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Articles on language barriers

AI and language barriers

  • Luo, Q. & Puett, M. (2024). Anglo-American bias could make generative AI an invisible intellectual cage. Nature, 629, 1004-1004. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01573-9
  • Martin, P.P., Graulich, N. (2024) Beyond language barriers: allowing multiple languages in postsecondary chemistry classes through multilingual machine learning. Journal of Science Education and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-023-10087-4
  • Choudhury, M. (2023). Generative AI has a language problem. Nature Human Behaviour, 7, 1802-1803. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01716-4
  • Simons, G.F., Thomas, A.L.L. & White, C.K.K. (2022). Assessing digital language support on a global scale. In Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Computational Linguistics, pages 4299–4305, Gyeongju, Republic of Korea. International Committee on Computational Linguistics. https://aclanthology.org/2022.coling-1.379

Evidence syntheses

  • Dushkova, D., Konstantinova, A., Matasov, V., Gaeva, D., Dovletyarova, E. & Taherkhani, M. (2024). Urban ecosystem services research in Russia: Systematic review on the state of the art. Ambio. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-02102-8
  • Razak, T.B., Budaya, R.R., Hukom, F.D., Subhan, B., Assakina, F.K., Fauziah, S. et al. (2024). Long-term dynamics of hard coral cover across Indonesia. Coral Reefs. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00338-024-02540-6
  • Ardiantiono, Pinondang, I.M.R., Chandradewi, D.S., Semiadi, G., Pattiselanno, F., Supriatna, J. et al. (2024). Insights from 20 years of mammal population research in Indonesia. Oryx, 58, 485-492. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0030605323001539
  • Berger-Tal, O., Wong, B.B.M., Adams, C.A., Blumstein, D.T., Candolin, U., Gibson, M.J. et al. (2024). Leveraging AI to improve evidence synthesis in conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 39, 548-557. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2024.04.007
  • Khraisha, Q., Put, S., Kappenberg, J., Warraitch, A. & Hadfield, K. (2024). Can large language models replace humans in systematic reviews? Evaluating GPT‐4’s efficacy in screening and extracting data from peer‐reviewed and grey literature in multiple languages. Research Synthesis Methods. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jrsm.1715
  • Díaz-Reviriego, I., Hanspach, J., Torralba, M., Ortiz-Przychodzka, S., Benavides Frias, C., Burke, L., García-Martín, M., Oteros-Rozas, E. (2024) Appraising biocultural approaches to sustainability in the scientific literature in Spanish. Ambio. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-023-01969-3
  • Zenni, R.D., Barlow, J., Pettorelli, N., Stephens, P., Rader, R., Siqueira, T. et al. (2023). Multi-lingual literature searches are needed to unveil global knowledge. Journal of Applied Ecology, 60, 380-383. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14370
  • Spillias, S., Kelly, R., Cottrell, R. S., O’Brien, K. R., Im, R.-Y., Kim, J. Y. et al. (2023). The empirical evidence for the social-ecological impacts of seaweed farming. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 2, e0000042. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pstr.0000042
  • Anzai, W., Ban, K., Hagiwara, S., Kako, T., Kashiwagi, N., Kawase, K. et al. (2022). Quantifying the 60-year contribution of Japanese zoos and aquariums to peer-reviewed scientific research. Animals, 12, 598. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12050598
  • Dresser, C., Hart, A., Kwok-Keung Law, A., Yen Yen Poon, G., Ciottone, G. & Balsari, S. (2022). Where are people dying in disasters, and where is it being studied? A mapping review of scientific articles on tropical cyclone mortality in English and Chinese. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X22000541
  • Khanna, S., Ball, J., Alperin, J. P. & Willinsky, J. (2022) Recalibrating the scope of scholarly publishing: A modest step in a vast decolonization process. Quantitative Science Studies, 3, 912-930. https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00228
  • Tatiana, C., Quentin, S., Mayra, C., Diego, M. & Olivier, D. (2022) Arthropod-related ecosystem services and disservices in smallholder farming in low and middle income countries. Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 4, 100133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2022.100133
  • Katayama, N., Uchida, H., Kusumoto, Y. & Iida, T. (2022) Bird use of fruit orchards and vineyards in Japan: mitigating a knowledge gap with a systematic review of published and grey literature. Ornithological Science, 21, 93-114. https://doi.org/10.2326/osj.21.93
  • Hunter, N. B., North, M. A. & Slotow, R. (2021) The marginalisation of voice in the fight against climate change: The case of Lusophone Africa. Environmental Science & Policy 120, 213-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2021.03.012
  • Rovira, C., Codina, L. & Lopezosa, C. (2021) Language bias in the Google Scholar ranking algorithm. Future Internet 13, 31. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fi13020031
  • Kulczycki, E., Guns, R., Pölönen, J., Engels, T. C. E., Rozkosz, E. A., Zuccala, A. A., Bruun, K., Eskola, O. Starčič, A. I.,Petr, M. & Sivertsen, G. (2020) Multilingual publishing in the social sciences and humanities: A seven-country European study. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 71, 1371–1385. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24336
  • El País (2020) El año en que Cajal inventó una vacuna y no se enteró nadie porque lo anunció en español [The year Cajal invented a vaccine and no one found out because he announced it in Spanish]. https://elpais.com/ciencia/2020-05-25/el-ano-en-que-cajal-invento-una-vacuna-y-no-se-entero-nadie-porque-lo-anuncio-en-espanol.html
