Post-editing of machine-generated translations, as well as the competences and qualifications of the individuals performing this work, is defined in the standard EN ISO 18587:2018. According to the definition, post-editing means “edit and correct machine translation output” and is also divided into “full post-editing” and “light post-editing”. Full post-editing is defined as a “process of post-editing to obtain a product comparable to a product obtained by human translation”. Light post-editing is on the other hand a “process of post-editing to obtain a merely comprehensible text without any attempt to produce a product comparable to a product obtained by human translation”.
Post-editors, i.e., the individuals performing the post-editing, must have the following qualifications and competences:
- translation competence
- linguistic and textual competence in the source and the target language
- competence in research, information acquisition, and processing
- cultural competence
- technical competence
- domain competence
The qualifications of a post-editor must be similar to those of a translator, also concerning education and professional experience.
