What is back translation, and how do you run one?

What back translation is for

A back translation answers one question for a reviewer who cannot read the target language: did the meaning survive? The reviewer reads the original and the back translation side by side. Where the two say different things, the forward translation gets a closer look.

It is a review tool, not a way to produce a better translation. A back translation is meant to be literal. The EORTC manual asks back translators to follow the structure and wording of the translation as closely as possible, so the reviewer sees what the translation actually says[1].

Where back translation is used

• Questionnaires and patient-reported outcomes. A quality of life questionnaire used in several countries has to ask the same question in every language. The EORTC Quality of Life Group builds its back translation report into every new language version[1].
• Clinical trial consent forms. Under FDA rules, the information given to a research subject is in language understandable to the subject[2]. Sponsors and ethics committees often use a back translation to check that a translated consent form says what the English one says.
• Surveys and market research. When answers from several countries are compared, a question that drifted in translation makes the data useless.
• High-stakes wording. Labels, warnings and contract clauses, where the client wants proof that a phrase was not softened or sharpened.

How the EORTC method runs, step by step

The EORTC Quality of Life Group publishes one of the most detailed procedures. It is written for questionnaires, but the structure fits any back translation project[1].

1. Two forward translations. Two translators who are native speakers of the target language translate the English original independently[1].
2. Reconciliation. A third person compares the two and builds one version, choosing or combining wording item by item[1].
3. Two back translations. Two other translators translate the reconciled version back into English, independently, and without knowing the English original[1].
4. Back translation report. All five versions go into one report with comments: the two forward translations, the reconciled version and the two back translations[1].
5. Review, proofreading and pilot testing. Reviewers resolve the issues the report raises, an external proofreader checks the text, and the translation is tested with patients[1].

Smaller projects often use one forward and one back translation. Keep the core rule either way. The back translator never sees the original.

Making a machine back translation with LoreAI

A machine back translation is a fast first pass. It shows a project manager where the forward translation drifted before a human back translator is booked, and it lets a client who reads only English look at a translation the same day.

1. Save the translation as a PDF. LoreAI takes PDF, JPG and PNG. In Word, use File, Save As and choose PDF. A signed or stamped printout can be scanned instead.
2. Upload it and choose the original language as the target. For a Spanish translation of an English form, pick English. LoreAI detects the Spanish on its own.
3. Put the two English versions side by side. The Word file keeps headings, lists and tables in the order of the page, so item 12 of the questionnaire lines up with item 12 of the original.

Your first document is free, up to 3 pages. For the reverse case, a scanned original that needs a forward translation, see translating a scanned PDF.

What a back translation does not tell you

A back translation checks meaning, not quality. A clumsy but accurate translation comes back looking fine, and a natural translation that uses an idiom can come back looking wrong when it is right. That is why the EORTC method follows the back translation with proofreading and pilot testing in the target language[1].

It also does not certify anything. When an office asks for a certified or sworn translation, the translator's signed statement is what counts. See what makes a translation official for the rules in the US, UK, Germany and France.

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