  • Homolak, J., Kodvanj, I. & Virag, D. (2020) Preliminary analysis of COVID-19 academic information patterns: a call for open science in the times of closed borders. Scientometrics 124, 2687–2701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03587-2
  • Fernández-Bellon, D. (2020) Limited accessibility and bias in wildlife-wind energy knowledge: A bilingual systematic review of a globally distributed bird group. Science of The Total Environment 737, 140238. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140238
  • Preble, J.H., Ohte, N. & Vincenot, C.E. (2020) In the shadow of the rising sun: a systematic review of Japanese bat research and conservation. Mammal Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12226
  • Teo, H.C., Campos-Arceiz, A., Li, B.V., Wu, M. & Lechner, A.M. (2020) Building a green Belt and Road: A systematic review and comparative assessment of the Chinese and English-language literature. PLOS ONE 15, e0239009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239009
  • Vera-Baceta, M.-A., Thelwall, M. & Kousha, K. (2019) Web of Science and Scopus language coverage. Scientometrics 121, 1803-1813. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-019-03264-z
  • Petrovan, S.O. & Schmidt, B.R. (2019) Neglected juveniles; a call for integrating all amphibian life stages in assessments of mitigation success (and how to do it). Biological Conservation 236, 252-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.05.023
  • Walpole, S. C. (2019) Including papers in languages other than English in systematic reviews: important, feasible, yet often omitted. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 111, 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2019.03.004
  • Uetz, P. & Stylianou, A. (2018) The original descriptions of reptiles and their subspecies. Zootaxa 4375, 257-264. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4375.2.5
  • Lazarev, V.S. & Nazarovets, S.A. (2018) Don’t dismiss citations to journals not published in English. Nature 556, 174. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-04169-2
  • Neimann Rasmussen, L. & Montgomery, P. (2018) The prevalence of and factors associated with inclusion of non-English language studies in Campbell systematic reviews: a survey and meta-epidemiological study. Systematic Reviews 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-018-0786-6
  • Blicharska, M., Smithers, R. J., Kuchler, M., et al. (2017). Steps to overcome the North–South divide in research relevant to climate change policy and practice. Nature Climate Change, 7, 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3163
  • Cohen, J.F., Korevaar, D.A., Wang, J., Spijker, R. & Bossuyt, P.M. (2015). Should we search Chinese biomedical databases when performing systematic reviews? Systtematic Review, 4, 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-015-0017-3
  • Baethge, C. (2013) The production and recognition of psychiatric original articles published in languages other than English. BMC Psychiatry, 13, 102. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-244X-13-102
  • Morrison, A., Polisena, J., Husereau, D., Moulton, K., Clark, M., Fiander, M., Mierzwinski-Urban, M., Clifford, T., Hutton, B. & Rabb, D. (2012). The effect of English-language restriction on systematic review-based meta-analyses: a systematic review of empirical studies. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 28, 138-144. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266462312000086
  • Gordon, A. (2012) The invisibility of science publications in hebrew: A comparative database study. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 63, 607-615. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.21704
  • Song, F., Parekh, S., Hooper, L., Loke, Y. K., Ryder, J., Sutton, A. J., Hing, C., Kwok, C. S., Pang, C., Harvey, I. (2010) Dissemination and publication of research findings: an updated review of related biases. Health Technology Assessment 14, 8. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta14080
  • Fung, I.C.H. (2008) Citation of non-English peer review publications – some Chinese examples. Emerging Themes in Epidemiology 5, 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-7622-5-12
  • Karlsson, S., Srebotnjak, T., & Gonzales, P. (2007) Understanding the North–South knowledge divide and its implications for policy: a quantitative analysis of the generation of scientific knowledge in the environmental sciences. Environmental Science & Policy, 10, 668-684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2007.04.001
  • Pan, Z., Trikalinos, T.A., Kavvoura, F.K., Lau, J. & Ioannidis, J.P.A. (2005) Local literature bias in genetic epidemiology: an empirical evaluation of the Chinese literature. PLOS Medicine 2, e334. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020334
  • Pham, B., Klassen, T. P., Lawson, M. L., & Moher, D. (2005) Language of publication restrictions in systematic reviews gave different results depending on whether the intervention was conventional or complementary. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 58, 769-776. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2004.08.021
  • Cyranoski, D. (2004) Bird flu data languish in Chinese journals. Nature 430, 955. https://doi.org/10.1038/430955a
  • Jüni, P., Holenstein, F., Sterne, J., Bartlett, C., & Egger, M. (2002) Direction and impact of language bias in meta-analyses of controlled trials: empirical study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 31, 115–123. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/31.1.115
  • Egger, M., Zellweger-Zähner, T., Schneider, M., Junker, C., Lengeler, C., & Antes, G. (1997) Language bias in randomised controlled trials published in English and German. Lancet, 350, 326–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(97)02419-7
  • Grégoire, G., Derderian, F. & Le Lorier, J. (1995) Selecting the language of the publications included in a meta-analysis: Is there a tower of babel bias? Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 48, 159-163. 1016/0895-4356(94)00098-b

