Additional time demands on non-native English speakers

As a monolinguist, I’m in awe of people who can write papers and speak at conferences in a language other than their first, but I never thought to quantify the additional burden that’s place on non-native English speakers. Fortunately, Amano and colleagues decided to ask this question, and the results are sobering if not surprising; overall, non-native English speakers spend significantly more time reading and writing papers, face more rejections due to language issues, and are less likely to attend or give a talk at an English-language-based conference. The article concludes with several recommendations for how these extra burdens can be alleviated, with roles spanning from supervisors to funders to publishers and conference organizers. (Summary by Mary Williams @PlantTeaching) PLOS Biol 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002184