Only about 6% of the world are native English speakers while 75% don’t speak English at all.
Many people do not have access to high quality health information, because it is not or scarcely available in a language that they understand. We are translating Cochrane evidence to make it more accessible, and to reduce the linguistic barrier to global evidence-informed health decisions. We have published more than 28,000 translations of Cochrane Review plain language summaries and/or abstracts across 15 languages as of June 2019.
Cochrane groups in different parts of the world lead our knowledge translation activities in different languages. They translate Reviews and related Review content, such as podcasts or blogshots. But they typically also or instead write and disseminate news and other content in their language, do social media, work with professional societies, policy makers, patient groups or the media in their country, and offer training.
Most Cochrane groups have no or very little funding for translations. Some have support from their local funders, for example ministries of health or hosting universities, central Cochrane funding, or temporary grants, but most involve substantial volunteer time.
A list of translation projects is available on the Cochrane community website.
Get involved
You're a Cochrane group and want to translate Cochrane Reviews or related products? Please contact Juliane Ried.
You would like to participate as a volunteer translator? Join one of our Review translation projects, or TaskExchange.
You would like to stay informed? Join our mailing list for updates on multi-language activities.
How we do translation at Cochrane
All translation teams use one or a combination of the following approaches to translation:
Volunteer translation
Most of our projects involve volunteer translators, and the project managers often invest their spare time, too. The majority of our volunteers have a health related background, while few are linguists or translators. Many students volunteer as an opportunity to learn and gain experience.
Professional translation
Professional translation is expensive, and therefore only a few of our projects work with paid professional translators on a regular basis. Languages that use professionals have their translations reviewed by health experts to ensure accuracy.
Machine translation and post-editing
Although we do not publish unedited machine translations, some of our teams use machine translation in combination with human post-editing to speed up their workflow.
What we translate
Our priority is to translate and disseminate Cochrane Reviews. All teams translate the plain language summaries, some also the abstracts, or other main text sections of the Review. These translations are published with the English Review on the Cochrane Library and on their own version of cochrane.org, which has been translated into 15 languages and can be browsed and searched in those languages, too. In addition, teams may translate related Review content (podcasts, blogshots, press releases, special collections, featured Reviews and news items), training materials, etc.
How we prioritize Reviews for translation
Translation projects differ depending on their local context, culture, and funding, and this also affects how they set priorities. While our teams generally focus on recently published Reviews, some teams select Reviews for translation based on their expertise in specific areas of health. They also choose Reviews because they are of particular interest in their country, to their funders or partners, or let volunteers focus on their interests and expertise.