Language barriers still burden science, new study suggests - CSMonitor.com - 0 views
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In today’s globally connected world, language may still be a barrier to science.
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Today, almost every major scientific journal prints in English – even while featuring research from all over the world.
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Meanwhile, new research suggests, tens of thousands of reports are being published without English translations.
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“Language barriers continue to impede the global compilation and application of scientific knowledge,” lead author Tatsuya Amano, a professor of zoology at the University of Cambridge, said in a statement.
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“Scientific knowledge generated in the field by non-native English speakers is inevitably under-represented, particularly in the dominant English-language academic journals,” Amano said. “This potentially renders local and indigenous knowledge unavailable in English.”
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But doubling down on English may not be the best way to overcome the language barrier, researchers say. Instead, they argue, journals should supply translations of current scientific publications. To emphasize that point, authors included summaries of their new study in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and French.