Chinese Doctors Connecting to the English Publishing World: Literature Access, Editorial Services, and Training in Publication Skills

Abstract

In the literature on academic publishing, little attention has been paid to the needs and concerns of non-English-speaking researchers in professional contexts. This paper addresses the gap in that literature by providing insights into the situation with medical doctors in China. Following an overview of the broad picture, I will report a case study, which was conducted at a major hospital in East China and which aimed at exploring how a group of orthopedic surgeons access the English medical literature and to what extent they seek the support of editorial services and training in academic writing/publication skills. The results of the study show that the participant doctors tend to rely on their students or overseas personal connections for access to full-text medical literature, and they have generally had limited experience with language editorial services and academic writing/publication skills seminars. The paper ends by discussing some challenges while proposing recommendations for enhancing Chinese doctors' access to the full-text medical literature, as well as their understanding of the kind of support that can be provided by editorial services and training in publication skills.

Identification of human gene research articles with wrongly identified nucleotide sequences

“…We have previously proposed that wrongly identified nucleotide sequences in the context of repetitive and superficially justified gene research could reflect the external involvement of organisations such as paper mills ( 8 , 13 , 24 , 26 ). Although researchers in different countries may use paper mills to meet publication targets or quotas ( 47 ), paper mills have been most widely discussed in the context of academics and medical doctors in China ( 25 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ). Stringent publication requirements may represent a particular challenge for hospital doctors in China, where some hospital doctors have described limited time, training and/or opportunities to undertake research ( 25 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ).…”

“…Although researchers in different countries may use paper mills to meet publication targets or quotas ( 47 ), paper mills have been most widely discussed in the context of academics and medical doctors in China ( 25 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ). Stringent publication requirements may represent a particular challenge for hospital doctors in China, where some hospital doctors have described limited time, training and/or opportunities to undertake research ( 25 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ). While recognising that articles with wrongly identified sequences from hospitals in China may reflect broader literature trends ( 25 , 56 ), the large numbers of human gene research articles with incorrect nucleotide sequences that list hospital affiliations in China could reflect hospital doctors turning to paper mills to meet publication requirements.…”

“…Furthermore, because genuine pre-clinical gene research requires specialised expertise, time, and material resources ( 13 ), the mass production of fraudulent gene research articles could be quicker and cheaper by orders of magnitude ( 8 ). Given the number of human genes which can be studied either singly or in combination with other genes and topics such as drugs and analysed across different cancer types or other diseases, combined with unrealistic demands for research productivity ( 24 , 47 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 ), the publication of fraudulent gene research articles could potentially outstrip the publication of genuine gene research.…”

International Publishing as A Networked Activity: Collegial Support for Chinese Scientists

“…However, Lillis and Curry (2010), investigating non-Anglophone European academics in education and psychology, conclude that colleagues are the most valuable publishing resource for EAL scholars, a finding echoed by Li (2014b) studying a group of surgeons at a Chinese hospital. Research on Iranian medical scholars, on the other hand, found that colleagues lacked the confidence and literacy skills to rectify their fellow researchers' papers (Gholami and Zeinolabedini 2017;Zeinolabedini and Gholami 2016).…”

Accessing Fellow Academics as Research Participants: Constraints, Collegiality, and “Academic Citizenship”

“…Other personal relations, or family relations to be more specific, have facilitated my access to researchers beyond academia, i.e., doctors and medical students at a Chinese hospital engaging in research for publication (e.g., [34,35]). Evidence can be gleaned from the literature to indicate that family relations can sometimes be an important factor in shaping one's research path.…”