Article published In:
Journal of English for Research Publication PurposesVol. 2:2 (2021) ► pp.160–171
Vol. 2:2 (2021) ► pp.160–171
Perspective
Linguistic injustice in academic publishing in English
Limitations and ways forward in the debate
In recent years, an intense debate in English for research publication purposes (ERPP) has developed around the question of whether linguistic injustice exists or not in academic publishing in English. In this Perspectives piece, I wish to engage in this debate by first situating the terms in which it is being developed, and then pointing out some of its limitations. In doing that, I argue that the view of language that is currently held in the debate seems problematic, and that a more explicit attention to the socially stratified nature of academic publishing seems missing from the debate. Suggesting potential ways forward, I propose that it seems crucial to adopt a view of language that anchors it more firmly as a social phenomenon, inherently connected to its speakers and the socially situated and stratified position that they inhabit. Remembering this is important in order to remain aware of the fact that both linguistic and non-linguistic factors are at play in shaping the uneven nature of academic publishing in English.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.No language-based injustices in academic publishing in English?
- 3.Limitations of the debate and possible ways forward
- 4.Concluding remarks
- Acknowledgements
-
References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.
For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].
References (32)
Block, D.
(2018) Political economy and sociolinguistics: Neoliberalism, inequality and social class. Bloomsbury.
Blommaert, J.
(2010) The sociolinguistics of globalization. Cambridge University Press. 
Bourdieu, P., Passeron, J. C., & De Saint Martin, M.
(1994) Academic discourse, linguistic misunderstanding, and professorial power. Stanford University Press.
Canagarajah, A. S.
(1996) “Nondiscursive” requirements in academic publishing, material resources of periphery scholars, and the politics of knowledge production. Written Communication,
13
(4), 435–472.
Corcoran, J.
(2017) The potential and limitations of an English for research publication purposes course for Mexican scholars. In M. J. Curry & T. Lillis (Eds.), Global academic publishing: Policies, perspectives and pedagogies (pp. 233–248). Multilingual Matters.
Dołowy-Rybińska, N.
(2021) Publishing policy: Toward counterbalancing inequalities in academia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language,
267–268
1, 99–104.
Flores, N., & Rosa, J.
(2015) Undoing appropriateness: Raciolinguistic ideologies and language diversity in education. Harvard Educational Review,
85
(2), 149–171.
Flowerdew, J.
(2019) The linguistic disadvantage of scholars who write in English as an additional language: Myth or reality. Language Teaching,
52
1, 249–260.
Habibie, P., & Hyland, K.
(Eds.) (2019) Novice writers and scholarly publication. Authors, mentors, gatekeepers. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hanauer, D., Sheridan, C., & Englander, K.
(2019) Linguistic injustice in the writing of research articles in English as a second language: Data from Taiwanese and Mexican researchers. Written Communication,
36
1, 136–154.
Heng Hartse, J., & Kubota, R.
(2014) Pluralizing English? Variation in high-stakes academic texts and challenges of copyediting. Journal of Second Language Writing,
24
1, 71–82.
Holborow, M.
(2015) Language and neoliberalism. Routledge.
Hultgren, A. K.
(2019) English as the language for academic publication: On equity, disadvantage and “non-nativeness” as a red herring. Publications,
7
1, 31.
Hyland, K.
(2016) Academic publishing and the myth of linguistic injustice. Journal of Second Language Writing,
31
1, 58–69.
(2020) Peer review. Objective screening or wishful thinking? Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes,
1
(1), 51–65.
Kubota, R.
(2020) Confronting epistemological racism, decolonizing scholarly knowledge: Race and gender in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics,
41
(5), 712–732.
Kuteeva, M., & McGrath, L.
(2014) Taming Tyrannosaurus Rex: English use in the research and publication practices of humanities scholars in Sweden. Multilingua,
33
(3–4), 365–387.
Lillis, T., & Curry, M. J.
(2010) Academic writing in a global context. The politics and practices of publishing in English. Routledge.
(2015) The politics of English, language and uptake. The case of international academic journal article reviews. AILA Review,
28
1, 127–150.
Martín Rojo, L.
(2021) Hegemonies and inequalities in academia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language,
267–268
1, 169–192.
Martín Rojo, L., & Del Percio, A.
