In a world where a million species are at risk, time to act is short and information is gold. But what if some of this valuable information remains buried, invisible to those who need it? That’s the finding of a recent University of Queensland (UQ) study, which issues a clear alarm: language is still a real obstacle to species conservation today.
The study, published in the journal Conservation Biology, examined 500 scientific articles concerning the protection and management of endangered birds, mammals, and amphibians. The results are surprising but mostly disturbing: articles published in languages other than English receive drastically fewer citations, even though they are scientifically sound. English-language articles had an average of 37 citations, whilst articles in other languages had zero.
Conducting the research was Kelsey Hannah, a PhD student at UQ, who explains the phenomenon this way, “The number of citations remains low even when the study design is robust or when the species being treated are endangered. This suggests that low visibility and language barriers hinder the dissemination of key information.”
One of the most emblematic examples is a 2011 Japanese study on the eastern stork, an endangered species throughout East Asia. Yet, the work was cited only in Japanese, excluding potential readers and decision makers in China, Korea, and Russia.
The problem, the study points out, is not the quality of the research, but its accessibility. Articles in other languages got more citations only when accompanied by an abstract in English. A small change, of course, but one with a huge impact: in such cases, citations increased by 50 per cent.
Professor Tatsuya Amano, co-author of the study and a professor at UQ’s School of the Environment, emphasises a key point: “Much of the world’s biodiversity is found in areas where English is not the primary language. To ignore research conducted in those languages is to exclude crucial data, local knowledge and solutions tailored to specific contexts.” This is a fact that calls into question the validity of the entire system of global science if, in fact, language continues to be an elitist, Western filter.
More inclusive science is possible
If we really want to address the biodiversity crisis effectively, it is essential to build a more inclusive and accessible science, not only geographically but also linguistically.
Solutions exist, and they are simple: promote the habit of writing multilingual abstracts; incentivise scientific journals to publish articles in local languages as well or to place English versions alongside them; and create translated databases and research tools that integrate non-English-speaking scientific sources.
But individual scientists and women scientists can also do their part. It is time for those working in academia and research to start searching for and citing articles published in other languages. Sometimes, the answer to an urgent problem may already exist, just not written in English. Linguistic inaccessibility is not just an academic issue: it can slow the response to ecological crises, hinder habitat protection, and ultimately doom entire species to disappearance.
Therefore, the study concludes, conservation science must become, also, a science of translation, cooperation and cultural openness. There will be no sustainable future if we continue to ignore half of the solutions just because they are not written in English.
