Translations and country versions

Translate a consent form, have a language specialist review it, and make country-specific versions.

A study that runs in several countries needs its consent form in several languages — and often in a country-specific version that meets local rules. Trelice handles both from inside the consent form editor. This guide assumes you already have a master consent form; if not, start with The master consent form.

Translating a section#

Every consent form section has its own Translations panel. Look for the gray bar labeled Translations below the section content; click it to open the panel. A number beside the label shows how many translations the section already has.

Adding a language#

1. Open the section you want to translate and click the Translations bar.
2. Click + Add Translation.
3. In the box that says Select language…, choose a language. The list offers French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Russian, and Arabic.
4. Click Add.
5. What you'll see: a new card for that language, with the status badge Pending and the note "No translated content yet".

Filling in the translation#

Click the language card to expand it. You have two ways to add the text:

• Auto-Translate — one click, and Trelice drafts the translation for you. The status changes to Auto-Translated and a small "· Auto" marker appears beside the language name.
• Edit — type or paste the translation yourself, then click Save.

Note: The Auto-Translate button only appears when your organization's system is set up with a translation service. If you never see it, that service is not configured — type the translation instead, or ask your administrator.

Language-specialist review#

A translation is not trusted until a qualified person has read it. Trelice enforces this: only colleagues with the Language Specialist role and the matching language specialty can review a translation. Administrators set each specialist's languages — see Managing users and invitations.

1. On the language card, click Submit for Review.
2. What you'll see: the text "Select a Language Specialist qualified for [language]:" with a Select reviewer… list. Only qualified specialists appear.
3. Choose a reviewer and click Assign.
4. What you'll see: the status changes to In Review, and editing is locked until the reviewer decides.

Troubleshooting: If the list shows No qualified specialists found, nobody in your organization has that language specialty yet. An administrator must add the specialty to a Language Specialist's account first.

The reviewer opens the same card and sees two buttons: Approve Translation and Request Changes. Requesting changes opens a comment box; clicking Send Feedback returns the translation to you with the comments shown in an orange Reviewer comments: box. When approved, the status badge turns green: Approved.

Country consent forms#

A country ICF is a full copy of the master consent form, adapted and translated for one country. This feature is part of the ICF Country product — the panel only appears if your organization has it.

Generating a country version#

1. Open the master consent form. In the left-hand panel, under the form's title, click Country ICFs.
2. What you'll see: the panel expands. Under Country, a list that says Select country... — it contains only the countries your organization is allowed to use. That list is set per organization by a platform administrator.
3. Choose a country. A Language list appears with the languages that country requires.
4. What you'll see below the language choice: small regulatory notes for the country — for example Back-translation required or GDPR applies, and the regulatory framework.
5. Click Generate for the chosen language, or All Langs to create a version for every required language at once.
6. What you'll see: the new versions appear in the panel under Generated ICFs, each showing the country code and language. Content is copied from the master and translated automatically; click an entry to open and refine it.

The back-translation flag#

Some countries require back-translation — an independent translation of the document back into English, to prove the meaning survived. Where this applies, the derived form carries a small purple BT tag in the Generated ICFs list, and the opened country form shows a purple badge reading Back-translation required. Trelice flags the requirement; the back-translation itself is arranged by your team.

When the master changes#

A country version is a snapshot of the master at the moment you generated it. If the master consent form is edited later, each affected country version shows an amber warning triangle in the Generated ICFs list, and the opened form shows this message:

"The master ICF has been updated since this country ICF was generated. Content may be outdated."

Compare the two, carry over the changes, or regenerate the country version when your team decides the master is final again.

Approving translated content#

Country consent forms go through the same section-by-section review as any other artifact — reviewers, workflows, statuses, and the audit trail all apply. A translation inside a section is approved by its language specialist, as described above; the section itself is approved through the normal review flow described in The master consent form.

Note: Every decision — who translated, who reviewed, who approved, and when — is recorded permanently. Nothing about a consent form is ever approved silently.