Languages block access to Science study @ Cambridge Survey
Cambridge survey finds over a third of
research papers are not published in English, hindering universal availability
London: Around 35.6 per cent new scientific
reports are published in languages other than English, which can lead to
important Science being missed at international level, contributing to biases
in understanding, finds a Cambridge study. The study was carried out to seek
translations of studies' basic summaries in multiple languages.
Besides
the international community missing out on important science, language hinders
new findings getting through to practitioners in the field, ‘Languages are
still a major barrier to global science' paper published in ‘PLOS Biology'
journal last week pointed out.
In
the paper, the Cambridge University researchers called on scientific journals
to publish basic summaries of a study's key findings in multiple languages, and
universities and funding bodies to encourage translations as part of their
‘outreach' evaluation criteria.
Dr
Tatsuya Amano from Cambridge's Department of Zoology said: “While we recognise
the importance of a lingua franca, and the contribution of English to science,
the scientific community should not assume that all important information is
published in English.
“Language
barriers continue to impede the global compilation and application of
scientific knowledge.” The researchers point out an imbalance in knowledge
transfer in countries where English is not the mother tongue, saying “much
scientific knowledge that has originated there and elsewhere is available only
in English and not in their local languages”.
This
is a particular problem in subjects where both local expertise and
implementation is vital - such as environmental sciences.
As
part of the study, those in charge of Spain's protected natural areas were
surveyed. Over half of the respondents identified language as an obstacle to
using the latest Science for habitat management.
The
Cambridge team also conducted a litmus test of language use in Science. They
surveyed the web platform Google Scholar -one of the largest public
repositories of scientific documents-in a total of 16 languages for studies
relating to biodiversity conservation published during a single year, 2014.
Of the over 75,000 documents, including journal articles, books and theses,
some 35.6 per cent were not in English. Of these, the majority was in Spanish
(12.6 per cent) or Portuguese (10.3 per cent). Simplified Chinese made up 6 per
cent, and 3 per cent were in French.
The
researchers also found thousands of newly published conservation science
documents in other languages, including several hundred each in Italian,
German, Japanese, Korean and Swedish. Lead author Amano and his colleagues said
that when conducting systematic reviews or developing databases at a global
scale, speakers of a wide range of languages should be included in the
discussion.-PTI
Source | Daily News Analysis | 3 January 2017
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
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