Rare Use of National Languages in Europe for Communicating Scientific Information in Medicine

Abstract

For many decades English language was dominant in international scientific communications, but during the last decade it threatens to become the only language for communicating medical science at international level. The aim of this article was to make an overview of publication practices in regard to language of publication of MEDLINE-referenced articles from European countries in year 2020. Scientific publications referenced in MEDLINE database during year 2020 were chosen for analysis. The inclusion criteria were publications affiliated with one of European countries, published in either English or national languages of those countries. The countries with less than 100.000 inhabitants were excluded from the study. Only 11 of 38 European countries had any number of medical publications in national language that were referenced in MEDLINE; the authors from twenty-seven European countries completely stopped publishing in national language at international journals. While economic strenght of a country was strongly correlated with number of international publications per 100.000 inhabitants, the correlation with international papers published in national languages was much less pronounced. Researchers from majority of European countries are publishing their studies predominantly or only in international medical journals printed in English language. Additional efforts should be made in the future to promote publishing in national languages.

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