Overview of difficulties and practical skills in translating papers from Chinese to English

Key points of this article

The difficulties in translating the paper from Chinese to English focus on unifying terminology, splitting long sentences and retaining formulas and tables. Translation of single sentences is not the main obstacle.
Prepare source documents and a terminology list before starting, and use only one English translation for the same concept throughout the text.
Scanned PDFs can be directly uploaded for translation, but the location and content of formulas, tables, and legends must be checked after translation.
The translation requires manual review, especially the abstract, conclusion and professional terminology, and the machine results cannot be directly used for submission.

If you have a Chinese degree thesis or journal manuscript that you have written and need to submit it to an English journal, submit English defense materials, or have it reviewed by an overseas tutor, you will probably first ask: Is it easy to translate the thesis from Chinese to English? It is not difficult to read through it. What really takes time is the terminology, sentence structure and consistency throughout the text. Many people discovered after translation that the same concept was called by one name in the second chapter, and then changed to another name in the fifth chapter.

This article is written for graduate students and scientific researchers who need to complete the Chinese-English translation of their thesis by themselves. It summarizes several key aspects of the Chinese-English translation skills of thesis. After reading, you will know where it is easy to get stuck in Chinese-English translation, what preparations you need to make before starting, how to process the entire document step by step in OmniDoc, and how to check item by item after the translation is completed.

There are three common difficulties in Chinese papers: first, terminology, such as "ablation experiment" and "confidence interval", which may be written in multiple English ways in different contexts; second, sentence structure, Chinese often use long attributives and multi-layered clauses, and the literal translation into English is often lengthy and blunt; third, format, formulas, tables, legends and numbers are easily misplaced or lost during the translation process. By handling these three things separately, the entire work can be advanced in an orderly manner.

Is it easy to translate a paper from Chinese to English? One sentence conclusion

It’s not simple, but it can be broken down into several controllable links. The difficulty of the entire paper mainly comes from the unification of terminology, sentence reorganization and format preservation, rather than a specific word. If you choose the right approach based on document type, the workload will be much smaller.

your situation	Recommended practices	reason
There is an editable Word or LaTeX source file, which is relatively long.	Upload the entire article for translation, choose an academic style, and read through it chapter by chapter after downloading.	The whole article can be treated to unify the terminology, and the structure and formulas can be kept relatively complete.
Scanned PDF, or just PDF without source file	Directly upload PDF translation, focusing on checking formulas and table positions	Scanned documents can be translated directly, but the format requires manual inspection.
Just need to change a few paragraphs of English summary or a certain chapter	Select the paragraph and manually modify it based on the term list	Partial changes do not require redoing the entire article, and the cost is low
Need to compare Chinese and English for tutors or reviewers to read	Select bilingual comparison output	Facilitate comparison of original text and translation paragraph by paragraph
Prepare to submit to journals, which have high language requirements	Machine translation first, then ask native English speakers or professional polishers to review	Academic expression requires professional judgment, and machine translation cannot be submitted directly.

Before you start: Confirm these points first

File format: Priority is given to preparing Word or LaTeX source files. The source document retains its paragraph, heading, numbering, and formula structure intact. If you only have a PDF, you can first select a piece of text in the PDF with the mouse: if it is selected, it means it is a digital version, if it is not selected, it is usually a scanned copy. In both cases, you can upload it, but you need to allow more time for verification.
Term list: List the proper nouns, abbreviations and method names in the paper, and determine the English writing of each word. The same concept can only have one translation in the entire text, otherwise readers will mistakenly think it is two different concepts. This is an aspect that is easily overlooked when translating from Chinese to English and also affects the sense of professionalism.
Target context: The English habits of dissertations, journal submissions, and conference papers are not exactly the same. Check the formatting requirements of your target journal or school before deciding which style to choose.
Formulas, Charts, and References: Decide what should remain the same before translating. Formulas, variable names and numbers should not be changed arbitrarily; the format of references should be processed separately according to the requirements of the target journal, and there is no need to rely on translation results.
Human review plan: Machine translation will make mistakes in professional terms and negative sentences. Determine in advance which parts (abstract, conclusion, data description) must be manually checked sentence by sentence to avoid leaving it to the end for hasty processing.

