Lost without translation: scientific

research
Accurate scientific translation is vital, say Meredith Root-Bernstein and Richard
Ladle

Universities could hire translators with a science background, just as they hire
technical specialists
We all know that if you want to be a professional scientist in the 21st century, you
have to communicate in English. This is not a problem if you are lucky enough to be
born to English-speaking parents, but spare a thought for the majority of the worlds
scientists who are forced to communicate the subtleties and significance of their
research in an idiosyncratic foreign tongue.
A misplaced preposition or poor choice of verb can ruin a convincing narrative,
reducing the probability of publication in a top international journal and limiting the
impact of the research. Not only is this bad news for scientists struggling to
communicate their work, it is also bad for science.
Science needs more trained personnel who can bridge the language gap. The need is
particularly urgent in areas such as the environmental and agronomical sciences in
which it is increasingly appreciated that regional and local interventions can have
global impacts.

In an effort to disseminate their work, many foreign scientists spend precious research
funds on private translation services. But standard translators may not understand the
science, the structure of scientific papers or the technical language. The only
alternative is to rely on bilingual colleagues to provide translation services as a favour.
But in a recent article in the journal Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment, we
suggest that university departments in non-anglophone countries could hire
professional translators with a science background, just as they hire statisticians and
technical specialists. Alternatively, they could offer attractive positions for bilingual
or native English-speaking researchers, with a percentage of their time earmarked for
assisting colleagues with translating, editing or writing papers and other research
outputs. Such positions could be permanent or offered on a fixed-term basis to visiting
academics.
Much less appreciated is the potentially important role of translators in universities in
English-speaking countries. Translating research into any of the worlds main
languages (Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese or French) could boost a papers citation
rate. Indeed, total productivity in environmental, biological and agricultural sciences
for countries speaking those four languages accounts for a fifth of research published
globally. The translation of papers into different languages should allow more rapid
accumulation of data supporting or refuting hypotheses and increase knowledge
sharing in applied areas, such as agronomy or conservation, where, in some countries,
English-language publishing and citation is not currently pursued.
While we hope to see such new roles develop, individual researchers can also turn to
some of the existing models for publishing translations. Some English-language
journals in environmental, biological and agricultural sciences, for example, publish
abstracts in Spanish or French. Some journals produce translations of papers
originally published in overseas journals. Others publish papers in multiple languages
although, regrettably, some have dropped this practice.
Another idea would be for journals to provide online-only versions of original papers
in translation; this could be offered as an option under the pay-to-publish open access
model. Researchers themselves could post translations of their articles on their lab
websites, or on scientific social networks such as Research Gate. Universities could
develop online, freely available archives of their most significant research
publications translated into targeted foreign languages. This could be a way for them
to increase their international profile, creating new academic networks and new
spaces for collaboration.
Science is never just about the data. The language in which we communicate affects
our confidence and our ability to persuade, our expression of complex and nuanced
ideas and information, and our judgements of the value of new ideas and their authors.
One day, computers may be able to do accurate scientific translations, but until then
scientists need all the help they can get.
Read more about:
Academic publishing
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Reader's comments (4)

#1 Submitted by Chemical Translator on June 26, 2014 - 7:37am
As a professional German to English translator with a chemistry background I can
vouch for the fact that there are specialist translators available to help. Scientific
translation is a skilled service that adds value by enabling scientists to promote their
research to a wider scientific community and collaborate with international
colleagues. Often individual freelance translators are the best candidates for
specialised translations. You can make sure their background is a good fit and
collaborate directly with the translator to discuss the finer details of your work. A
professional translation institute such as the Institute of Translation & Interpreting in
the UK provides a database of qualified members that can be searched according to
language and subject area and would be an excellent place to start.

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#2 Submitted by Iwan Davies ITI Chairman on June 30, 2014 - 11:15am

I agree entirely that accurate scientific translation is vital, as Meredith Root-Bernstein
and Richard Ladle say. Their opening sentence, that to be a professional scientist now
you need to communicate in English, is applicable in reverse to professional scientific
translators: If you want to be a professional scientific translator in the 21st century,
you need to have command of the science, as well consummate linguistic skills in
both your source and target languages. But there is a third skill that may well be
overlooked in the rush to find someone who knows the languages and the subject area
in sufficient depth. While mastery of two or more languages and an understanding of
the science are two key elements, the act of translation itself is also a skill that must
be learned and honed over many years of experience. It is not easy to dip in and out of
professional translation. Using an active practitioner is the best way to obtain the
results that the researcher desires, such as publication or citation in a foreign-language
journal. In the UK, qualified members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting
(ITI; www.iti.org.uk), the translation professions only dedicated association, hold the
language credentials and the requisite sector knowledge, and have demonstrated their
translation skills at a high level. They often work closely with authors to ensure the
accuracy of their work, and provide added value, helping foreign authors to comply
with scientific style and content requirements, and journal-specific issues such as
spelling preferences, formatting, referencing etc. The Institute maintains an online
directory of pre-assessed translators (professionals with English as a source language
as well as those working into English). It is a resource that guides those seeking
expert assistance straight to professional translators who have highly developed
subject specialisations. In some cases the translators' expertise extends to a
postgraduate qualification that they have obtained in their own right, not only in
translation but also in their area of work, such as chemistry. Moreover, ITIs members
must all adhere to a Code of Professional Conduct in which they commit to undertake
Continuous Professional Development in order to keep abreast of developments in
their field. Accurate scientific translation is vital, and expert professional translators
are ready and willing to bring new scientific knowledge to a wider audience.

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#3 Submitted by Shawn_Maloney on June 30, 2014 - 9:36pm

There are some very good points raised in this article. Accurate academic translation
is hard to come by and is more difficult to "police" than, say, English-language editing
services. Journal Prep (the company I run) started off as an academic editing company
in 2010 but has since branched into academic translation (particularly in multiple
fields of medicine, science and business) given the constant requests we received
from prospective clients. Moreover, publishers we work with have been "looking into
translation services" over the past year or so, recognizing that language editing just
won't cut it for many non-native, English-speaking researchers. In our experience,
recruiting skilled and certified academic translators with field-specific expertise isn't
easy, but it is feasible. What we have tried to accomplish at Journal Prep (and
continue to work on) is the creation of a database of qualified scientific, medical and
business translators who can translate info English from the ten most commonly
requested source languages (Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean,
Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish). I'm sure that teams of translators could be
established within individual universities, at least for the most prominent source
languages. I think this initiative would not only help many researchers but also
increase the yield of published research papers for an institution. This, of course,
could benefit the institution in many ways. Disclaimer: I am the co-founder and
President of Journal Prep (www.journalprep.com), a research publication support
company based in Montreal, Canada. The views expressed in this post are my own
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.

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Submitted by gev@tpu.ru on July 15, 2014 - 8:46am

?onsidering the urgency of interdisciplinary research and the increasing competition
(real race) for highly cited academic papers number it comes into the open the need
in the highly qualified translators who are not only proficient in English and
experienced in linguistics but who have professional scientific background as well.
Apparently it is even worth to speak not about separated individuals but about the
Centres for Academic Writing and Scientific Translation at universities that could
unite professional translators specialized in different scientific fields and help
academics and researchers with the papers preparation in compliance with scientific
journals requirements, including accurate translation. Additionally, such Centres could
accumulate the knowledge in translation systematically within the single quality
control system and become the platforms for experience changing.

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