Call for Papers - a Special Issue of STRIDON: Translation, accuracy and integrity in the age of (dis/mal/mis/over)information

10. 10. 2025

Editors

Khetam Al Sharou – Dublin City University, Imperial College London
Christophe Declercq – Utrecht University (University of Antwerp, University College London)
Gys-Walt van Egdom – Utrecht University

Contact

Khetam Al Sharou: khetam.alsharou@dcu.ie
Christophe Declercq: c.j.m.declercq@uu.nl
Gys-Walt van Egdom: g.m.w.vanegdom@uu.nl

Manuscripts should be submitted through the STRIDON homepage and should follow the author guidelines available here: https://journals.uni-lj.si/stridon/about/submissions.

In the age of widespread adoption of AI-powered content production, the ease and speed with which information can be translated, not only interlingually, intralingually and intersemiotically, but also sociotechnically, through filtering, altering, etc.) and spread globally necessitate a clear understanding of the critical role of translation in the age of (erroneous) information overload. Language automation tools – including automated translation – and the increasing prevalence of their synthetic text output raise significant concerns regarding the formation, dissemination, and entrenchment of various types of erroneous information. These concerns encompass categories that, while not strictly distinct, include approximation (translations deemed 'good enough'), extraneous or excluded information (unsolicited additions or omissions in translations), misinformation (seemingly fluent yet altogether inaccurate renderings), disinformation (deliberate distortions and deceptive intent by the human translator, as well as inherent bias in the technology employed), malinformation (the spread of deceptive content intended to cause harm or manipulate perceptions), overinformation (an excess of information that may be futile, irrelevant, or deliberately abundant, leading to the dominance of certain narratives while marginalising others), and hallucinations (including providing synthetic data for training language models and subsequently increase probability of hallucinations even more).

In this context, it becomes crucial to examine how these types of erroneous information impact communication practices through various forms of translation. The proposed special issue therefore draws its innovation and relevance from current global efforts to tackle the rising problem of erroneous information and its societal consequences. This special issue therefore aims to bring together contributions from various strands of translation studies as well as disciplines sharing interests and research in this expansive issue (such as computational linguistics, digital policy-making, and information sciences). With the common theme of erroneous information through translation, the special issue seeks to explore the multifaceted role of translation in the contemporary digital landscape, examining how translation practices, both human and machine-driven, contribute to or combat the proliferation of erroneous information in its many guises. These concerns are reflected in broader global initiatives, such as the European Union's strategic efforts to combat disinformation and other forces that threaten to deliberately thwart truth values and destabilise society at large. This expanded notion of translation invites interdisciplinary contributions that view translation not just as the rendering of text or the conveyance of information, but as the very mechanism through which information is constructed, transported, and transformed across actors and systems.

Furthermore, the special issue aims to include the ethical and practical challenges posed by different forms of translation in a digital age, aligning with ongoing legislative and policy developments that emphasise the need for accuracy and transparency in communication, be they source material or translated content. Given the risks posed by traditional and social media, by the increasing influence of bots and by synthetic content (text, images and video alike), the interplay between interlingual(machine) translation, human decision-making introduces complex dynamics that demand scholarly attention. By focusing on the intersection of translation studies, computational linguistics, digital policy-making, and information sciences, but equally so allowing from perspectives beyond these domains, this special issue promises to offer new insights that address both theoretical concerns and practical implications for the field of Translation Studies, making it a timely and impactful exploration. Therefore, this special issue of STRIDON aims to bring together contributions from various strands of translation studies, united by the common theme of erroneous information through translation. It seeks to explore the multifaceted role of translation in the contemporary digital landscape, examining how translation practices, both human and machine-driven, contribute to or combat the proliferation of erroneous information, and how strategies of conveying erroneous information through translation can be applicable to creation of other erroneous content. Through a convergence of diverse perspectives, this special issue endeavours to shed light on the crucial role of translation in navigating the complexities of the information age (such as bias, propaganda and censorship).

