How Do Languages Affect Studies?

Up until a century ago, scientific studies were largely published in French, German and English, and before that, in Latin, but today the dominant language for such studies is English. This is because most of the prestigious journals publish in English, and publishing articles in these journals is very important for the career of a researcher.

According to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) data, there are currently 9,153 open access journals in 43 languages listed in this index, of which, 53% are published only in English and 47% are published in an another language. Moreover, 62% of the English-language journals only include articles dating back to 2010.

However, the preference for English in scientific studies makes it difficult for non-native English researchers to share their articles globally. It can also be challenging to communicate with journal editors and reviewers in such situations, as communication takes place mostly in the electronic environment, which can create problems related to trying to understand the wording of the other party in this environment. More problematic communication may arise when the language becomes complex for one of the parties.