Citation of non-English peer review publications – some Chinese examples
2008

Citing Non-English Peer Review Publications

Sample size: 23 Commentary Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Fung Isaac CH

Primary Institution: Imperial College London

Hypothesis

Can non-English materials be cited in English language journals, and if so, how should they be cited?

Conclusion

The majority of English language epidemiology and public health journals allow citations of non-English materials, but there are varying requirements for how these citations should be formatted.

Supporting Evidence

  • 22 out of 23 participating journals allow citations of non-English materials.
  • 11 journals require authors to translate citations into English.
  • Some journals prefer to print the original title only, while others allow both original and translated titles.

Takeaway

This study looks at how English journals can include research published in other languages, which helps everyone share important ideas.

Methodology

A survey was conducted among 67 epidemiology and public health journals to assess their policies on citing non-English materials.

Potential Biases

Journals that participated may have been more favorable towards citing non-English materials, potentially skewing results.

Limitations

The survey had a low response rate, which may not represent the views of all journals.

Participant Demographics

The survey included 67 journals, with a response rate of 38.8%.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1742-7622-5-12

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