Description
Language bias is endemic in science, affecting both researchers and research impact. For researchers, it is well-known that, on one hand, there are (1) some non-English speaking researchers who have excellent research ideas but who struggle with writing for English-language journals and hence never get their best ideas published (and hence often struggle with their academic career), yet on the other hand, there are also (2) some English-speaking researchers who have less strong research ideas but who manage to publish their work because the quality of their writing is sufficient to pass the publication bar.
From a research-impact perspective, it is also inarguable that there are: (1) some papers published in non-English-language journals/conferences that are little-known or unknown in the English-speaking world, and hence the ideas do not get the impact they deserve, as well as (2) papers published in English-language journals/conferences that are unknown in the non-English speaking world and hence they do not get the impact and attention they deserve. In both cases, language differences impede accessibility and impact.
These problems are not limited to IS research. Rather, they are well-known, science-wide problems (Ahmed et al. 2023; Amano et al. 2021; Arenas-Castro et al. 2024; Berdejo-Espinola and Amano 2023; Crotty 2024; Editorial 2023). For decades, solutions have been suboptimal. For instance, researchers who struggle with English can invest in copyediting, but this often turns one type of bias (language bias) into another one (economic bias, with richer schools/individuals having differential abilities to pay). Moreover, such strategies do not address the root cause of the problem.
Recommended Citation
Burton-Jones, Andrew; Chau, Patrick; Feng, Juan; Kankanhalli, Atreyi; and Vogel, Douglas, "AI Translation and the Future Language of Science" (2024). PACIS 2024 Proceedings. 2.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2024/panels/Panels/2
AI Translation and the Future Language of Science
Language bias is endemic in science, affecting both researchers and research impact. For researchers, it is well-known that, on one hand, there are (1) some non-English speaking researchers who have excellent research ideas but who struggle with writing for English-language journals and hence never get their best ideas published (and hence often struggle with their academic career), yet on the other hand, there are also (2) some English-speaking researchers who have less strong research ideas but who manage to publish their work because the quality of their writing is sufficient to pass the publication bar.
From a research-impact perspective, it is also inarguable that there are: (1) some papers published in non-English-language journals/conferences that are little-known or unknown in the English-speaking world, and hence the ideas do not get the impact they deserve, as well as (2) papers published in English-language journals/conferences that are unknown in the non-English speaking world and hence they do not get the impact and attention they deserve. In both cases, language differences impede accessibility and impact.
These problems are not limited to IS research. Rather, they are well-known, science-wide problems (Ahmed et al. 2023; Amano et al. 2021; Arenas-Castro et al. 2024; Berdejo-Espinola and Amano 2023; Crotty 2024; Editorial 2023). For decades, solutions have been suboptimal. For instance, researchers who struggle with English can invest in copyediting, but this often turns one type of bias (language bias) into another one (economic bias, with richer schools/individuals having differential abilities to pay). Moreover, such strategies do not address the root cause of the problem.
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