Empowering ESL researchers: tips for International publishers and collaborators
Despite any geopolitical situations or cultural differences, researchers and scholarly publishing professionals tend to be remarkably cordial and helpful. Scholars from countries with fraught relations often work together to yield great results with minimal issues between them. I’ve often hoped that more people could work with overseas counterparts like multinational research teams can. English often facilitates these connections.
In research, English has probably helped break down barriers more than it has divided people, but the predominance of English is not an unalloyed good. The expectation of good English skills means that countless English as a second language (ESL) researchers need to navigate a difficult and stressful process just to get their research seen. How can overseas publishers and research collaborators reduce the burden so that ESL researchers can focus on their research?
The native advantage
As I have recently touched in other posts, English is unquestionably the global lingua franca, particularly in research. However, developing the English skills to be an effective researcher in the 21st century takes years of concerted effort. This puts the onus on individual researchers to take charge of their own English language development.
Nevertheless, I would argue that an entirely “personal responsibility”-based approach to English skills development is misguided. So-called L1 speakers—those who grow up using English in their home—have a clear advantage in navigating research publishing. Further, ESL researchers are not monolithic. Differences in mother tongues, personal circumstances, and even individual neuropsychology can all influence one’s English learning journey. It would be tough to make publishing more equitable without accounting for the individual challenges that ESL researchers face.
So, what are the personal or systemic challenges that hold back many ESL researchers from maximizing their publication prospects and career growth? More importantly, how can we address these issues?
Issues holding ESL researchers back in publishing
Poor access to resources
ESL researchers, particularly in the Global South, may have limited access to resources such as English-language writing workshops, editing services, and language support programs, which are essential for improving their writing skills. This can further entrench inequities in research publishing and prevent emerging economies from realizing their potential in scientific innovation.
Bias in the review process
Peer review should be objective and focus on the findings and methodology, while language issues are an editing issue. There is evidence of unconscious biases among reviewers and editors towards papers written by ESL researchers, leading to higher scrutiny and rejection rates.
Cultural issues
Much of my experience comes from helping Japanese learners of English. Japanese people famously struggle with developing English skills, for reasons I previously outlined. A major reason is that communicating in Japanese is just so radically different from using English, especially when writing. It’s probably not a coincidence that many of the countries with the best English skills either have languages with strong linguistic links to English (such as the Netherlands) or were historical colonies of English-speaking countries. When negotiating with editorial review boards staffed by native and near-native speakers, ESL researchers can be at a profound disadvantage, feeling unable to properly communicate their needs.
Helping ESL researchers over the long term
Given these issues, what kinds of measures can publishing stakeholders take to realize better results for ESL researchers?
Avoid gatekeeping based on English ability
It’s perfectly reasonable to expect papers to be written in comprehensible English, but writing errors are inevitable, even among the most careful native speakers. Peer review processes need to be carefully reviewed and planned to avoid bias. Reviewers should be reminded to provide solid reasons for their acceptance and rejection, and they may also benefit from guidelines to help them in their decision making.
Providing in-depth submission guidelines and helpful resource pages are also vital for non-native researchers. Providing checklists for submission, like this one from the AAS, is an easy way of helping non-native researchers understand your requirements. Resources allowing, journals may also consider providing some editing as part of their publication process.
Offer workshops and resources
Depending on their circumstances, ESL researchers may have limited access to resources such as English-language writing workshops, editing services, and language support programs, which are essential for improving their writing skills.
Offering resources that facilitate writing and publishing not only makes your publications more attractive to prospective submissions, they are also vital as branding opportunities, much like how many publishers offer other educational resources as part of their brand strategy. As one example, Nature has not only produced many professional development resources to help researchers, they have even started offering them as a paid service.
Raise awareness and provide support
Publishers and academic institutions can use their platforms to raise awareness about the challenges faced by ESL researchers and allocate resources to support them effectively.
Using social media to solicit feedback, organizations can gather input from ESL researchers about their needs and challenges. This information can inform the development of targeted support initiatives.
Finally, consider forging partnerships with language support organizations, academic societies, and funding agencies to leverage resources and expertise in supporting ESL researchers effectively.
Future prospects
English may have some competition, but it’s tough to argue that another language will usurp its status as the main international language for science and academia. Languages like Spanish and Mandarin Chinese boast many native speakers, but they see little use as tools of cross-cultural communication. In contrast, English is seeing growing usage as a “third language” between people. We’re still in uncharted territory, but it appears that English is increasingly belonging not to any one people or country, but to whoever is using it. With this in mind, it’s time for native and non-native speakers to meet each other as equal partners and prioritize collaboration and open communication over traditional UK- or USA-centric ideas of the role of English.
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