What Is Scientific Translation?

The scientific translation is a part of technical translation. Technical translation focuses on broad applications, while scientific translation focuses on scholarly materials, such as research papers, science webinars, journal articles, academic thesis, etc. The scientific translation is required in various fields of science. The medicine and pharmacology field require scientific translation in clinical trials, research and legal documents. Papers of life science topics and social science demand for Scientific Translation Services.

What Are The Techniques Of Scientific Translation?

• Translating Styling

The styling includes proper usage of grammar in the content. The abstract and linking verbs must have a definite look at the sentence. Impersonal speech is accepted, and passive voice is preferred over active voice. Other important usages like verb-nominal phrases, present tense, introductory phrases are used.

• Terminology – Get The Right Terms

The perfect translation version must meet the required criteria based on the terms. Each term must comply with a specific term system used in the original text. Based on the source materials, the similarities and differences of the specific terms are accounted for. The equivalence technique is adopted, where the target language is scanned for a term that is equivalent to the original.

The original term is replaced with a similar term that consists of a specific meaning. Concretization clarifies a term that may have several meanings in the source material. For instance, “bird” in scientific translation is replaced with the bird’s genus name Columba livia.

In generalization terminology, the narrow term is used instead of the general term in the target language. For example, “Taraxacum” is a Latin genus name of dandelion, but in translation, it is replaced with “flower” or “dandelion”.

In transliteration, the original term is described in the form of letters of the targeted language.

Semantic calque or loan translation) – in this, a term is borrowed from the source language. For example, “translation” is a calque from Latin “translātiō”.

In the borrowing technique, the translator uses the word in the target text the same as in a source text. This method is implemented when no equivalent is found in the target language or when the author introduces a new word.

• Focus On The Mistake Of Original Document

The common thing of scientific translators is that they can correct the small mistakes in the original document. The most common mistakes in scientific translation are inconsistencies in numbers listed in tables and complementary diagrams, other than tables referred to as other symbols. In such cases, the translator corrects such mistakes in footnotes.

• Structuring The Content

When the features such as lexical and syntactic language differ, it is necessary to alter certain sentences. For example, highly modulated languages like Russian and German can string a long chain of dependent and independent clauses associated with referents and antecedents, but still, the meaning seems clear. But it sometimes becomes impossible in English. In such complex cases, the translator has to structure the terms. The right technique to be considered is paraphrasing.

• Focus On Numbers And Symbols

Many formulas, numbers, diagrams, and symbols in science are not ignored while translating. The meaning of the complete page can be altered if the translator adds a wrong number or symbol. To avoid such issues, the translator must understand the relevant topic and further many things to be focused with attention. It requires patience and analytical skills, qualities for a scientific translator.

• Clarifying Technique

Clarity is the mainstream goal of scientific translation, to bring out and convey the proper meaning of the original text. Unclear constructions shouldn’t be found anywhere in scientific translation. It is a struggle to frame out the right and relevant words. The repetitions must be avoided, which is sometimes difficult. A translator with a scientific background will know the terms.

• Proof Reading The Translated Content

After the complete translation, you need to proofread the content first. Asking out other translators of the relevant field will be helpful. The mistakes can be noticed and corrected with the help of proofreading. When you notice unclear text from the original text, you can communicate to the author or the client.

• Adapt Style To The Document Type

In science translation, various degrees of formality are maintained. When translating academic work, an elevated style is adopted for complex phrases with less common words. While writing drug instructions, the translation should be less formal because normal people or beginners read the documents in science.

What Are The Challenges Of Scientific Translation?

There are certain challenges of scientific text translation, especially while describing the research results, hypotheses, theories, etc. The translator has to interpret the scientific data precisely and convey the material to the reader when it is not identical to the original style. In such conditions, there are several challenges that the experts face frequently. The list of challenges of Scientific Translation Services is mentioned below.

List Of Challenges

1. Complexity In Framing Terms

It is not so easy translating the domain-specific terms and jargon; in scientific translation, this problem leads to nuances and challenges. The introduction of new terms in the research papers is common by the scientists, which is challenging for the translator. The translator must find the right way to adapt the new terms in the target language. For solving this problem, a specialist requires both experience and expertise. For solving such issues, expert solutions are necessary.

2. Finding Experts For The Process

The number of professional translators in the field is enormous who provide Scientific Translation Services. It is a challenging task to become an expert in scientific translation.

An expert who deals with scientific translation must have relevant knowledge:

• Knowledge in scientific terms
• Fluency in the source and targeted language
• Educated in techniques of translation
• It should be related to a specific field

3. Adaption Of Formats And Fonts

Scientific texts follow the monologue terms. The author usually introduces a discussion, problem, and possible solution. The language used is strict and monotonous, and the structure must include long compound sentences for delivering information in detail.

The scientific translator must pay close attention while transferring and structuring the grammar from the original to the target language.