International Mother Language Day: Rethinking Peer Review
Every year on February 21, researchers across the world observe International Mother Language Day, an initiative led by UNESCO to promote linguistic and cultural diversity. While the day often sparks conversations about education, identity, and heritage, it also raises a critical question for academia:
What does peer review look like in a multilingual world?
As research becomes increasingly global, the peer review system continues to operate predominantly in English. For millions of researchers, this means publishing, reviewing, and responding to critique in a second (or third) language.
On International Mother Language Day, it’s worth examining how language shapes the peer review process – don’t you think? There are so many layers to a manuscript submission, that language nuances are bound to affect the process at various stages.
Role of Language in Peer Review
For decades, English has dominated the publishing world. High-impact journals, global databases, and citation indices overwhelmingly operated in English. This, of course will change, as the demographics and geographical lineage of published research decentralizes.
Research growth on a global scale enables cross-border knowledge exchange. However, it it also creates structural challenges:
- Non-native English-speaking authors are still expected to publish flawless English language articles.
- Reviewers still confuse language clarity with scientific rigor.
- Intercultural differences can further widen the gap between authors and peer reviewers.
Crossing the Language Gap in Peer Review
Peer review requires:
- Interpreting complex arguments
- Identifying methodological gaps
- Providing constructive feedback
Authors may:
- Struggle to defend their work
- Misunderstand cultural and linguistic nuances
- Unintentionally use incorrect wording
This dynamic can unintentionally affect the quality, tone, and fairness of peer review. Such issues may not be resolved by using AI – but in fact may lead to new errors being introduced due to improper use of words, grammar, context and labeling.
The Local Language Dilemma
Many countries maintain strong local-language journals that publish research directly relevant to regional health, agriculture, public policy, or education systems.
These journals:
- Increase accessibility for practitioners and policymakers
- Enable context-rich scholarship
- Preserve scientific discourse in native languages
However, researchers often face a trade-off:
- Publish in English for global visibility and citations
- Or publish in their mother tongue for local impact
AI-Assisted Communication
The rise of AI-assisted writing and translation tools is transforming academic communication.
Increasingly, researchers use AI to:
- Draft manuscripts in English
- Translate peer review reports
- Refine tone in rebuttal letters
Many journals now require authors to disclose AI use in manuscript preparation. Transparent disclosure helps maintain integrity while acknowledging that AI can level the linguistic playing field.
If responsibly used, AI could:
- Reduce language-based bias
- Improve clarity without altering scientific meaning
- Enable reviewers to evaluate content rather than grammar
However, overreliance without disclosure or critical oversight may introduce inaccuracies. The goal is not to erase linguistic identity but to ensure fairness in evaluation.
What Inclusive Peer Review Could Look Like
To truly honor International Mother Language Day in academia, stakeholders across the publishing ecosystem can take practical steps:
1. Clearer Reviewer Guidelines
Editors can explicitly remind reviewers to separate language quality from scientific merit.
2. Optional Language Editing Support
Providing pre-review language screening or editorial assistance can prevent avoidable desk rejections.
3. Multilingual Abstracts
Encouraging abstracts in both English and the author’s native language increases accessibility and local dissemination.
4. Reviewer Diversity
Expanding reviewer pools to include geographically and linguistically diverse experts strengthens perspective and fairness.
5. Training in Constructive Feedback
Reviewer training programs can address implicit bias and cross-cultural communication.
Linguistic Integration in Global Research
The future of research is undeniably global:
- Multinational clinical trials
- Cross-border AI research collaborations
- Global health initiatives
- Data and knowledge biorepositories
In this context, linguistic diversity is not a barrier. Rather, it is a strength. Different languages encode different cultural assumptions, analytical frameworks, and world views. Knowledge knows no boundaries – not cultural, not linguistic, not geographical. While this has always held true on a theoretical level, it is a reality today!
International Mother Language Day is an opportunity to rethink fairness in scholarly publishing. Let’s embrace this opportunity fully!
Want to know more about this day? Visit UNESCO: International Mother Language Day | UNESCO.