Science communication

  • Sélem-Mojica, N., Karakulak, T., Anjum, A., Pashkov, A., Pérez-Estrada, R., Enriquez-Guillén, K. et al. (2024). Closing the computational biology ‘knowledge gap’: Spanish Wikipedia as a case study. Bioinformatics, 40, i11-i19. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btae247
  • Richards, D., Worden, D., Song, X.P. & Lavorel, S. (2024). Harnessing generative artificial intelligence to support nature‐based solutions. People and Nature, 6, 882-893. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10622
  • Rakotomanana, H., Razanamaro, O.H.M., Ravelomanana, A., Andriantsaralaza, S., Rafalinirina, A.H., Razanaparany, T.P., Ratsimbazafy, J., Rabakonandrianina, E. & Goodman, S.M. (2024). ATBC 2019 in Madagascar: its impact on the national scientific community. Biotropica, 56, 50–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.13277
  • Seale, E., Reaume, M., Batista, R., Eddeen, A.B., Roberts, R., Rhodes, E. et al. (2022). Patient–physician language concordance and quality and safety outcomes among frail home care recipients admitted to hospital in Ontario, Canada. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 194, E899-E908. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.212155
  • Büttner, B., Firat, M. & Raiteri, E. (2022). Patents and knowledge diffusion: The impact of machine translation. Research Policy, 51, 104584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2022.104584
  • Higham, K. & Nagaoka, S. (2022) Language barriers and the speed of knowledge diffusion. RIETI Discussion Paper Series 22-E-074. https://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/dp/22e074.pdf
  • Steigerwald, E., Ramírez-Castañeda, V., Brandt, D.Y.C., Báldi, A., Shapiro, J.T., Bowker, L. et al. (2022). Overcoming language barriers in academia: machine translation tools and a vision for a multilingual future. BioScience. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biac062
  • Dreisbach, J.L, (2022). The role of languaging in planetary health. The Lancet Planetary Health 6, e385. https://doi.org/10.1016/S254b2-5196(22)00095-X
  • Wang, Y. & Mumby, H. (2022). Differences in reporting human-wild boar interactions in Chinese and English news media. Human Dimensions of Wildlife. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2022.2057623
  • Pérez-Llantada, C. (2021) Genres and languages in science communication: The multiple dimensions of the science-policy interface. Language & Communication 78, 65-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2021.02.004
  • Kim H.N., Lan K.F., Nkyekyer E., Neme, S., Pierre-Louis, M., Chew, L. & Duber, H.C. (2020) Assessment of disparities in COVID-19 testing and infection across language groups in Seattle, Washington. JAMA Netw Open. 3(9): e2021213. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.21213
  • Matthews, K. R., Yang, E., Lewis, S. W., Vaidyanathan, B. R., & Gorman, M. (2020) International scientific collaborative activities and barriers to them in eight societies. Accountability in Research, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2020.1774373
  • Cheung, H., Mazerolle, L., Possingham, H.P., Tam, K.-P., Biggs, D., 2020. A methodological guide for translating study instruments in cross-cultural research: Adapting the ‘connectedness to nature’ scale into Chinese. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13465
  • ÓhÉigeartaigh, S.S., Whittlestone, J., Liu, Y., Zeng, Y. & Liu, Z. (2020) Overcoming barriers to cross-cultural cooperation in governance. Philosophy & Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-020-00402-x
