I recently came across a wonderful resource for those wishing to commission translations in the field of the social sciences. It is a paper put out by the American Council of Learned Societies entitled Guidelines for the Translation of Social Science Texts.

The tips and guidance provided in the document are outstanding, and address the following areas:

• Choosing a qualified translator
• Communicating effectively with the translator throughout the translation process
• Challenges particular to social science translations and how to deal with them
• Evaluating a translation once it has been delivered
• Helpful appendices, such as a glossary of translation terms, case studies, and an evaluation of machine translation

I highly recommend this easy-to-read and very informative document to anyone needing to commission a translation of a social science text.

Click to download: Guidelines for the Translation of Social Science Texts (PDF, 302 KB)