Translation as a Research Output

Translation (work)

A scholarly publication that renders a previously-published work from one natural language into another, with the translator(s) credited and the original work referenced, treated as a distinct research output for purposes of credit, citation, and intellectual contribution.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 22 Aug 2026

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Translation work is a scholarly publication that renders a previously published work from one natural language into another, with the translator credited and the original work cited — treated as a distinct research output in its own right for purposes of citation, credit, and repository deposit, not merely a derivative copy. This matters particularly in the humanities, history of science, religious studies, and language scholarship, where a well-annotated translation can be as significant a contribution as original research.

How it differs from related terms: Translation work is the output; translator contribution is the credit given to the person who produced it. A machine-generated rendering via a tool covered under AI translation is not treated as translation work in the scholarly-output sense — it lacks the translator’s own interpretive and terminological judgement and is not normally citable as a distinct research product.

A scholarly translation typically includes critical apparatus — footnotes on textual ambiguity, terminology choices, and historical context — that distinguishes it from a plain-text rendering and supports its treatment as an independent, citable output alongside the original.

References

ISO 17100:2015, Translation services
MLA Committee on Translation Studies guidelines

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Translation (work)"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/translation-work" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/translation-work",
  "name": "Translation (work)",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/translation-work",
  "description": "A scholarly publication that renders a previously-published work from one natural language into another, with the translator(s) credited and the original work referenced, treated as a distinct research output for purposes of credit, citation, and intellectual contribution.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-outputs#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/translation-work",
  "sameAs": [
    "Scholarly translation",
    "Translation publication"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-08-22T15:04:42",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}