Languages Are Still a Major Barrier to Global Science

Abstract

While it is recognized that language can pose a barrier to the transfer of scientific knowledge, the convergence on English as the global language of science may suggest that this problem has been resolved.However, our survey searching Google Scholar in 16 languages revealed that 35.6% of 75,513 scientific documents on biodiversity conservation published in 2014 were not in English.Ignoring such non-English knowledge can cause biases in our understanding of study systems.Furthermore, as publication in English has become prevalent, scientific knowledge is often unavailable in local languages.This hinders its use by field practitioners and policy makers for local environmental issues; 54% of protected area directors in Spain identified languages as a barrier.We urge scientific communities to make a more concerted effort to tackle this problem and propose potential approaches both for compiling non-English scientific knowledge effectively and for enhancing the multilingualization of new and existing knowledge available only in English for the users of such knowledge.English is obviously the language that currently dominates global scientific activities as a lingua franca [1].Locally, however, many scientists and users of scientific information, such as policy makers, communicate on a daily basis in languages other than English, which inevitably creates barriers to the transfer of knowledge between communities [2, 3].However, the magnitude of this problem is not well quantified, and the consequences and solutions deserve further exploration.Language barriers may be a particularly serious problem in subjects in which local knowledge is especially important, such as environmental sciences required for biodiversity conservation [4].Languages can seriously limit the transfer of knowledge in environmental sciences in two directions: when compiling scientific knowledge-for example, in global assessments, such as those by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)-and when applying knowledge to local environmental issues, often tackled by field practitioners and local policy makers.Focusing on environmental sciences as an example, we here investigate the potential extent and consequences of language barriers in the two directions and propose solutions for reducing this potentially overlooked problem.