher incidence of error. When cross-checked against the language policies and author guidelines of each journal (whether journals required an English abstract, what the required abstract length was, and other factors) and particularly when checked against the application of these policies and guidelines, error incidence was found to correspond loosely with lax compliance, guest-editing of monographs and online-only publications. Important developments in the area of open access Spanish TS journals are currently underway, so authors, journal editors and information professionals need to be keenly aware of the importance of high English abstract quality.