AJE's Mission: Helping Researchers Succeed

No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main – John Donne, Meditation XVII (1624)

Research is changing

In the early 20th century, scientific research was dominated by simple, well-controlled studies that were often performed by a single researcher and his assistant. Since then, the face of science has changed significantly. For example, in 1950, the average number of authors per MEDLINE/PubMed citation was 1.5. By the end of the century, this number had grown to 4, and it continues to increase steadily. Interestingly, there is also a positive correlation between the number of authors per article and the impact of the publication. Indeed, one of the most impactful papers in recent history, which describes the sequencing of the human genome, has over 200 authors.

Collaboration in the 21st Century

Clearly, collaborative relationships are essential in the scientific landscape of the 21st century, and the key to forming such relationships is effective communication. Although the universal language of science is English, many of the world's top scientists are non-native English speakers. Despite their expertise, these scientists are at a major disadvantage when it comes to communicating their results and highlighting the novelty of their research to the editors and referees of English-language journals. It is an unfortunate truth that the impact and importance of a research project may be obscured simply due to communication barriers.

The Critical Contributions of Non-English Speaking Authors

At AJE, our mission is to give international research a chance to be seen by helping researchers get published. We recognize the critical contribution of non-English-speaking authors to the research community as a whole. Although science has always been an international endeavor, many countries have recently begun investing heavily in science and technology research. For example, China has made significant investments in nanotechnology research, while Turkey's R&D spending increased almost 6-fold between 1995 and 2007 (see this report). In fact, China has recently overtaken the UK as the second leading producer of research publications.