Publication of scientific literature in non-English speaking countries

Introduction:

English, as we all know, is recognised as an international language and is spoken in majority in many countries of the world. It is expected that researchers should be well spoken in English in order to make their work recognisable internationally. Even if the researcher does not speak fluent English, it is expected that s/he should at least have an understanding of the language.

Nowadays, employers prefer young scholars who are fluent in English or at least bear an understanding of the said language. As a result, these young scholars easily publish their work without facing any difficulty even though they belong to non-English speaking countries, whereas the non-English speaking scientists struggle in publishing their work and gaining recognition.

Now two queries arise, which are:

1) How do the articles published in non-English languages get affected?

2) How can non-English-speaking researchers easily apply knowledge and observations from English-language scientific research findings?

The demand for publications in the English language puts various obstacles in the path of the researchers who belong to non-English speaking academic communities. As they target international recognition, they are drawn more toward international journals published in the English language. However, it is also important to make their research work accessible to non-academicians in order to gain the benefits of the same.

Fortunately, thanks to the Open Access movement, we are starting to see some – albeit small – attempts to improve access to research articles in languages other than English. One can easily view an article or take insights from Open Access journals as it doesn’t require any permission to translate and disseminate articles. In addition, Open Access publications encourage writers to submit manuscripts in their native languages as supplemental documents to their English-language manuscripts.

Conclusion:

Researchers from non-English speaking communities will benefit by publishing in multiple languages because they will not only be recognized in the scientific community but also prevent instances of plagiarism and duplicate publications.

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