The Role of English in International Publishing

Abstract

This article reflects on the evolution of the English language as a common global communications medium for science and for academic writing. The shared use of a common language in academic publishing speeds up the exchange of ideas and more rapidly brings new work and insights to a global professional audience. In turn, this advances the reputation of researchers, authors, universities and national institutions. All languages and writing systems (scripts or alphabets) evolve over time. English is a European language which has evolved in the Roman alphabet over 1500 years into its recognisable modern form. For reasons which seem to be founded primarily in its relatively simple grammatical structure, alphabet and fault tolerance, English has evolved into the language of choice for international communication, between peoples with a wide variety of mother tongues and writing scripts. Its utility has advanced rapidly with digital technology and the Internet. Russian researchers, authors, institutions and publishers who wish to secure international recognition for their work should consider co-publication in English, as it is then more likely to be read, quoted, cited and re-broadcast to a global audience. Greater transparency of academic output across the major international citation systems in this common language may in turn be a major stimulus to raising global academic standards, and to greater international academic cooperation.