Share your research findings with the rest of the world thanks to medical research translation.
Medical research aims to improve current medical practices and come up with new ways to treat illnesses. Researchers contribute to developing new drugs, innovative medical treatments and strategies to prevent diseases.
Your research is key to gaining a better understanding of how our bodies work and why we get sick. Moreover, you’re on the lookout for new health issues for which no treatment may be available.
Hence, your insights into both emerging health concerns and existing diseases are priceless. Your research results can benefit healthcare providers and pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as patients.
But disseminating medical research comes with language-related challenges. Let’s find out how a language service provider (LSP) can help you overcome them.
English as the international language of science.
Conflicts throughout the 20th century transformed how scientists communicated with each other. Until World War II, their lingua franca used to be German. It was then dethroned by English, which established itself as the language of science in the mid-1990s.
Now, the figures speak for themselves: 95% of all articles appearing in scientific journals in 2020 were written in English. Hardly surprising, as that’s the language of publication of the scientific journals of highest impact factor.
Yet, the prevalence of English may prevent research in other languages from being noticed by scientists. To the point that vital data are often overlooked because they are written in different languages.
Remember the avian flu?
In January 2004, Chinese researchers reported that a dangerous strain of the bird flu virus had infected pigs. They even warned that the virus could spread to humans.
However, their research was only published in Chinese-language journals. As a result, health authorities were in the dark about these alarming findings for 8 months.
Luckily, one of the paper authors presented it at the International Symposium on the Prevention and Control of SARS and Avian Influenza in Beijing on August 20th.
It was then that the WHO and FAO found out about these papers and had them translated into English.
The role of language in medical research dissemination
This example comes to prove that, if you want your research to be accessible, it has to be written in English.
As a researcher, you’re likely to write fluently in that language. Even if you’re a non-native speaker. But do you have the writing expertise needed to draft your own articles?
Your goal is to have your work featured in the journal of your choice. Journals have strict linguistic and stylistic requirements for the academic texts they publish. If you don’t meet them, your paper won’t be accepted, and you’ll have missed a precious opportunity.
Moreover, your research findings may be misunderstood or undervalued if its English rendition is poor. So, how should you go about having your research paper translated?
The translation of medical research.
Translating research findings is no easy task. Some usual hurdles are:
- Confusing abbreviations.
Abbreviations are common in medical texts, and their translation isn’t always clear-cut. There may be several possible abbreviations for the same term. And even the same abbreviation for different terms.
- Managing terminology.
The medical language is a mixture of obsolete Latin or Greek terms and new words that are coined as science evolves.
These terms may not have equivalents in different languages. Besides, specialized glossaries and dictionaries can’t always keep up with the pace of medical advances
This means, after conducting extensive research, you may have to retain the original term and describe it by means of explanatory footnotes.
The question is how you can overcome these challenges.
Again, you want to ensure your research is published. But, most importantly, you’re aware that any mistranslation may lead to errors of interpretation. Which, in turn, can have serious implications for patient health.
The bottom line is that, when it comes to translating medical research, accuracy is paramount.
Engaging an LSP for your medical research translation.
Working with an LSP will give you peace of mind… as long as you choose the right vendor. Your selected partner should be ISO 17100 certified, which translates into:
- Qualified linguists.
Only a professional with expertise in the medical field relevant to your article will be able to deliver a top-notch translation.
Your LSP will take into account the scope of your article to select a subject matter expert translator who:
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- Understands the context behind your study and medical journal.
- Is familiar with regulatory requirements.
- Complies with the standards for medical translation.
- Has a full understanding of the local market your text is targeted for.
- Effective translation processes.
Your LSP will have a standardized workflow in place to ensure precision at every step of the job. You’ll have a dedicated project manager orchestrating it and ensuring your translation is ready within schedule.
- Stringent quality control strategies.
After the translation is complete, an editor and proofreader who are proficient in the medical field will review your paper. Not only that but your project manager will run a last check with the aid of technological tools.
You’ll be reassured that your translation is true to the original, and meets the journal requirements.
Moreover, an LSP can help you create terminology glossaries. This will guarantee consistency in the translation of any research papers you write in the future.
We understand medical research.
We had the pleasure to help Dr. Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN, founder of LPBI Group, disseminate her team’s research findings.
Dr. Lev-Ari is the editor-in-chief behind the Medicine and Life Sciences Scientific Journal PharmaceuticalIntelligence.com. This open access scientific journal has over 2.2 million views by over 1.4 million visitors, with over 6,170 scientific articles and over 740 categories of research in its ontology.
Would you like to read more about the translation project they relied on us for?
