The CORE Econ website uses essential cookies to make our website work. You may disable these using your browser settings but this may affect website functionality (such as your access to logged-in resources). We would also like to use analytics cookies to help us improve the functionality of our website and improve your user experience. These analytics cookies will be set only if you accept. We do not sell or otherwise transfer personal data or usage data to any third parties or use it for any other purpose. For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Privacy policy.

The translation process

Planning a translation project

At the start of the project, EBW will conduct a planning meeting with the translation team to discuss variables such as:

  • the workflow
  • the roles and responsibilities each project team member will fulfill
  • the translation schedule
  • the budget
  • possible training requirements.

After this meeting, EBW will create the project in Basecamp (where we manage CORE translation projects), and provide the content for translation.

Translation quality assurance

Translation teams are usually required to submit a sample of the translated text to CORE for approval before going ahead with the full translation project. Contact Luka Crnjakovic for further details.

When translating the English text, follow CORE’s editorial house style. Where it doesn’t make sense to do this, keep a record of your editorial decisions.

In addition to this, we encourage you to record the editorial rules and decisions that are particular to the translation language, which EBW can add to this documentation for reference by any teams working on future updates or projects in the same language (for example, as was done for the Spanish translation of The Economy 2.0).

Translating content

The contents of CORE’s publications are stored as files within a code repository.

We provide translation teams with offline copies of the English files, along with supporting documents for some content types, to work into and return to us for technical quality assurance and addition back into the repository.

Using offline copies of the English files has the benefits of:

  • the dynamic indexing tags and image alt text being included in place
  • avoiding duplication or multiple versions of the files (the code repository files are our source of truth)
  • being faster and easier for EBW to work with, which reduces the budget and time required for production overall.

For more detail on the process of adding translations to these files, see the guidelines for adding translations to content files.

The translation production process

EBW handles the production of CORE’s publications. At the outset of your translation project, you’ll be put in touch with EBW for provision of the content and management of the production process.

The production process usually involves the following steps:

Planning and content handover

You’ll meet with EBW to introduce your team, explain your translation workflow, confirm which formats are being produced, and communicate any timelines or milestones you have in mind.

EBW will explain our booking system and production process, and give you an estimate of production timelines and costs.

You’ll be provided with the English content for translation.

Technical quality assurance

Once you’ve translated content, the EBW team undertakes technical quality assurance checks of the files you return.

This usually happens in batches, as the translation of units is completed, but can also begin only once the entire book or volume has been translated.

This quality assurance includes checking the correctness of the code tags, ensuring that the web format can build (in other words, that no technical issues have been introduced), previewing the web format to ensure functionality (for example, that links, MCQs, and expansion features work), ensuring that all English text has been translated, and (at a high-level, not line-by-line) a check against the English version to see that all of the English content is included in the translation.

Review and corrections

Once technical quality assurance is done, CORE and the translation team are provided with a web preview for review. Access to either a web annotation tool, or (for technically confident teams) direct repository access, is provided as a way to indicate or make changes.

During this phase, and before any releases, each unit should be checked against the CORE house style and the editorial stylesheet specific to the translation language.

  • For teams using a web annotation tool to indicate changes, EBW will undertake the implementation of those changes.
  • For teams making changes directly into the repository, EBW will undertake quality assurance checks.
  • Where changes to figures are necessary, EBW will implement those.

Proofreading

All translation projects should include professional proofreading before release.

The implementation of proofreading changes works in the same way as review corrections; these are either indicated as annotations and implemented by EBW, or the proofreader works directly into the repository and their work undergoes technical quality assurance by EBW. Where changes to figures are necessary, EBW will implement those.

The review step is repeated after proofreading, for sign-off of the content by CORE and the translation team.

Website releases

Translations are released on the CORE Econ site at core-econ.org.

Releases are scheduled in the planning phase.

EBW undertakes frontend testing of the site prior to each release.

Translation teams can be their own print-publisher, or partner with an existing publishing house.

If partnering with an existing publishing house, it is useful for EBW to be looped into early conversations that may affect the editorial style applied, the project timeline, and any other publisher-specific deliverables.

EBW will need the publisher’s logo and text for the following print book pages:

  • half title page
  • title page
  • copyright page.

EBW or the publisher can create the print-ready book cover.

The Electric Book workflow automates about 80% of the work traditionally done by a book typesetter. The automated page layout is then refined by EBW, who prepares and supplies a print-ready PDF to the translation team or their publisher.

This step can only be done after all corrections have been made, as further changes can cause the pages to reflow, making it necessary to refine the layout again.

App and ePub releases

The CORE projects can be published in the following offline formats:

  • an Android app (available for download through the Google Play Store)
  • a Windows app (available for download through the Microsoft Store)
  • an Apple iBook (available for download through the Apple iBooks Store and from the CORE site).