Scholarly publication of Brazilian researchers across disciplinary communities

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the context of scholarly knowledge production and dissemination in Brazil by comparing the publishing practices in both Portuguese and in English of Brazilian scholars who hold a research grant, across eight fields of knowledge. Data consists of 1,874 Curricula Vitae and the analysis focused on the language, number, and genres of publications over a three-year period (2014 to 2016). The study revealed a clear contrast regarding the more frequent use of English by researchers in the ‘harder’ sciences and the preference for Portuguese by those in the ‘softer’ sciences. The results also suggested an interconnection in which scholars who published the most tended to adopt English. Multiple factors involved in the genre and language choices made by academics were analysed, such as characteristics of the work produced by each disciplinary community, the audience of the research, the type of language used, and the need to obtain research funding. This investigation can potentially inform policies and investments in Brazilian higher education and research to provide continued support specific to the needs of different disciplinary communities, as well as foster the inclusion of multilingual scholars who do not have English as their first language in the global arena of knowledge production and dissemination.