Non-native English speakers struggle more in science research

Researchers who are non-native English speakers spend more time and money than native speakers in contributing to the global scientific community where the language is prevalent, a group of international scientists said, calling for more inclusivity.
Their survey of 908 environmental scientists of eight nationalities revealed greater costs for non-native speakers in reading and writing English papers and that they even forwent attending international conferences held in English, according to research published last month in PLOS Biology.
The study conducted online in 2021 sought to compare and quantify the effort made by researchers from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Britain, Japan, Nepal, Nigeria, Spain and Ukraine, with varied English proficiency and income levels.
“The results unveiled profound disadvantages for non-native English speakers in conducting all scientific activities surveyed,” the group said, noting the significant impact it had, especially on researchers early in their careers.
Those with low English proficiency who published only one English-language paper devoted a median of 90.8% more time reading scientific papers compared with native speakers, their study showed.
Besides needing more time to write a paper in English, low- and moderate-speaking respondents were 2.5 or 2.6 times more likely to see their papers rejected by journals due to poor English than the 14.4% of native speakers.
Almost 43% of researchers from non-English speaking countries said they were asked to improve their English writing during their paper revision, or 12.5 times higher than native English speakers.
Apart from late-career researchers with moderate English proficiency, non-native speakers asked someone to proofread 75% or more of their submitted papers, while native speakers did this for less than half of theirs.
Income level played some role in attempts to close the language gap.
Researchers from Japan, with low English proficiency and a high income level, tended to pay for professional English editing services. But those with similar linguistic levels and from lower-middle-income countries like Nepal had no one to check their paper.
The language barrier is so high that approximately 30% of early career researchers from Japan and high-income Spain combined often or always abandoned attending English-language conferences. Of those who did attend, around half preferred to avoid giving oral presentations.
Conference preparation took more effort, with moderate and low English proficiency speakers spending more time preparing and practicing for oral presentations than native speakers.
Non-native researchers often struggle to explain their research, particularly those in their early career and of low English proficiency nationalities, with over 65% of them describing difficulty and lack of confidence.
“The scientific community needs to recognize these types of burdens,” said Tatsuya Amano, who was part of the research team.
The senior lecturer at the University of Queensland in Australia suggested promoting the use of artificial intelligence for English editing or for journals to offer such services, echoing the study’s proposed solutions.
He also called for conference organizers to create an inclusive environment and put in place a system of people designated to support researchers who struggle with English.