Linguistic Diversity Index: A Scientometric Measure to Enhance the Relevance of Small and Minority Group Languages

Abstract

Current scientometric indexes do not encourage the linguistic diversity of sources cited in academic texts and researchers are not motivated to cite texts written in smaller languages. This diminishes the cultural diversity of the sources cited and limits the representation of small and indigenous cultures. This text proposes a scientometric measure designed to encourage the linguistic diversity of sources cited in articles, books, and papers. The Linguistic Diversity Index is based on two stipulations: (a) the more linguistically diverse the sources, the higher the score, and (b) the rarer the languages cited, the higher the score. If such a metric were used for the evaluation of social science and humanities journals, it would encourage the publication of papers that cite ideas from rarely represented cultural groups such as indigenous nations, ethnic groups from small countries, and other linguistic groups that have been omitted from mainstream scientific discourse. This might help to produce new research, which would help to improve the situation for these groups and create an epistemology that is more just to small cultural groups.

Los estudios sobre formación en psicología en la Revista Puertorriqueña de Psicología: Análisis de indicadores de internacionalización

“…Es decir, no estaba relacionado con la medición de literatura científica (Harmon & Loh, 2010). Recientemente, bajo el liderazgo de un psicólogo checo se ha propuesto el IDL como una herramienta bibliométrica considerando que la diversidad lingüística refleja la diversidad cultural y la misma resulta fundamental para muchas áreas de investigación en ciencias sociales (Linkov et al, 2021). Uno de los principales argumentos de las autorías es que el "abandono de la publicación en un lenguaje nativo y el abandono de referenciar fuentes en idiomas distintos del inglés contribuyen al empobrecimiento de las culturas nativas y a la disminución de la diversidad cultural.…”

Inequity in Peer Review in Communication Sciences and Disorders

“…As for content, equity in publishing initiatives should aim for full representation of BIPOC communities and of BIPOC authors (Buchanan et al, in press), as well as use of equitable language throughout the editorial process; see Figure 3. First, journals could create and weight criteria for equity in their strategic planning of what to publish (Buchanan et al, in press;Linkov et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2020). Such a focus could be represented in their mission statement.…”

Inequity in peer review in communication sciences and disorders

“…However, soliciting such content must be paired with action, so that such work is published. For example, journals can weight diversity (e.g., racial/ethnic, linguistic) in participant samples as a criterion for manuscript evaluation (Linkov et al, 2021;Roberts et al, 2020). At a conceptual level, journals could encourage research content implementing a Diversity Science approach (i.e., research that prioritizes identifying where group differences in scientific findings exist and examining the sociocultural influences that inform and perpetuate those differences), as well as examining group differences within the full (IN)EQUITY IN PEER REVIEW IN CSD 27 representation of BIPOC communities, rather than reducing BIPOC to racial stereotypes (Buchanan et al, in press).…”