Translation Guidelines

We provide the following guidance for creating new translations of the DC/TMD protocol and of other instruments:

Title Description
Translation Procedures and Steps Concise orientation and overview of translation principles and the steps leading to a completed and approved translation.
Guidelines for Translation and Cultural Equivalency of Instruments Core document for translators (revised May 11, 2013) and applicable to any instrument.
Translation Agreement: Translating the DC/TMD into a Second Language This document describes the responsibilities for the translation teams who wish to translate the full DC/TMD and post on the INfORM web site.
Translation and Adaptation of the DC/TMD Provides translation and procedural guidance specific to the DC/TMD (revised September 29, 2017).
Summary Report Logs (blank logs in a zip file) Required document for INfORM-approved translations; provides self-documentation of the translation process and for archival reference (revised Oct 21, 2020).
Tutorial for Using the Translation Logs An annotated set of Translation Logs for a single instrument, illustrating how to use the Logs and avoid common errors; solutions to common problems are included.
Translation and Adaptation of the RDC/TMD Relevant only to the RDC/TMD; posted here for archival purposes (revised Aug 4, 2007).

Additional support documents for the translation of the DC/TMD include a Translation Log B for each DC/TMD instrument, and an original source file (in English) for use in transferring the final translation to the administration instrument.  These documents are available to approved translation teams.

Please note that for new translations to be posted on the INfORM web site, they must adhere to the standards as presented in the Guidelines and the translation process must be documented using the full set of Translation Logs.

For further information regarding new translations or questions, contact the INfORM translation committee.

Some of the above documents are posted as MS Word files (.doc or .docx); the remainder of these documents are posted in PDF file format, which requires Adobe Reader (version 5.0 or higher), available free from Adobe.com or click on this icon.