Medical Translation

Joining three interrelated though independent disciplines, and combining three different fields of mastery, which concern medical translation, clinical writing, and deep understanding of the norms governing clinical trials respectively: This is our strong point!  It is this approach which we utilize when working within the context of clinical practice generally and experimental research specifically. The experience we have acquired in the said three areas enables us to carry out the work of drafting scientific contents in full conformity with both national and international regulations, by translating relevant texts in this field according to the utmost degree of scientific rigor.

Medical translation and categories of texts

Medical translation, as well as medical writing, necessitates the possession of highly specialized competences. In this field, the quality of a translation is a critical issue rather than one of preference. Knowing a foreign language, such as English when it comes to most scientific texts, is not enough per se to allow a person to translate a technical text. Medical translation demands a profound knowledge of the subject as a prerequisite for one’s capacity to express the concepts set out in the source language text. Laying out this category of contents tends to follow a set of natural rules which are peculiar to each particular language (One could cite in this regard the example of the Italian word anamnesi, which might be rendered in English as anamnesis by a rather carefree translator. Only an experienced translator, well-versed in medical texts written in English, would instead be able to opt for the English expression case history. No doctor, in fact, uses the word anamnesis, which is a Latinism that is only reserved for truly special instances). Another illustrating example is provided by the Italian translation of the English word drug. Italian, in fact, prefers the use of the word farmaco (= pharmaceutical product) over the more literal translation droga, whence the linguistic reference in Italian to farmaco sperimentale (experimental drug), farmaco in studio (study drug), and so on.

The essential characteristic of a good medico-scientific translation consists in lexical accuracy joined to the utmost scientific rigor. In the light of these normative guidelines, we shall place at your disposal the following categories of translations and/or proofreading of texts:

   • Articles and abstracts to be sent to international journals.

   • Reports meant for publications and/or external regulatory agencies.

   • Results of tests and laboratory analyses.

   • Medical files.

   • Brochures.

   • Presentations for conferences.

   • Posters for international congresses.

   • Pharmacological reports.

   • Medical certificates.

   • Popular books.

   • Technical books.

Medical writing and scientific publications

In addition to what has been stated here above, it should be noted that, especially with regard to scientific publications, medical texts are subject to very detailed style-related rules and graphs. In their publications, the world’s most prestigious medical journals – which boast one of the most significant impact factors within the fields of medicine and science generally – such as Jama, New England Journal of Medicine or Lancet, adopt strict parameters relating to style and form, e.g. the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals of the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors), or the Manual of Style of the AMA (American Medical Association).

These manuals of style draw the attention of the authors of English scientific manuscripts to important devices and highly exhaustive clarifications which must be complied with at the stage of submitting an article for evaluation prior to publishing it. The focus of such authors is thus directed at lexical and stylistic rigor in addition to a purely scientific one.

Clinical and normative research

A particularly elaborate field is represented by the need to comply with the regulations governing clinical research. Since the moment the European Directive has become a daily factor impacting on clinical trials, the rules of the game have both multiplied and turned significantly more complex, in the process converting, as far as investigators and specialized research centers are concerned, into a work load which is at times not a negligible one. Within this context, OnTranslation might be able to provide expert consultancy services as regards proofreading in the light of the set of rules applying to clinical research, as well as adaptation and translation of the texts you have authored. The kind of texts which are especially affected by what is laid down in the relevant rules and regulations consist in the following:

   • Research protocols.

   • Synopses.

   • Data collection cards.

   • Statistical reports.

   • Medical equipment manuals.

   • Medical patents.

Please do not hesitate to contact us to have your clinical texts translated, as well as for the proofreading of all documentation pertaining to clinical research and the proofreading of manuscripts to be submitted to international journals for their eventual publication. We shall see to the task of producing a final result capable of fully meeting your expectations.