5:15 PM - 6:45 PM
[SVC25-P09] International volcanology: what is the impact of English being the dominant publishing language for global research?
★Invited Papers
Keywords:Publishing, Multilingual, International volcanology, Translation, Bibliometric
Volcanoes do not care about borders. This is reflected in the increasingly international nature of volcanology as a discipline, which we investigate by using bibliometric data as a proxy for international collaboration. We look at the percentage of articles in different journals which include affiliations from two or more countries. Research in (English-language) volcanology-specific venues (Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, Bulletin of Volcanology, Journal of Applied Volcanology, Volcanica) demonstrate a progressive rise in this metric over 1999–2022, from around 30% in 1999 (JVGR, BV) to averages of around 60% over 2020–2022. This is notably higher than generalist journals such as Nature and Science (from 12–15% to 24–27%).
The apparent increase in international collaboration is positive; nevertheless, there still remain substantial disparities in published work from country to country. In particular, the use of English as the default language of scholarly publishing constitutes a significant barrier to maximising the contribution of non-native English speakers to volcanological research. Studies have highlighted time costs (e.g. increased time taken to read and write manuscripts, conduct reviews and editorial tasks, or prepare presentations) and financial costs (e.g. requirements to engage editing or translation services). Anecdotally, articles by non-native English speakers are more likely to be desk-rejected or subject to discriminatory reviews on the basis writing quality, constituting a “career cost” as well. Additional factors include reduced opportunities to review and edit English-language research. We are in the process of collating survey data from researchers writing in English for whom English is not their first language, providing an invaluable dataset for evaluating the scale of the setbacks faced by non-native English speakers.
The open-access journal Volcanica has implemented language-related initiatives aimed at improving research accessibility, including the option to provide abstracts in languages other than English (including French, Icelandic, and Persian), and a fully bilingual special issue. The bilingual special issue involved simultaneous publication of translated works (English, Spanish), affording a unique look at article access solely as a function of language. Article downloads were broadly comparable for both versions of the manuscripts, with the Spanish-language version typically downloaded more often.
Some of the open questions we seek to address include:
Could simultaneous publication of research in multiple languages be a step towards better valorising the contribution of volcanologists around the world? How much volcanological research is published in languages other than English? What are the nature and magnitude of setbacks faced by speakers of English as an additional language? How else can we improve multilingual publishing?
The apparent increase in international collaboration is positive; nevertheless, there still remain substantial disparities in published work from country to country. In particular, the use of English as the default language of scholarly publishing constitutes a significant barrier to maximising the contribution of non-native English speakers to volcanological research. Studies have highlighted time costs (e.g. increased time taken to read and write manuscripts, conduct reviews and editorial tasks, or prepare presentations) and financial costs (e.g. requirements to engage editing or translation services). Anecdotally, articles by non-native English speakers are more likely to be desk-rejected or subject to discriminatory reviews on the basis writing quality, constituting a “career cost” as well. Additional factors include reduced opportunities to review and edit English-language research. We are in the process of collating survey data from researchers writing in English for whom English is not their first language, providing an invaluable dataset for evaluating the scale of the setbacks faced by non-native English speakers.
The open-access journal Volcanica has implemented language-related initiatives aimed at improving research accessibility, including the option to provide abstracts in languages other than English (including French, Icelandic, and Persian), and a fully bilingual special issue. The bilingual special issue involved simultaneous publication of translated works (English, Spanish), affording a unique look at article access solely as a function of language. Article downloads were broadly comparable for both versions of the manuscripts, with the Spanish-language version typically downloaded more often.
Some of the open questions we seek to address include:
Could simultaneous publication of research in multiple languages be a step towards better valorising the contribution of volcanologists around the world? How much volcanological research is published in languages other than English? What are the nature and magnitude of setbacks faced by speakers of English as an additional language? How else can we improve multilingual publishing?