About
A paper should remain a paper when it changes language.
Tolayda is infrastructure for the international movement of academic knowledge. LaunchPad Labs operates it for universities and research institutions, and for students writing in more than one language.
A dissertation, a seminar paper, a chapter: the document already has a shape. The work of Tolayda is to carry that shape into English and leave the original where the author can see it.
Where we start
International students often arrive with work already written. Seminars, supervision, and assessment may ask for English. The ideas are already in the document. The extra time sits in the crossing.
+90.8%more time is spent by non-native English speakers reading a single paper.
Amano et al., PLOS Biology, 2023
How can that document cross the language and remain the same paper?
What we hold to
The original stays in view. English sits beside the source. The author reads both, and edits until they trust the English.
The author decides. Export happens when the author is ready. The Word file keeps its own name. A folder in Tolayda is only a label on the desk.
The people around the paper can look. A classmate at the same university can join the translation and work on it live. A lecturer can receive a locked, read-only copy. Editing waits until that link is removed.
The university holds the licence. A seat is issued from a university Microsoft account on a licensed domain. The institution sets a monthly paper limit and a limit on the size of a paper. Its name and mark can appear on the sign-in screen and in the workspace.
A grade stays with the assessor. A translation here assists the work. Scholarly review, copy-editing, and any official certification stay with the people responsible for them.
The author keeps the document. Ownership of an uploaded paper stays with the person who wrote it. For work submitted on a university account, the institution is typically the data controller. LaunchPad Labs processes that work under the institution's instructions.
Who it is for
The author. The paper was written in the author's own language. Tolayda is where the English can be read against that original, passage by passage, before it goes anywhere else.
A classmate. Some papers are written by more than one person. An invitation to edit is for someone at the same university, on the same translation.
A lecturer. Supervision is a reading. A share is a locked copy, so the text the lecturer sees is the text the authors left in place.
A university. The institution decides who has a seat, how the workspace carries its name, and what limits apply. Its records stay with it. Accounts come through the institution's licence.
How a paper is treated
A paper is uploaded so it can be translated, read beside the original, and kept until the author deletes it or the institution asks for deletion. Personal data is used to sign a person in, confirm the licence, and operate that workspace.
The privacy policy and the terms of service are the full account: what is stored, who it is shared with in order to run the service, how long it is kept, and how to ask for access or deletion. A person may also complain to the ICO.
Deleting an account removes that person's papers, translations, files, and account. The deletion is permanent.
The name
Tolayda is said toh-LAY-da.
The sentence on the sign-in screen is the one this work follows: knowledge shouldn't stop at the edge of a language.
The record
Tolayda is operated by LaunchPad Labs (company no. 17137093), registered in England and Wales.
Questions go to hello@launchpadlabs.uk.
Privacy policy. Terms of service. GDPR and data protection.
