Resources for Multilingual Authors Publishing in English

The world is richer when all voices are heard, and editing services can help multilingual authors be part of that conversation.

Whenever an author publishes their research, it adds to the current scholarly conversation, increasing our knowledge in the academic world. Because the majority of academic journals publish in English, scholars whose first language is not English may face a significant barrier in getting their work published. Authors around the world deserve an equal opportunity to share their research, and enhancing our scholarly discourse depends on the inclusion of diverse global perspectives. But how can our society accomplish this if language differences can place multilingual authors at a disadvantage?

THE RESEARCH

Multilingual authors can prepare their manuscripts for English publication by using editing resources. In his article “Online Manuscript Editing Services for Multilingual Authors: A Content Analysis Study,” Mahmoud Sherif Zakaria examined which editing services are most commonly offered to researchers who intend to publish their work. Zakaria identified 16 editing organizations that offered manuscript services for researchers. Zakaria then divided them into two categories: 7 commercial publishers (e.g., Taylor & Francis) and 9 editing companies (e.g., Edanz).

Each organization offers a range of 15 supporting services, including journal selection and submission, research marketing, statistical analysis, and others. However, Zakaria found that four core editing services were offered most frequently: language editing, manuscript formatting, figure preparation, and translation.

Language editing was offered by all 16 (100%) organizations, implying it is the most in-demand service. This service helps researchers overcome language barriers, improving the quality of each manuscript and promoting the future article’s visibility in the scholarly realm (Zakaria 2021, 99).

Nearly all organizations also provided the three remaining core services. The next most offered service, offered by 15 (93.8%) organizations, was manuscript editing: structuring the manuscript content according to the publisher’s guidelines, including the positioning of tables and figures (Zakaria 2021, 100). This resource is aligned with the third most offered service, figure preparation, which was offered by 14 (87.5%) organizations. This service deals specifically with correctly formatting illustrations, diagrams, and images (Zakaria 2021, 100). Last, 12 (75%) organizations offered translation services for translating manuscripts written in the author’s native language into English (Zakaria 2021, 101).

THE IMPLICATIONS

Based on these findings, Zakaria recommends that researchers consult editing services offered by both commercial publishers and editing companies (2021, 108). The increasing demand for publishing in English journals indicates that language editing services will continue to be utilized by researchers, particularly those who are multilingual. This demand presents a business opportunity for commercial publishers, editing companies, and even freelance editors.

Ultimately, Zakaria “believes that the results of this study will help multilingual researchers who are interested in publishing their works in English as a second language” (2021, 108). Understanding the resources available to multilingual authors can help them use their voice to contribute meaningful findings to scholarly discourse.

To learn more about the ways editing resources can help multilingual authors, read the full article:

Zakaria, Mahmoud Sherif. 2021. “Online Manuscript Editing Services for Multilingual Authors: A Content Analysis Study.” Science & Technology Libraries 41 (1): 90–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/0194262X.2021.1932695.

—Aundrea Esplin, Editing Research

FEATURE IMAGE BY YAN KRUKAU

Find more research

Take a look at Bettina Schnell’s (2024) article to learn about the importance of advocating for the promotion of multilingualism within the scholarly publishing world: “Multilingual Scholarly Publishing: Exploring the Perceptions, Attitudes, and Experiences of Plurilingual Scholars in Foreign Language Publication.” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 27 (1). https://doi.org/10.3998/jep.5416.

Read this article from Scholastica (2018) to learn more about how we can help multilingual authors with manuscript feedback, encourage policy reform, and facilitate a more global research community: “3 Ways Academic Journals Can Better Support Non-native English Speaking Authors.” Scholastica. June 14, 2018. https://blog.scholasticahq.com/post/ways-academic-journals-can-support-esl-authors/.