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Disadvantages in preparing and publishing scientific papers caused by the dominance of the English language in science: The case of Colombian researchers in biological sciences
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 9 (2020), PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 9, p e0238372 (2020), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2020.
-
Abstract
- The success of a scientist depends on their production of scientific papers and the impact factor of the journal in which they publish. Because most major scientific journals are published in English, success is related to publishing in this language. Currently, 98% of publications in science are written in English, including researchers from English as a Foreign Language (EFL) countries. Colombia is among the countries with the lowest English proficiency in the world. Thus, understanding the disadvantages that Colombians face in publishing is crucial to reducing global inequality in science. This paper quantifies the disadvantages that result from the language hegemony in scientific publishing by examining the additional costs that communicating in English creates in the production of articles. It was identified that more than 90% of the scientific articles published by Colombian researchers are in English, and that publishing in a second language creates additional financial costs to Colombian doctoral students and results in problems with reading comprehension, writing ease and time, and anxiety. Rejection or revision of their articles because of the English grammar was reported by 43.5% of the doctoral students, and 33% elected not to attend international conferences and meetings due to the mandatory use of English in oral presentations. Finally, among the translation/editing services reviewed, the cost per article is between one-quarter and one-half of a doctoral monthly salary in Colombia. Of particular note, we identified a positive correlation between English proficiency and higher socioeconomic origin of the researcher. Overall, this study exhibits the negative consequences of hegemony of English that preserves the global gap in science. Although having a common language is important for science communication, generating multilinguistic alternatives would promote diversity while conserving a communication channel. Such an effort should come from different actors and should not fall solely on EFL researchers.
- Subjects :
- Science and Technology Workforce
Economics
Writing
Social Sciences
lcsh:Medicine
Multilingualism
Careers in Research
Mathematical and Statistical Techniques
Learning and Memory
Salaries
Science communication
Psychology
Salary
lcsh:Science
media_common
Language
Grammar
Principal Component Analysis
Multidisciplinary
Impact factor
Publications
Statistics
Public relations
Research Personnel
Professions
Publishing
Physical Sciences
Medicine
Periodicals as Topic
Research Article
Science Policy
media_common.quotation_subject
Science
English grammar
Research and Analysis Methods
Biological Science Disciplines
Human Learning
Political science
Humans
Learning
Statistical Methods
Scientific Publishing
business.industry
lcsh:R
Cognitive Psychology
Biology and Life Sciences
Linguistics
Reading comprehension
Labor Economics
People and Places
Multivariate Analysis
Cognitive Science
Scientists
Population Groupings
lcsh:Q
business
Mathematics
Neuroscience
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 9
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....26c5a181fe839a33f0eae2a7c9791284