E-ging Solutions is a world-leading Shanghai translation company with specialties in research papers translation.
Translating Research Papers Translating a research paper can be simple or difficult depending on the translator’s ability to get the idea across, and on the researcher’s ability to draft a research paper that conveys very clearly the ideas he or she wishes to share with the scientific community. Many people argue that a translator (or medical writer) needs to have a scientific degree or background as a minimum requirement to work on research papers, but this is not necessarily true. What is true is that one must be able to “tell the story” in a clear and concise manner. Another requirement is a thorough knowledge of the technical aspects of the area of research covered in the text.
Some important tools and skills that are necessary to carry out a precise and high-quality translation are:a computer-assisted translation(CAT) tool, a good general and specialized dictionary, familiarity with how a scientific paper is structured,an ability to manage citations and references, and knowledge of how to locate reliable sources online for necessary background information and data verification, including searching scientific databases. Knowledge of statistics might also be useful on occasion.
The CAT tool I use is Wordfast Classic, although I have experience with Wordfast Pro, MemoQ, and Trados. I use Wordfast Classic because some of the researchers with whom I work use reference management software with features that create issues for certain CAT tools, making it difficult to translate text. General and specialized dictionaries can be accessed through the web. I find WordWeb useful because it integrates with any program with which I am working, and you do not need to access the web to use it. Mac users have a dictionary integrated into the Mac operating system that works well.
It would be a good idea for translators in this area to familiarize themselves with reference management software. This software is often used by researchers to record, organize, and download bibliographic citations (references) from other literature. Once a citation has been entered in the software, it can be used repeatedly to generate bibliographies, such as reference lists in research documents. This type of software allows researchers to keep a database of references and provide the citations and references in the proper format for the target journal.
