Scientific publications in English and developing countries: A report of a survey of scientists' experiences

Abstract

The prime importance of English in international communi cation is now well documented, as is the poor access to scientific communication in developing countries and the damaging consequences of this. This article presents informa tion on the experiences of scientists working in developing countries, on the basis of a survey carried out at Leicester University. Patterns of use of English-language publications are described, along with the problems of obtaining required publi cations. Surprisingly, a considerable number of scientists claimed that they had no difficulty in this respect.