(Eds.) (2020) Language and neoliberal governmentality. Routledge.
Matsuda, P. K., & Tardy, C. M.
(2007) Voice in academic writing: The rhetorical construction of author identity in blind manuscript review. English for Specific Purposes,
26
1, 235–249.
May, S.
(2015) The problem with English(es) and linguistic (in)justice. Addressing the limits of liberal egalitarian accounts of language. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy,
18
(2), 131–148.
McKinley, J., & Rose, H.
(2018) Conceptualizations of language errors, standards, norms and nativeness in English for research publication purposes: An analysis of journal submission guidelines. Journal of Second Language Writing,
42
1, 1–11.
O’Neil, D.
(2018) English as the lingua franca of international publishing. World Englishes,
37
(2), 146–165.
Pennycook, A., & Otsuji, E.
(2015) Metrolingualism. Language in the city. Routledge.
Politzer-Ahles, S., Holliday, J. J., Girolamo, T., Spychalska, M., & Berkson, K. H.
(2016) Is linguistic injustice a myth? A response to Hyland (2016). Journal of Second Language Writing,
34
1, 3–8.
Politzer-Ahles, S., Girolamo, T., & Ghali, S.
(2020) Preliminary evidence of linguistic bias in academic reviewing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes,
47
1.
Rozycki, W., & Johnson, N. H.
(2013) Non-canonical grammar in best paper award winners in engineering. English for Specific Purposes,
32
1, 157–169.
Salö, L.
(2017) The sociolinguistics of academic publishing. Languages and the practices of homo academicus. Palgrave Macmillan.
Tardy, C. M., & Matsuda, P. K.
(2009) The construction of author voice by editorial board members. Written Communication,
26
(1), 32–52.
Tupas, R.
(Ed.) (2015) Unequal Englishes: The politics of Englishes today. Palgrave Macmillan.
Cited by (14)
Cited by 14 other publications
Junnier, Frances
2024. Action and understanding in the semi-structured research interview: Using CA to analyse European research scientists’ attitudes to linguistic (dis)advantage. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 68 ► pp. 101355 ff. 
Warchał, Krystyna
2024. Attitudes towards English for research publication in a multilingual context: The case of Polish linguists. Journal of English for Academic Purposes ► pp. 101403 ff.
Alhamami, Munassir
2023. Inequity, inequality, and language rights in English as a medium of instruction programs. Evaluation and Program Planning 99 ► pp. 102297 ff.
Chen, Ningyang
2023. Language, research, and publication. Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes 4:2 ► pp. 140 ff.
Christiansen, Martha Sidury & Zhongfeng Tian 田中锋
2023. Critical language awareness in L2 writing: Starting por la autorreflexión, 自我反省. Journal of Second Language Writing 60 ► pp. 101008 ff.
Cussel, Mattea, Judith Raigal Aran & Oriol Barranco
2023. Academics in the semi-periphery: Translation and linguistic strategies on the rocky road to publishing in English. Social Science Information 62:4 ► pp. 440 ff.
Finocchiaro, Peter & Timothy Perrine
2023. Linguistic justice in academic philosophy: the rise of English and the unjust distribution of epistemic goods. Philosophical Psychology ► pp. 1 ff.
Khuder, Baraa & Bojana Petrić
2023. Intersectionality of marginalisation: EAL academics in exile writing for international publication. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development ► pp. 1 ff.
Kuteeva, Maria
2023. Knowledge flows and languages of publication. Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes 4:1 ► pp. 80 ff.
McDowell, Leigh
2023. Japanese scientists’ English for research publication purposes. Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes 4:2 ► pp. 109 ff.
Strauss, Pat & Emmanuel Manalo
2023. “Most good papers are published in English”. Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes 4:1 ► pp. 5 ff.
Dovchin, Sender & Stephanie Dryden
2022. Unequal English accents, covert accentism and EAL migrants in Australia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2022:277 ► pp. 33 ff.
Habibie, Pejman
2022. Writing for scholarly publication in an interconnected disjunctured world. Journal of Second Language Writing 58 ► pp. 100933 ff.
Williams, Dylan G. & Juup Stelma
2022. Epistemic outcomes of English medium instruction in a South Korean higher education institution. Teaching in Higher Education 27:4 ► pp. 453 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.