Languages Are Still a Major Barrier to Global Science

Area of Science:

• Biodiversity Conservation
• Environmental Science
• Linguistics in Science

Background:

• English is the dominant language in scientific publications, but this may not fully represent global research.
• A significant portion of scientific knowledge, particularly in biodiversity conservation, remains inaccessible in non-English languages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the extent of non-English scientific literature in biodiversity conservation.
• To highlight the challenges posed by language barriers in scientific knowledge transfer and application.
• To propose solutions for integrating non-English research and multilingualizing scientific knowledge.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a survey of scientific documents on biodiversity conservation using Google Scholar across 16 languages.
• Analyzed publication language distribution for documents published in 2014.
• Included survey data on language barriers faced by protected area directors.

Main Results:

• 35.6% of 75,513 biodiversity conservation documents analyzed were not in English.
• Non-English research can lead to biases in understanding study systems.
• Language barriers impede the use of scientific knowledge by local practitioners and policymakers, as evidenced by 54% of Spanish protected area directors.

Conclusions:

• The dominance of English in science has not resolved language barriers in knowledge transfer.
• There is a need for concerted efforts to compile and disseminate non-English scientific knowledge.
• Multilingualization strategies are essential for broader accessibility and application of scientific findings.