  • Mori, A.S. (2020) Next-generation meetings must be diverse and inclusive. Nature Climate Change 10, 481. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0795-z
  • Márquez, M.C. & Porras, A.M. (2020) Science communication in multiple languages is critical to its effectiveness. Frontiers in Communication 5, 31. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00031
  • Barath, H. (2019) Indian initiatives aim to break science’s language barrier. Nature 571, 289-290. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01815-1
  • Fabian, Y., Bollmann, K., Brang, P., Heiri, C., Olschewski, R., Rigling, A., Stofer, S., Holderegger, R. (2019) How to close the science-practice gap in nature conservation? Information sources used by practitioners. Biological Conservation 235, 93-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.04.011
  • Saha, S., Afrad M.M.H., Saha, S. & Saha, S.K. (2019) Towards making global health research truly global. Lancet Global Health 7, PE1175. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(19)30259-1
  • Dew, K.N., Turner, A.M., Choi, Y.K., Bosold, A., Kirchhoff, K. (2018) Development of machine translation technology for assisting health communication: A systematic review. Journal of Biomedical Informatics 85, 56-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2018.07.018
  • Giehl, E.L.H., Moretti, M., Walsh, J.C., Batalha, M.A., Cook, C.N. (2017) Scientific Evidence and Potential Barriers in the Management of Brazilian Protected Areas. PLOS ONE 12, e0169917. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169917
  • Huttner-Koros, A., Perera, S. (2016) Communicating science in English: a preliminary exploration into the professional self-perceptions of Australian scientists from language backgrounds other than English. Journal of Science Communication 15. https://dx.doi.org/10.22323/2.15060203
  • Müller, J., Opgenoorth, L. (2014) On the gap between science and conservation implementation – a national park perspective. Basic and Applied Ecology 15, 373-378. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2014.03.002
  • Primack, R.B. (2013) Locally adapted textbooks can help biodiversity. BioScience 63, 926-927. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2013.63.12.5
  • The PLOS Medicine Editors (2006) Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedeuten: language matters in medicine. PLOS Medicine 3, e122. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0030122
  • Gulbrandsen, P., Schroeder, T.V., Milerad, J. & Nylenna, M. (2002) Paper or screen, mother tongue or English: which is better? A randomized trial. JAMA 287, 2851-2853. 1001/jama.287.21.2851
  • Primack, R.B. (2001) Publish again in another language. Conservation Biology 15, 290-291. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2001.00201.x
  • Nature Cell Biology (2001) Breaking the language barrier. Nature Cell Biology 3, E89. https://doi.org/10.1038/35070145
  • Guha, B. (1985) Study on the language barrier in the production, dissemination and use of scientific and technical information with special reference to the problems of the developing countries. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris.

Publishing, education, and career development

List of non-English-language journals in ecology and conservation

  • Version 1.2 (updated on 04/08/2023: xlsx 64KB) is now available on figshare
  • Version 1.1 (uploaded on 17/11/2020: xlsx 65KB)
  • Version 1 (uploaded on 13/11/2020: xlsx 65KB)

List of academic journals committed to tackling language barriers