OmniDocHow to retain the reference format after translating foreign literature into Word?
After foreign language documents are translated into Word, the text layout can usually be retained, but references are easily mistranslated, line broken, or formatted. This article explains how to check references individually and organize them into a deliverable format according to APA 7.
Key points of this article
- Do not hand over the entire reference paragraph to the translator. The title of the book, journal and author should remain in the original English text.
- The translated Word file should be checked separately for references to check whether the author, year, title and DOI are consistent with the original text.
- APA 7's hanging indents, sorting by author last name, and italicizing journal names often require manual adjustment in Word.
- The citations in the text should correspond to the reference list one by one, and any missing or extra entries should be filled in or deleted.
Many course papers and submissions require citing foreign literature. A common practice among readers is to translate English papers into Chinese and then export them to Word for reading, taking notes, or writing reviews. The problem often lies in the last step: the text can be read, but the references are messed up, the author's name has become Chinese, the italics of the journal name have disappeared, and the indentation and sorting do not meet the format requirements.
This article is written for readers who need to translate foreign language papers into Word and also keep or organize references. If your goal is APA 7 format, after reading it you will know that references should be handled separately, what content cannot be handed over to translation, and how to check item by item after exporting.
The following will give the conclusion first, and then explain the process. OmniDoc can help you translate and export the text layout to Word, but the reference format still needs to be checked and adjusted by you.
How to retain the reference format after translating into Word? One sentence conclusion
It is recommended that references be taken out from the text translation and processed separately. When translating the main text, keep the original text entries, export it to Word and then compare it with the original paper one by one, and finally manually adjust it according to the target format.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| Only need to understand foreign language papers | The main text is translated into bilingual version, and the references remain in the original text. | When reading, you can directly compare the English author and title without affecting the search for the original text. |
| To write a course paper or graduation thesis | The translation is only used to understand the content, and the references are manually organized according to APA 7 in the original text. | Quotations must correspond to real publication information. Translated titles and journal titles cannot be directly used as quotations. |
| To continue editing in Word | Adjust paragraph indents, italics, and ordering in Word after exporting | Reference formats are mostly set at the paragraph level, and it is more stable to adjust them uniformly in the document. |
| The original text is a scanned PDF | First confirm that the text is recognizable, then translate it, and focus on checking references. | When the scanned document is recognized incorrectly, the author name, year and DOI are prone to errors. |
Scenario: The doctoral student needs to translate an English review into Word and organize it into APA 7 references.
Xiao Lin is a graduate student and needs to read a 30-page review in English. She wanted to read the Chinese translation first, and then write the ideas into her course paper. The final paper is required to use APA 7 format and have a reference list of at least 40 references.
She has two documents in her hand: an English PDF of the original text, and the reference format requirements given by her instructor. What she wants to deliver is a Word file that can be edited, containing both Chinese text and properly formatted references.
The stuck points she encountered were typical: the main text was basically readable after translation, but the English author names in the references were translated into Chinese, the book titles and journal titles became translations, some DOIs were broken into two lines, and the list had no hanging indentation. What she needed was not just a translation, but a reference that could be used directly in her writing.
Complete process
- Confirm the original text type. Open the PDF and try to select a piece of text with the mouse. If it can be selected, it means that it is a text version of the PDF; if it cannot be selected or only pictures can be selected, it means that it is a scanned copy. Scanned copies can be uploaded directly for translation, but the reference part requires manual verification.
- Prepare original references. Copy the reference list at the end of the paper to a text file and keep the original English text as a basis for subsequent verification. If the original article has an official database page or DOI, this is also recorded.
- Upload and translate in OmniDoc. Open omnidoc.top, upload a PDF or docx file, select academic style translation, and the output method can be "Bilingual" or "Translation only". Bilingual comparison facilitates paragraph-by-paragraph verification, and only the translated version is cleaner.
