10.1111/cobi.13883
https://zenodo.org/records/6190323
oai:zenodo.org:6190323
Chowdhury, Shawan
Shawan
Chowdhury
0000-0003-2936-5786
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, 4072 Australia ; Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, 4072 Australia
Gonzalez, Kristofer
Kristofer
Gonzalez
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, 4072 Australia ; Environmental Science and Resource Management, California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo, 93012 United States
Kemahlı Aytekin, M. Çisel
M. Çisel
Kemahlı Aytekin
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Koç University, Rumelifeneri Yolu 34450 Sarıyer, Istanbul, Turkey
Baek, Seung-Yun
Seung-Yun
Baek
Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183–8509 Japan
Bełcik, Michał
Michał
Bełcik
Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, al. Adama Mickiewicza 33, Kraków, 31–120 Poland
Bertolino, Sandro
Sandro
Bertolino
0000-0002-1063-8281
Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Torino, 10123 Italy
Duijns, Sjoerd
Sjoerd
Duijns
Sovon Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology, Nijmegen, 6525 ED The Netherlands
Han, Yuqing
Yuqing
Han
State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Department of Ecology/School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510275 China
Jantke, Kerstin
Kerstin
Jantke
0000-0002-3126-3888
Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, 20144 Germany
Katayose, Ryosuke
Ryosuke
Katayose
Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183–8509 Japan
Lin, Mu-Ming
Mu-Ming
Lin
School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, 1088 Xueyuan Ave, Nanshan, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, 518055 China
Nourani, Elham
Elham
Nourani
Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, Radolfzell, 78315 Germany ; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, Konstanz, 78464 Germany
Ramos, Danielle Leal
Danielle Leal
Ramos
Plant Technology and Environmental Monitoring Ltd, Technological Park of São José dos Campos, Campos, 12247-016 Brazil
Rouyer, Marie-Morgane
Marie-Morgane
Rouyer
0000-0003-4915-7191
CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France
Sidemo-Holm, William
William
Sidemo-Holm
0000-0001-6526-6211
Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, Lund University, Lund, SE, 22362 Sweden
Vozykova, Svetlana
Svetlana
Vozykova
Faculty of Energy and Ecotechnology (GreenTech), ITMO University, Kronverkskiy Prospekt 49, St Petersburg, 197101 Russia
Zamora-Gutierrez, Veronica
Veronica
Zamora-Gutierrez
CONACYT - Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional Unidad Durango (CIIDIR), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Sigma 119 Colonia 20 de Noviembre II, Durango, Durango, CP 34220 México
Amano, Tatsuya
Tatsuya
Amano
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, 4072 Australia ; Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, 4072 Australia
Growth of non-English-language literature on biodiversity conservation
Zenodo
2022
biodiversity information
evidence synthesis
global biodiversity databases
languages
language barrier
publication bias
2022-01-03
eng
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
English is widely recognized as the language of science, and English-language publications (ELPs) are rapidly increasing. It is often assumed that the number of non-ELPs is decreasing. This assumption contributes to the underuse of non-ELPs in conservation science, practice, and policy, especially at the international level. However, the number of conservation articles published in different languages is poorly documented. Using local and international search systems, we searched for scientific articles on biodiversity conservation published from 1980 to 2018 in English and 15 non-English languages. We compared the growth rate in publications across languages. In 12 of the 15 non-English languages, published conservation articles significantly increased every year over the past 39 years, at a rate similar to English-language articles. The other three languages showed contrasting results, depending on the search system. Since the 1990s, conservation science articles in most languages increased exponentially. The variation in the number of non-English-language articles identified among the search systems differed markedly (e.g., for simplified Chinese, 11,148 articles returned with local search system and 803 with Scopus). Google Scholar and local literature search systems returned the most articles for 11 and 4 non-English languages, respectively. However, the proportion of peer-reviewed conservation articles published in non-English languages was highest in Scopus, followed by Web of Science and local search systems, and lowest in Google Scholar. About 20% of the sampled non-English-language articles provided no title or abstract in English; thus, in theory, they were undiscoverable with English keywords. Possible reasons for this include language barriers and the need to disseminate research in countries where English is not widely spoken. Given the known biases in statistical methods and study characteristics between English- and non-English-language studies, non-English-language articles will continue to play an important role in improving the understanding of biodiversity and its conservation.
SC is funded by the Australian Government, the University of Queensland, and the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science. KJ is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany 's Excellence Strategy—EXC 2037 'CLICCS—Climate, Climatic Change, and Society'—Project Number: 390683824, contribution to the Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN) of Universität Hamburg. M-M.R has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 766417. TA is funded by the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT180100354) and the University of Queensland strategic funding.
Australian Research Council
10.13039/501100000923
FT180100354
ARC Future Fellowships - Grant ID: FT180100354
European Commission
10.13039/501100000780
766417
INternational training at the Science-Policy Interface for Researchers in Europe, for Nature