Supporting English non-dominant language authors’ efforts to publish: perspectives from the editors-in-chief of highly recognised journals in Mathematics Education

Abstract

In this article, we document the support provided by highly recognised journals in Mathematics Education in response to the challenges faced by English non-dominant language (EnDL) authors when they attempt to publish in English. To address this issue, we first conducted a synthesis of research literature related to those influences that direct EnDL authors’ publication efforts towards English language journals and the associated challenges that result. Second, we gathered survey and interview data from participant editors-in-chief of leading journals in Mathematics Education about the support, enacted and planned, provided by their journal for EnDL authors and associated challenges. Finally, we discuss the findings of the study from the perspective of heteroglossia. Findings indicate that while a range of initiatives have been employed to support EnDL authors, current journal policies lag somewhat behind the plans of editors-in-chief, which have been limited, to date, by available resources.

Internationalisation of teaching, learning, and the curriculum in context: Emerging perspectives and new possibilities

“…For research communities, it restricts English-speaking academics' access to works achieved outside of other languages. Not having access outside of the English domain deprives English-speaking academics of knowledge, ways of learning, and potentially attentive solutions to problems (Geiger et al, 2022). And vice versa, privileging English in academic publications also restricts the research communities outside the English-speaking domain from joining conversations with Englishspeaking colleagues.…”

“…Journal policies seem to lag behind the intention to support non-English speaking background (NESB) authors (Geiger et al, 2022). Many journals offer publication support and services for NESB academics and teams.…”

Epistemological Allyship

“…Some of these proposals have included expanding editorial boards of journals to include marginalised groups (Palser et al, 2022), ending colonial science or parachute research/science or ‘helicopter research’ through meaningful collaborations (Adame, 2021; Odeny & Bosurgi, 2022; Smith, 2018), and having more non-English language journals feature in the databases like Scopus and Web of Science (Liu, 2017). Other proposals include making use of non-English language publications for global science (Amano et al, 2021; Bahji et al, 2022; Márquez & Porras, 2020), supporting non-native English authors to publish in the English language (Geiger et al, 2022), and inclusion of more participants outside of Western settings in psychology research and publication (Arnett, 2009; Rad et al, 2018; Thalmayer et al, 2021). Thus, we can realise that some of the proposals target the journal editorial boards (Palser et al, 2022) and editorial policies (Geiger et al, 2022; Rad et al, 2018) while other proposals target researchers and science practitioners as well as their practices (Adame, 2021; Amano et al, 2021; Bahji et al, 2022; Márquez & Porras, 2020; Odeny & Bosurgi, 2022; Smith, 2018).…”

“…Other proposals include making use of non-English language publications for global science (Amano et al, 2021; Bahji et al, 2022; Márquez & Porras, 2020), supporting non-native English authors to publish in the English language (Geiger et al, 2022), and inclusion of more participants outside of Western settings in psychology research and publication (Arnett, 2009; Rad et al, 2018; Thalmayer et al, 2021). Thus, we can realise that some of the proposals target the journal editorial boards (Palser et al, 2022) and editorial policies (Geiger et al, 2022; Rad et al, 2018) while other proposals target researchers and science practitioners as well as their practices (Adame, 2021; Amano et al, 2021; Bahji et al, 2022; Márquez & Porras, 2020; Odeny & Bosurgi, 2022; Smith, 2018). Though a lot has been said about meaningful collaborations (Adame, 2021; Odeny & Bosurgi, 2022; Smith, 2018), the suggestions seem to be about researchers who wish to conduct studies outside of the geographical locations of their origin.…”