General Academic Translation Services Review

Academic Translation Services is company that specializes in different kinds of translations, localizations, and interpretations. It’s been operating for a while, but strangely enough, there are very few reviews about its performance available online. The explanation might lie in its name: it’s too general, meaning that search results become mixed up and the clients cannot find what they are looking for. However, the site of this translation company is very transparent in all respects, and it discloses all the required information. It claims to serve more than 100 languages, provide Russian, Chinese, German translation services. Employ over 1000 professional translators. The services range from written to video and audio translations, with all possible formats supported.

In our quest to determine how well Academic Translation Services copes with its responsibilities and whether it fulfills its promises, we’ve placed an order with it. We asked for an urgent English to Japanese translation services for a medical-themed document. As an assigned expert was working on our order, we noted down and evaluated every aspect of service delivery.   

Range of Prices

AcademicTranslationServices.com discloses information about its professional translation services price right on its website. Offering you to take a look at the box where it puts all crucial facts about money, deadlines, quality standards, etc. The price starts at $0.10 for one word, which is a little lower than the market average. It was a pleasant surprise because paying less means you’ll be able to place bigger orders without worrying about going bankrupt. Audio and video services are more expensive, so if you are interested in them, you’ll have to pay about $7 for one minute. Overall, the price depends on deadlines, complexity, and language combination. Each review of Academic Translation Services we came across states that it is not expensive, but if you need rare languages (for example Finnish language translation, or Vietnamese language translations) or demand urgent delivery, the price will increase by a significant margin.

Speed of Translation

This company offers a variety of packages with different deadlines. You could use rush, super rush, same day, next day, and 24-hour options. We were admittedly confused about difference between them, so we had to clarify it with the staff. You can do the same, but the point is, this company will agree to work with any deadline you require. They kept their promise, so we got our order by date we’ve mentioned.

Accuracy of Translated Document

To our disappointment, our medical text was translated badly. It had so many awkward structures and mistakes that it was clear that machine translation was involved. Medical terms and definitions weren’t adapted properly, and in some places, they remained as in the original. We instantly demanded a revision, and after some reluctance, we managed to get another specialist. This one did a much better job, but it was still far from perfect. If we were actual clients, we would have paid for services of an additional proofreader.

Degree of Client Satisfaction

Translation services of any agency are its most important feature, but there are also other elements that affect overall customer satisfaction. Representatives of this company were mostly polite, adhered to our deadline, and let us use the revision option. These points serve as significant advantages. But considering how flawed the first text we received was, it didn’t make us feel better. We were disappointed since Academic Translation Services promised us the best service and didn’t deliver it.  

Are There Certified Translation Services?

Yes, Academic Translation Services offers certification, so you can ask them for this type of service if you need it. However, ensure that specific expert will work on your project. Double-check several times in order not to be disappointed with final result.

Conclusions and Final Rating

Human translation must be an inherent part of translation and localization industries. Academic Translation Services relied on machine form of it at first, and while the second paper was considerably better, it’s still not an excuse, and it didn’t improve our overall impression. Based on such experience, we give this company only 3 stars. It tries to cover every type of service imaginable, but from what we saw, its employees lack professionalism. Top companies should be concerned about quality first and foremost, and that’s what AcademicTranslationServices should do to improve. If you want a reliable service, you should look elsewhere, at least for now.