Science needs to inform the public. That can’t be done solely in English

"Important steps have been taken in recent years concerning multilingual publishing in science. The Helsinki Initiative on Multilingualism in Scholarly Communication was launched in 2019 in order to support locally relevant research. This initiative encourages the dissemination of research results in a way that protects national science infrastructures and promotes language diversity. All the suggestions put forth by the initiative further encourage scientists to share their research findings with the public. However, this does not mean that the initiative is against the production of research published in English. Primarily it was put forth to challenge performance evaluation systems, which put too much emphasis on English content, especially in countries where it can complicate or compromise the third mission of science, which is to inform the public. Moreover, it simply supports national science practices by suggesting that relevant policies are put in place, alongside the creation and maintenance of national databases for regional journals and regional-oriented evaluation practices."

Read the full text "Science needs to inform the public. That can’t be done solely in English" on the LSE Blog website.