Trying to Reach a Global Audience? Tips to Make Your Research Summaries Easy to Translate
In a previous post, we talked about how plain language summaries (PLS or Lay summaries) of research papers are valuable for making the research findings accessible to diverse population groups. But what if the research is needed by those with little or no command of English?
Providing professionally translated versions is one alternative, but costs and resources restrict the number of translations a Society or publisher can offer. A workaround is to craft PLS(Lay summary) that can be translated by readers with the help of free online tools.
To draft PLS(Lay summary), keep in mind the following:
Avoid noun stacks
Strings of nouns make text difficult to read in English itself, and lead to meaning changes or loss during translation. For instance, “Underweight adolescent sickle cell anemia treatment protocol” should be “treatment protocol for underweight adolescents with sickle cell anemia.”
Don’t omit relative pronouns
Retain relative pronouns like “which” and “that” to make the text easier to translate. An automatic translator might not be able to quickly identify the main verb in “The data we obtained was stored securely”; a better option would be “The data that we obtained was stored securely.”
Choose terms carefully
A term like “health visitor” is widely known in the UK but could be confusing even in other English-speaking countries. It’s better to use a term that can be translated more accurately, such as “public health worker.” Similarly, “A&E” is not commonly used outside the US; “emergency department” is a more accessible option. Further, you may need to briefly describe or define terms that could have different meanings and implications across cultures. “Midwives” in India or Bangladesh may not be professionally qualified like their counterparts in New Zealand or the Netherlands. Finally, try to not use medical terms that already have different meanings in common English.
Avoid: “Nurses took history of blood transfusions.”
Use: “Nurses asked patients about previous blood transfusions.”
Avoid: “We followed participants for two months.”
Use: “We monitored participants for two months.”
Structure sentences simply
When sentences have multiple clauses or convoluted structure, they are more likely to be misinterpreted. Use the “subject-verb-object” structure as much as possible, and keep sentences short. Use the active voice, and try to make sure that every sentence has a subject. “Using the WHOQOL-BREF, participants were categorized into three groups” makes it difficult for a non-native speaker to gauge who was using the WHOQOL-BREF. A better option would be “We used the WHOQOL-BREF to categorize participants into three groups.”
Avoid ambiguity
Use the same word for the same concept each time it’s mentioned in the PLS (don’t use “subjects,” “participants,” and “individuals” to refer to the same set of people). Unclear pronoun references (e.g., “it is necessary that”) make the PLS(Lay summary) not only ambiguous but also wordy. Items in a list should be separated using Arabic numbers as far as possible, since punctuation rules and the order of the alphabet differ across languages.
Of course, the above tips aren’t fool proof, and there’s no substitute for a competent human translator. However, following these tips will lead to PLS(Lay summaries) that are easier to process for not just non-native speakers but also native English speakers. Ultimately, research is meant for a global audience, and PLS(Lay summaries) that are easily translatable can improve research accessibility and reach.
