Says Who?: Language Discrimination in Academic Publishing - Presentation Slides

Says Who?: Language Discrimination in Academic Publishing

Stella Sanchez, MPS in Publishing graduate, George Washington University; Assistant Managing Editor, Aerospace Medical Association This presentation discusses evidence of linguistic discrimination—defined as being mistreated or devalued based on language use—in English-language academic publishing and explores how it might be subverted by changes in editing policies and business practices. Among professional linguists, there is a relatively firm consensus that claiming the superiority of one language, or one form within a single language, over others is both fallacious and damaging. However, author instructions and peer review guidelines frequently reference the use of “standard” English as a professional expectation, reinforcing tangible barriers against non-native English speakers. The author recommends a utilitarian approach to reducing the effects of linguistic discrimination in the scholarly publishing community and suggests a new lens through which to view the future of editing in the international scholarly publishing space.

Stella Sanchez, B.A., M.P.S., currently serves as the Assistant Managing Editor of Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance, an English-language research journal with an international readership, published by the Aerospace Medical Association. She holds a dual Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Journalism, with a minor in Cognitive Science, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Recently, she graduated from the Master of Professional Studies in Publishing program at The George Washington University.