What Is A Linguistic Validation Service?

A linguistic validation service enables documents to be translated into another language with the assurance that the meaning of the original document is the same as in the translated document by taking into account cultural and lexical differences in the translated language. Such services are most often used by companies undertaking medical trials or other activities where participants’ responses must be translated exactly with no loss of meaning.

At its most fundamental level, linguistic validation is a process where a patient questionnaire is translated by several different translators; these translations are then combined into a single version; and that version is then translated into the original language by different translators. The end result is compared with the original document to evaluate the quality of the translation produced. The full process of linguistic validation involves preparation, translation, reconciliation, harmonization, cognitive debriefing and finalizing the target document.