inception the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) concentrated largely on
journals in the English language and now only two of the 35 ‘geography’ journals
covered in its Social Sciences database are not primarily or exclusively in English.
Of course the use of the English language in the most visible journals is not in
itself the main part of the problem. Much more serious is the weak representation
within these journals of work by researchers from the non-anglophone world. The
large majority of geographical research emanating from outside the English-speaking
world is not published in English, and since most anglophone geographers today are
practically monolingual, this work is virtually unknown to them. And this is at a time
of increased awareness of the international dimensions of research among non-
anglophones. As Aalbers (2004) suggests, it is easy to believe that the meagre
representation of work by non-anglophones in the English-language journals reflects
in part a less-than-welcoming attitude by the gatekeepers of these journals. The
unintelligibility of some of the kinds of English to which Aalbers has apparently
been subjected also rings true: it would not be surprising if the use of gobbledegook
English by native English speakers were bewildering to, and ultimately perhaps
repellent to, potential non-anglophone contributors to English-language journals.
Doubtless a few British colleagues of my generation who have seen the problems
referred to developing during the course of their careers will hark back to the days
when foreign languages were a higher priority in British education. However, while
calls for a return to a more liberal education are certainly in order as part of a longer-
term remedy, the problem raised by Aalbers also calls for a review of more specific
shorter-term ways forward that might be efficacious before his retirement, if not
mine.
A major part of the solution is unlikely to be provided by nationally-based
organizations and their journals, controlled as they are by members and interest
groups from their respective countries. Nor are multinational commercial publishers
likely to be the saviours, heavily concerned as they are to ensure sales in by far their
largest single market: America. At first sight a more promising way forward might
seem to be to seek solutions through international disciplinary organizations, but in
most cases, and the International Geographical Union is no exception, these operate
to a major extent through constituent national associations, and their primary