Guidelines for research writing including translated data

A topic in research methodology

Collecting and analysing data in another language

The language of instruction varies from country to country. In many countries students are primarily taught in a local language. So, researchers who prepare teaching materials, assessments, questionnaires or interview schedules to use in research will do this in the local language.

Read about collecting and analysing data in another language

But most of the international research journals recognised as being of highest status publish in in just a handful of languages. Most commonly the required language for publishing research in good journals is English.

The need for translation

"In order for readers to fully understand the research, an author may need to append the data collection instrument used, or extracts from instructional materials students worked with. Where the work reported includes analysis of a good deal of qualitative data, which has been analysed in an interpretive mode it will be expected that the claims made in the findings of the paper will be supported by offering examples of themes identified and other key points made, from the data itself. In writing a research paper in English, then, this material will need to be translated into English." (Taber, 2018)

"There are additional challenges in preparing research reports in another language, and that these challenges may be more extreme when this includes material such as students' written work and talk." (Taber, 2018)

Read about the challenges of translation in research reporting

"An academic article makes knowledge claims that are supported by arguments based on the collection and interpretation of evidence, and readers have to be persuaded that all stages in the process have been carried out to a high standard. The claims in an academic article are only as convincing as the weakest link in the chain of argument: whether that be framing of the project, research design, sampling, data collection procedures, analytical framework applied, analysis of data, interpretation of findings, implications drawn, or the processes of composing the report. So, when the authors are initially working in another language, this includes, inter alia, the processes of translating the argument of a research report into English, and the translation of any evidence being presented to support the argument made. Insufficient care or skills here can undermine the research paper as much as substandard work at any other point. Good practice in translation, and in reporting it, is part of good research." (Taber, 2018)

Common problems in research writing reporting work form another language

There are two common flaws in research reports in these circumstances

  • authors assume that translation is unproblematic, and that they can substitute a text in one language for another and assume the two are entirely equivalent
  • and sometimes do not even feel it necessary to report that the data they are presenting have been translated form another language

Not reporting translation make a research report incomplete – and potentially misleading

"It is common for [journals] to receive submissions from national contexts where English is not a language regularly used by most people, that include materials from the research context that are in English. If taken at face value, it appears students have been asked to read teaching materials prepared in English, or asked to answer a written instrument with items in English, or have been observed speaking English in class, or have been interviewed in English." (Taber, 2018)

Explaining when translation is not needed

"This is certainly not impossible. There are networks of international schools that teach and assess in English in many countries where English is not the local language. There are universities in some countries which teach in English rather than a national language as it is considered that this will offer greater opportunities for their graduates. There are schools in contexts where students speak a diversity of local languages where English is used as a lingua franca (or perhaps a lingua anglais), and there are schools in parts of Asia where science is commonly taught in English as an immersive language (i.e., giving a real-life context for students to learn a second language as they need to use it to study their science)." (Taber, 2018)

"Collecting data in English may well be sensible in [some] circumstances, but this needs to be explained, so that editors and reviewers – and, if peer review goes well, readers of the published paper – can appreciate this."

(Taber, 2018)

(Taber, 2018)

If presenting translations, this needs to be made clear

"More commonly, however, what is being reported is not the text that was located or constructed in the research context, but a translation. Authors have reasonably assumed that as they are writing-up their study in English, they should also translate any materials they wish to present to illustrate their claims. Whilst this is sensible, what is not appropriate is to present translated material in English without acknowledging and discussing this.

Translation is part of the methodology of undertaking and reporting research, and adds a further stage of processing where quality assurance is needed.

Yet submissions often make no mention of the language of instruction in which students were taught, or the language in which data was collected, but simply present everything in English assuming that is what is needed. This would not matter if translation was a straightforward, algorithmic, process. Yet…translation introduces an additional step between the raw data and its interpretation – whether that interpretation is by an analyst working with translated material, or by reader of a research paper being presented with translation of the material that was analysed in the study." (Taber, 2018)

Read about collecting and analysing data in another language

Guidelines for good practice in reporting translated material in research papers

Consideration of these issues suggests some guidelines for good practice in preparing research papers.

(1) If a research paper only includes material in English, and there is no discussion of translation having occurred, a reader should be able to safely assume that the material was collected in English and no translation has taken place. Therefore, if the work reports from a context where English is not the local language or is unlikely to be considered by readers as the usual language of instruction, this should be clarified for a reader (e.g., explaining that the work reports from an international school where the language of instruction is English).
(2) Therefore, whenever material included in a paper is a translation, this should be reported. It should be explicit which material has been translated, and which language(s) it has been translated from. It should be pointed out that translation may not always be a perfect process and nuances of the original may be lost in translation.
(3) Ideally the original text that has been translated should be included (i.e., in the original language), juxtaposed against the translation, or reported in an appendix… as seems most appropriate. Where both original and translated material is available, then readers of the original language will be able to consider the data in its original form, and bilingual readers will be able to evaluate the translation offered. Sharing the original text provides a means of quality assurance of translations made.
(4) The authors should report who translated the material, and their qualifications for doing so. Normally a translation should be made by someone with a high level of fluency in both languages, as well as close knowledge of the research context and the specific study.
(5) There should be some checks on the translation (in the way that data analysis usually has built in consistency checks or is tested for reliability), and these should be reported. For example, back translation can be used, and any inconsistencies subject to scrutiny; or there may be multiple translators producing material that is triangulated; or – at the very least – translations should be checked by another person fluent in both languages. By reporting on how translations were checked, as well as produced, the authors give those readers who cannot read the original language (which is often most of them) good grounds for having confidence in the translation.

(Taber, 2018)
When following good practice

"When these steps are taken, editors, reviewers, and readers of the journal, are able to see that

  • authors appreciate that translation requires care, and that
  • the researchers have indeed taken due care in reporting translated material." (Taber, 2018)
An example of good practice

A study in Chemistry Education Research and Practice reports:

The challenges of learning and teaching chemical bonding at different school levels using electrostatic interactions instead of the octet rule as a teaching model

"The interviews were carried out and transcribed in Finnish, and the excerpts presented here have been translated into English. We selected three excerpts arbitrarily and these excerpts were back-translated into Finnish and compared with the original transcripts by a researcher not involved with this project, for trustworthiness of translation."

Joki & Aksela, 2018, p.938
Source cited:

My introduction to educational research:

Taber, K. S. (2013). Classroom-based Research and Evidence-based Practice: An introduction (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

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