Localization of specialized medical discourse in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC)

What is it about?

Although localization is, in the first place, related to the cultural adaptation and translation of software and websites, it is important for written materials as well. In this paper we investigate how specialized medical discourse used in the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) is localized in patient leaflets (PL). Both documents are issued by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and provide detailed information on the product compiled and distributed by the drug manufacturer, after EMA review and approval. We describe by means of a case study the formal and linguistic features of SmPCs and PLs and we investigate how the specialized source text is localized in its patient-friendly version. The aim of this investigation is to increase awareness and understanding of localization strategies adopted on the intralingual level in the communication of scientific-medical knowledge to a non-expert audience.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Explains the strategies used to make medical information accessible for patients

Perspectives