Cross-cultural adaptation of an implementation science glossary into simplified Chinese: study protocol

Introduction Implementation science (IS) relies on standardized terminology, yet existing glossaries are largely English and Western-centric, creating risks of misinterpretation in other contexts. In China, with over one billion Chinese speakers and a rapidly expanding IS community, the absence of a unified glossary hinders training and knowledge exchange. We report a prospective, multi-stage cultural and linguistic adaptation study of the Implementation Science Research Glossary produced by the Centre for Implementation Science at King's College London, UK, from its original English version into Simplified Chinese. Methods This study follows an established cross-cultural adaptation framework, modified to reflect the nature of a glossary rather than a psychometric instrument. The process includes: (1) forward translation of the English glossary into Simplified Chinese by a bilingual translator with IS expertise; (2) independent back translation by another bilingual individual blinded to the original glossary; (3) structured reconciliation involving the forward translator, back translator, and an additional reviewer with IS knowledge; (4) first expert panel review—conducted by 5 experts in IS and public health, who will also participate in the final review—to assess semantic, idiomatic, experiential, and conceptual equivalence, leading to a refined version of the glossary; consensus will be defined a priori as ≥80% agreement on each term and definition (5) evaluation of the refined glossary through two complementary quantitative validation procedures: (a) content validation by 6–10 eligible faculty members using the Content Validity Index (CVI), and (b) response process validation by 10–30 Chinese-speaking postgraduate students using the Face Validity Index (FVI); items will be considered acceptable if I-CVI ≥0.83 and glossary-level S-CVI/Ave ≥0.90 for content validity, and I-FVI ≥0.80 with glossary-level S-FVI/Ave ≥0.90 for face validity; and (6) final expert panel review to reach consensus on the adapted glossary. Ethical approval will be obtained prior to data collection. Discussion The study will produce the first, to our knowledge, culturally and linguistically adapted IS glossary for Chinese-speaking contexts. This resource is expected to enhance clarity and accessibility of implementation concepts, supporting research and practice in local settings. The documented adaptation process will provide a methodological reference for future translation of IS resources in other languages.