This guide outlines how you can add translators to your REDCap project without having them see any collected data. This will be useful in cases where you need to gather data in participant groups that speak and read other languages. This guide will outline how to set this up from a project admin/manager side, and then what the translators will see from their side.

From the project admin/manager side

1.    Navigate to the project you wish to add translations, then navigate to the multi-language management tab, under Application on the left-hand side menu.

2.    In the multi-language management tool in the languages tab, select Add a new language.

3.    An ‘Add a new language’ box will appear. Here you’ll add the language ID (it is recommended that you use the ISO codes, which can be accessed in the link under the language ID box), and the language display name. The sort override box can be left blank. In this example, I’ll add Chinese as a language. Once you’re happy, click on the ‘add language’ option.

4.    Once the language has been added, you should now see it in your languages tab. This example has UK English and Chinese as languages, with English being the default and Chinese as the fallback option.

5.    To add a translator to the project, they first will need a REDCap account. This can be created by Digital Research by emailing [email protected] with the translator's full name and contact email address.

6.    Once the account has been created, navigate to the ‘User rights’ option under applications on the left-hand side.

7.    Navigate to the ‘add new users’ with the ‘add with custom rights’ option.

8.    Translators that do not need any access to data or editing rights will have the following permissions:

9.    Alternatively, you can create a role under the ‘create new roles’ tab with the same permissions as in the previous step. This will allow you to add users with a specified role with permissions already set. The example below has the role called ‘Translator’ and has the same permission set as the step above.

Please note: Only users that have the ‘User Admin’ permission set can add users to projects.

10.    Once the translations have been provided, they can be enabled in the multi-language management tool, under the ‘Forms/Surveys’ tab. When the switch is red, it is not enabled, green means enabled. This step can be done by the project admin or by the translator, and any changes will cause the ‘save changes’ button to be highlighted yellow. It is highly recommended that changes are saved often.

From the translator side:

1.    Once you have signed into REDCap, navigate to the project you wish to translate for, then select the ‘multi-language management’ option from the left-hand side.

2.    Once in the tool, select the Forms/Surveys tab across the top.

3.    Then select the language you want to provide translations for when in this tab, then select ‘Translate’ either under the Fields or Survey Settings heading.

4.    You only need to provide translations for the fields that have red boxes next to them. The green boxes mean the field there is blank or has been translated already.

5.    Any changes made will cause a yellow bar to appear down the left-hand side and the ‘save changes’ button to appear yellow, pictured below. It is highly recommended that you save your changes often.

If you require more information, advice or support please email us at [email protected]