Submissions may include, but are not limited to, the following themes:

  • Ethical implications of machine translation and/or of automated translation through AI-driven applications in information dissemination.
  • Comparative studies of human vs. machine translation in context accuracy.
  • The impact of (automated) translation on news media and journalism.
  • The reshaping of relationships between human and nonhuman actors (MT and AI) in the production, circulation, and legitimisation of information.
  • Analysing the role of automated translation (MT and AI) in social media (spreading or curtailing misinformation).
  • Linguistic biases in machine translation systems and their societal effects.
  • Case studies of misinformation spread through mistranslated content.
  • Legal and regulatory perspectives on machine translation and information integrity.
  • The role of machine translation in emergency contexts (crisis or conflicts).
  • Ethical implications in delivering accurate and timely information to populations affected by crisis or conflict
  • Automated translation and trust in public health, political discourse, diplomacy and international relations
  • Analyses of how automated translation systems handle minority and less-resourced languages, addressing issues like linguistic extinction or revival.
  • The role of automated translation systems in customer care and content moderation.
  • Case studies of cultural resilience and automated translation.
  • Neurocognitive perspectives on accuracy.
  • Case studies dealing with cognitive unloading, increasing lack of active attitudes and independent thought and language use and that also include a translation dimension.
  • Reflections on technological agency and translation as a sociological object of study.

Dates

  • Finalised papers: 9th January 2026
  • Formal editorial check of allowing paper to progress to peer review: 16th January 2026
  • Peer review feedback: 15th February 2026
  • Finalised papers, proofread: 22nd March 2026
  • Editorial comments and queries: 22nd March 2026–29th April 2026

List of references

  • Al Sharou, K. and Moorkens, J. (2024). Transitude: Machine Translation on Social Media: MT as a potential tool for opinion (mis) formation. In Proceedings of the 25th Annual Conference of the European Association for Machine Translation (Volume 2), 2-3.
  • Al Sharou, K. and Specia, L. (2022). A taxonomy and study of critical errors in machine translation. In Proceedings of the 23rd annual conference of the European Association for Machine Translation, 171-180.
  • Boéri, J. and Fattah, A. (2020). Manipulation of translation in hard news reporting on the Gulf crisis: combining narrative and appraisal. Meta, 65(1), 73-99.
  • Canavilhas, J. (2022). Artificial intelligence in journalism: Automatic translation and recommendation system in the project "A European Perspective" (EBU). Revista Latina de Comunicación Social, (80), 1-13.
  • Souza, K. M. and French, A. M. (2024). Fake news detection using machine learning: an adversarial collaboration approach. Internet Research, 34(5), 1664-1678.
  • Dukāte, A. (2009). Translation, manipulation and interpreting (Vol. 53). Peter Lang.
  • Garon, J. M. (2022). When AI Goes to War: Corporate Accountability for Virtual Mass Disinformation, Algorithmic Atrocities, and Synthetic Propaganda. Northern Kentucky Law Review, 49, 181-215.
  • Kramina, A. (2004). Translation as manipulation: Causes and consequences, opinions and attitudes. Kalbų Studijos, (6), 37-41.
  • Lee, K.W., Qian, M. (2022). Misinformation in Machine Translation: Error Categories and Levels of Recognition Difficulty. In: Degen, H., Ntoa, S. (eds) Artificial Intelligence in HCI. HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13336. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05643-7_34
  • Marwick, A. and Lewis, R. (2017). Media manipulation and disinformation online. New York: Data & Society Research Institute, 7-19.
  • Mutsvairo, B., Nguyen, D. and Jing, Z. (2024). Technology, Power, and Society. Brill.
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  • Saghayan, M. H., Ebrahimi, S. F. and Bahrani, M. (2021, May). Exploring the impact of machine translation on fake news detection: A case study on persian tweets about covid-19. 2021 29th Iranian Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE), 540-544.
  • Schjoldager, A. (1995). Interpreting research and the 'manipulation school'; of translation studies. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies, 7(1), 29-45.
  • Ullmann, S. (2022). Gender bias in machine translation systems. In Artificial Intelligence and Its Discontents: Critiques from the Social Sciences and Humanities, 123-144. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
  • Unver, A. (2023). Emerging Technologies and Automated Fact-Checking: Tools, Techniques and Algorithms. Techniques and Algorithms (August 29, 2023).
  • Wells, N. (2024). Translation as Culture in the Age of the Machine. Wasafiri, 37(3), 77–80.
  • Zou, S. (2022). Mistranslation as disinformation: COVID-19, global imaginaries, and self-serving cosmopolitanism. In The Cultural Politics of COVID-19, 320-330. Routledge.