The translation of medical and pharmaceutical research is central to bridging the growing divide between research findings and clinical application.
The 21st century has seen an explosion in scientific knowledge in the Western world, with 2.5 million scientific articles published in100 peer-reviewed journals in 2014 alone. Yet much of this scientific knowledge remains underutilised across health systems simply because the all-important medical research is not being translated widely enough.
As funders increasingly seek to understand the return on investment from their research activities, medical and pharmaceutical research translation is fast becoming mandatory rather than just an option.
What is medical research translation?
Medical research translation is the process of translating every stage of a medical research project into the languages spoken by the target market. The goal is to give the research as wide an audience as possible to allow new medical and pharmaceutical products to reach a global market and increase the ROI.
Our medical research translations include:
- Clinical research documents, trials and results
- Clinical study protocols and informed consents
- Patient diaries, forms and other materials
- Quality of life scales and questionnaires
- Preclinical research and theoretical documents
- Engineering and medical patents for drugs and equipment
- Dissertations, papers, reviews of related literature and peer review research
- Journal submissions, basic research, epidemiology and more
If you don’t understand it, you can’t translate it!
The rule we stick by with all of our translations is ‘if you don’t understand it, you can’t translate it’. Medical translations are fundamentally paraphrasing, but if you don’t have an understanding of the original text, you couldn’t possibly begin to translate it. That’s why all our specialist medical translators have a background in medicine and relevant education, training and professional experience in the area of medicine that matches the subject matter.
Linguistica International is also an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, with strict quality management guidelines that ensure our medical and pharmaceutical research translation services are of the highest quality. This is assured by a meticulous quality control system and a series of strict checks and balances throughout the translation process.
The importance of using mother tongue translators
As well as insisting all our medical research translators have experience in the particular medical field, we also only use mother tongue speakers of the target language. With everything from subtle brand name changes and country-specific medical jargon, it’s essential to use a translator who understands these nuances.
Equally, the health system can differ markedly in each country and this can impact the translation. Therefore, the translator must have knowledge of the healthcare system in the target market as well as the specific terms that are used.
Consider the target audience
Another essential factor to consider when performing medical research translation is the intended audience. This should determine the kind of language that’s used. For example, if it’s a journal submission to be read by medical professionals then appropriate terminology should be used, whereas, if it’s a questionnaire or informed consent form then it should be written for the layperson.
How can we help?
At Linguistica International, we have the specialisation and experience to provide full medical research translation support in fields as diverse as cardiology and microbiology to paediatrics and psychiatry.
To find out more, please give our translation team a call on 02392 987 765 or email info@linguistica-international.com today.