Steps to translate an entire paper in OmniDoc

Open omnidoc.top and upload the prepared paper file. Word, PDF or LaTeX source files can be used.
Select the translation direction from Chinese to English.
Choose an academic document style to make the translation closer to the expression habits of the paper.
Enable terminology consistency-related functions to keep the same term in the same translation throughout the text, and check it against the term list compiled earlier.
Select the output method: bilingual comparison facilitates paragraph-by-paragraph verification. When only translation is needed, select translation only for subsequent typesetting.
Submit the translation and wait for the processing to complete before downloading the results.
Read the abstract and conclusion first, and then check whether the formulas, tables and figure notes are completely retained, chapter by chapter.
For the paragraphs that need to be modified, you can rewrite the text directly in the PDF editor on the desktop client, or export it to Word and continue editing.

Check each item after completion

After receiving the translation, do not submit it directly; it is recommended to check each item item according to the table below.

Inspection items	How to see it	What should you do if there's a problem?
Whether terminology is unified	Use the search function to search for key terms and see if multiple spellings appear	Unified as translations from the terminology list
Formulas and symbols	Check each subscript, variable name, and number against the original text	manual correction; If the structure is complex, return to the source file for modification
Tables and captions	Verify that the number of rows, columns, numbers, and units matches the original text	Modify frame by frame against the original table, and check the captions separately
Numbers and proper nouns	Examination year, sample size, personal name, and institution name	Corrections should be based on the original text; do not alter based on impressions
Whether the sentences are fluent	Read aloud the summary and conclusion to see if there are any stiff literal translations	Ask native English speakers to polish or rewrite the sentence
Negative and conditional sentences	Pay special attention to "not," "not yet," "only," and "at...... Expressions like "under circumstances."	Compare sentence by sentence with the original meaning to prevent reversal

If you find a large area of terminology inconsistencies, it means the terminology list was not locked before translation. It is recommended to complete the list first and then re-check the entire text rather than making scattered edits one by one.

📊 Core Comparison

Method	Suitable situation	Major risks
The entire text is translated sentence by sentence by hand	Short in word count and with extremely high language control	It takes a long time and often leads to inconsistent wording
The entire article is machine-translated and manually reviewed	Longer lengths and need to quickly produce a revisable draft	Technical terms and negative sentences need to be carefully checked
Translated and pieced together by chapter	Each chapter is managed by different people	Terminology between chapters tends to be inconsistent, so a unified checklist is needed

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Can a Chinese and English translation of a paper be submitted directly?

Not recommended. Machine translations must be reviewed by professionals or native English speakers, especially for abstracts, conclusions, and terminology. Before submission, self-checks should be conducted according to the requirements of the target journal.

2. How to translate long Chinese sentences into English for a natural sound?

English more commonly uses short sentences with clear subject and verb, while Chinese multi-layered attributives and clauses need to be separated. After translation, check whether each sentence has a clear subject and predicate, and if necessary, break one sentence into two or three sentences.

3. Can scanned PDF papers be directly translated?

You can directly upload scanned PDF translations. After completion, focus on checking the positions and content of formulas, tables, and diagrams, and return to the source files if necessary.

4. What should I do if the formatting gets messed up after translation?

First, confirm whether the structure of the source file is clear, such as whether the title uses the correct hierarchy. For complex layouts, prioritize processing from Word or LaTeX source files, then use PDF editors or Word for partial adjustments after translation.

📝 Summary

The main challenges in translating Chinese to English into a thesis focus on terminology unification, sentence pattern conversion, and format checking. First, prepare the source files and terminology list, then use academic style and terminology consistency features to complete the entire translation, and finally check item by item according to the checklist to ensure the translation is both accurate and consistent throughout.

Open OmniDoc, upload the document, and start translating