- Export Word file. If the original text is docx, the translation result can be directly obtained as docx. If the original text is a PDF, you can use the desktop client to download download.omnidoc.top, export it to Word in the PDF editing function, and then check the layout in Word.
- Replace the references section. Find the reference list in the translation and overwrite it with the original English text saved in step 2. Make sure that the author's name, year, paper title, journal name, volume and page number are consistent with the original text. For book titles, journal titles, and essay titles, do not use translations.
- Format as per APA 7. Add hanging indents to references in Word, align the first line to the left, and indent the remaining lines by 0.5 inches (about 1.27 cm); arrange alphabetically by author's last name; set the journal name and volume number in italics; and write the DOI as a complete URL.
- Quote against the text. Check the citations in the text one by one, such as "(Smith, 2020)", and confirm that each citation has a corresponding entry in the reference list. In turn, confirm that each document in the list has been cited in the text.
- Do a full text check before delivery. Check headings, margins, and line spacing against the APA 7 Manual or your instructor's formatting requirements. If you need to further edit the Word content, you can also open the file in the UniDoc web editor app.unidoc.top, which supports Word-compatible editing.
Where things can easily go wrong
The author's name is translated. English author names should not be translated into Chinese. Once discovered, replace the corresponding entry with the original reference list. If the author has a Chinese name, the original spelling will still be used when citing in APA 7.
The italics of journal titles and book titles are missing. Italics are sometimes lost after exporting to Word. The processing method is to check the journal name, volume number and book title one by one, and set italics manually. In APA 7, the journal name and volume number are italicized, but the article title is not.
DOI or link line breaks. When the DOI is too long, Word may break in the middle, causing the link to be invalid. When processing, you can put the DOI on a separate line, or directly copy the complete link in the original text, and confirm that it can be accessed normally after clicking or copying.
Scanned document recognition error. References in scanned PDFs often contain typos, missing words, or incorrect years. When encountering numbers and proper nouns, you need to go back to the original page to check. You cannot rely solely on the translation results. Both machine translation and OCR can make mistakes, and important content requires human confirmation.
The text citation does not match the list. A common problem is that a document is cited in the text but is omitted from the list, or there is an article in the list that has never been cited. When revising, the main text shall prevail, and the spelling of the year and author's name shall also be checked.
🎯 Which method is suitable for you?
If you just want to read foreign language papers
Use the bilingual translation directly and keep the references in English. There is no need to manually adjust the format.
If you have to submit a course paper or graduation thesis
The translation is only used as a material for understanding, and the references are rearranged from the original text and checked item by item according to APA 7 rules.
If your original text is a scanned PDF
First confirm the file type by selecting text, and then focus on checking the author, year and DOI after translation.
If you need to continue typesetting in Word
After exporting, set hanging indents, italics, and sorting uniformly in Word. Do not rely on automatic formatting by translation tools.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Can references be directly used in the translated title?
It's not recommended. APA 7 requires references to retain the title, journal name and author name of the original text, and the translated title does not allow the reader to find the original text. The translation can be put in parentheses to help understand, but the official list should be based on the original.
2. What is the reference format of APA 7?
The title of the list is usually "References" in the middle; each document is indented by hanging; arranged alphabetically by the author's last name; the journal name and volume number are in italics; and the DOI is written in full URL form. For details, please refer to the current APA 7 manual.
3. Should the references be retypeset after translation?
Yes. The layout retained by the translation tool does not correspond to APA 7. Even if there is nothing wrong with paragraphs and positions, indentation, italics, and sorting often need to be adjusted manually.
4. How to write APA in reference format? Is there a quick way to check?
You can check the original text one by one, make sure that the author, year, title, journal name, volume period, page number and DOI are complete, and then check punctuation and italics against the sample format of APA 7.
# Summary
After the foreign literature is translated into Word, the layout of the text can be retained and the references need to be checked separately. First, replace the references in the translation with the original text, then adjust the indentation, italics and ordering according to APA 7, and finally check them one by one against the citation of the text, so that the exported Word files can be directly used for writing.
