Dictionary

tortured phrase en · NOUN

Etymology

Coined in a 2021 paper by Cabanac et al. (see first quotation).

Meanings

1. (neologism) A nonsensical phrase created by replacing words with synonyms in order to disguise plagiarism, typically as a result of "text spinning".
   • Our study introduces the concept of tortured phrases: unexpected weird phrases in lieu of established ones, such as ‘counterfeit consciousness’ instead of ‘artificial intelligence.’ [2021 July 21, Cabanac, Guillaume; Labbé, Cyril; Magazinov, Alexander, “Tortured phrases: A dubious writing style emerging in science. Evidence of critical issues affecting established journals”, in arXiv, →DOI:
   • Whereas some “tortured phrases” might represent simple mistranslations, in other cases, an abundance of such terms in a single preprint might reveal a more serious ethical issue, such as the undeclared use of a paper mill or an unprofessional editing service. 2023 August 3, Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A., ““Tortured Phrases” in Covid-19 Literature: Can They Serve as Epistemic Markers to Assess the Integrity of Biomedical Information?”, in Philosophy of Medicine, volume 4, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 1-24:
   • This paper highlights the existence of “tortured phrases” in select Covid-19 literature, arguing that they could serve as a class of epistemic marker when evaluating the integrity of the scientific and biomedical literature. 2023 May 4, Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A., ““Tortured phrases” in preprints”, in Current Medical Research and Opinion, volume 39, number 5, →DOI, →ISSN, →PMID, pages 785–787:
   • The present study aims at investigating how tortured phrases, that are not yet listed, can be detected automatically. 2022 October 24, Lay, Puthineath; Lentschat, Martin; Labbé, Cyril, “Investigating the detection of Tortured Phrases in Scientific Literature”, in arXiv, →DOI:
   • These tortured phrases, e.g. flag to clamor instead of signal to noise, are the results of paraphrasing tools used to escape plagiarism detection. 2024 February 2, Martel, Eléna; Lentschat, Martin; Labbé, Cyril, “Detection of tortured phrases in scientific literature”, in arXiv, →DOI:
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tortured, phrase.

Forms

Synonyms

Rogetism