English is increasingly recognised as the global language of research, but this does pose problems for both individual researchers and the broader scientific community.

Ten years ago, in an article in The Conversation in 2013 on English as a world language Stewart Riddle noted: “There are more non-native speakers of English than native speakers; nearly four out of five English-speaking interactions happen between non-native speakers of English; most research is shared in English-language journals; English is the number one language used on internet sites; and most literature is published in English or translated from English into other languages”.

Recently in March 2023, global academic publisher Elsevier commented here on English as the lasting language of publication with an examination of the rise of English as lingua franca of academic publishing.

On a similar theme, in July 2023, Tatsuya Amano from the University of Queensland summarised research in an article in The Conversation: “Our collective emphasis on English places a significant burden on scientists who speak a different first language.” “The scientific community urgently needs to address language barriers so that future generations of non-native English speakers can proudly contribute to science.”

Amano explained the problem: “The use of English in the internationalisation of research and higher education comes at a cost to local knowledge and languages, as academics in … other parts of the world compete with scholars from the UK and USA to publish in high-ranking English-language research journals.”

The dominance of English does impose burdens on individual authors who are not as comfortable writing and communicating in English, and limits the scientific community in general. With journals and conferences receiving so many submissions, sometimes the quality of the English contributes to decisions to reject.

In Australia, with its internationally recognised university sector, there are many academics and research students from English-as-an-another-language backgrounds. Academic editors provide important services for both. Academic editors can be part of the research team, working with individual authors before submission or working with journals.

Read my recent blog on university rankings and academic editing: links for success in Sydney here.

Recognising the issue of language is one step in addressing it. Providing professional assistance can be part of the solution.

To work with an accredited editor who knows academic standards, please contact me at rhdaniels@bigpond.com