Abstract
Reflections are presented about the publication of the first two consensus statements in Spanish. Publication of this type of information is key to promote evidence-based practice in human movement science professionals.
Keywords multilingual publication; science communication; translation
Resumen
Se presentan algunas reflexiones relacionadas con la publicación de las primeras dos declaraciones de consenso en español. Se plantea la importancia de divulgar información de este tipo para promover la práctica profesional en ciencias del movimiento humano basada en la evidencia.
Palabras clave publicación multilingüe; divulgación de la ciencia; traducción
Resumo
Algumas reflexões são apresentadas em relação à publicação das duas primeiras declarações de consenso em espanhol. Aborda-se a importância da divulgação de informações desse tipo para promover a prática profissional baseada em evidências na ciência do movimento humano.
Palavras-chave publicação multilíngue; divulgação da ciência; tradução
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Professor, what language should I use to publish my findings? This simple question from one of my graduate students does not have a simple answer, as I discussed in my 2014 editorial in this same journal, Multilingual Publication as a Legitimate Tool to Increase Access to Science. Naturally, if she published in English, she would have better visibility and greater acceptance among mainstream scientists. However, although English is in fact the main language for scientific communication, “knowledge should not have a single language” and it should be available for the periphery of the academic world (Aragón-vargas, 2014). Particularly during these times of proliferation of fake news and so-called influencers (those self-designated, social-media-ratified experts), human movement science professionals need simple, open access to sound, clear, applicable science in their own language. This constitutes an enormous challenge for the communication of science and evidence-based professional practice (Chaves et al., 2022).
With that purpose in mind, we at Pensar en Movimiento decided to address the task of promoting sequential multilingual publication of important documents; the aforementioned editorial was part of this effort. This mode of publication consists of obtaining authorization from the original English language publication (both from the authors as well as the journal or publisher) to write an official translation in Spanish, to be subsequently published in our journal. Policies and procedures have been clearly established in order to respect all intellectual property rights, at the same time that science is communicated to a wider, different target readership than the original publication.
The process has been long and difficult. For a long time, we attempted to negotiate with an important sports medicine organization (to remain unnamed). Both written and personal, on-site formal proposals were submitted via their international relations committee, their publications committee, and even its board of trustees. All the proposals faced similar passive resistance. I would like to believe that the persistent rejection of the organization during those four years was the reflection of a project that was too novel, too different, invested of an importance that I was unable to communicate properly. But perhaps it was also too threatening to the status quo at a time when the publishing world was undergoing multiple changes.
Nevertheless, it seems like now is the time to prioritize scientific knowledge communication. We thank the conversations with Dr. Tim Meyer, as Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, who agreed with Elsevier®, publisher of the journal on behalf of Sports Medicine Australia. We also thank the authors of some original manuscripts. We are now able to make this project come true. We have chosen two recently published, relevant manuscripts to be translated into Spanish, making them available to Spanish-speaking professionals in the current issue of Pensar en Movimiento.
This is only our first trial; clearly, this is an ambitious project which will require refining as we begin publishing some of the manuscripts. Our intention is to continue selecting key articles for translation and to publish at least two of them each year.
Clearly, English is the accepted language for the communication of science. However, scientific knowledge might only be reaching those who understand English perfectly. For that reason, cutting-edge information, the most relevant recommendations, should be communicated in other languages that can reach a large percentage of our professionals. Otherwise, a gap will continue to exist between everyday practice of human movement scientists, and the best evidence-based practices.
As Editor-in-Chief for our journal, I am delighted to invite you to read Declaración de consenso de la organización ejercicio y ciencias del deporte – Australia: el ejercicio como medicina en el manejo del cáncer, (The Exercise and Sports Science Australia position statement: Exercise medicine in cancer management) by Sandra C. Hayes, Robert U. Newton, Rosalind R. Spence, and Daniel A. Galvão (2023), as well as La actividad física en la gestión de la obesidad en adultos: una ponencia de Exercise and Sport Science Australia (Physical activity in the management of obesity in adults: A position statement from Exercise and Sport Science Australia), by Nathan A. Johnson, Rachelle N. Sultana, Wendy J. Brown, Adrian E. Bauman, and Tim Gill (2023). These are highly relevant topics for our field. We would be grateful for your comments regarding this effort.
It is only fitting and fair to close this editorial by presenting my congratulations to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute® for sharing up-to-date, relevant scientific information for several decades through their publication, Sports Science Exchange. Not only in English, but also in Spanish (https://www.gssiweb.org/latam/sports-science-exchange/todos), thanks to the persistent professional work of my colleagues, Pedro Reinaldo García, M.Sc. and Lourdes Mayol Soto, M.Sc. Their work has been part of our motivation for this translation effort at Pensar en Movimiento.
References
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Aragón-vargas, L. F. (2014). La publicación multilingüe como herramienta legítima para aumentar el acceso a la ciencia (versión original en español). Pensar en Movimiento: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 12(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.15517/pensarmov.v12i2.17583
» https://doi.org/10.15517/pensarmov.v12i2.17583 -
Chaves, J. P., Mena, M., Pérez, A. L., Pinto, A., Tenorio, C., y Aragón, L. F. (2022). La comunicación efectiva de la ciencia y la religión: retos para dos tareas de actualidad. Repositorio institucional Kérwá de la Universidad de Costa Rica. https://www.kerwa.ucr.ac.cr/handle/10669/85841
» https://www.kerwa.ucr.ac.cr/handle/10669/85841 -
Hayes, S. C., Newton, R. U., Spence, R. R. y Galvão, D. A. (2023). Declaración de consenso de la organización ejercicio y ciencias del deporte – Australia: el ejercicio como medicina en el manejo del cáncer. Pensar en Movimiento: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 21(2), e57059. https://doi.org/10.15517/pensarmov.v21i2.57059
» https://doi.org/10.15517/pensarmov.v21i2.57059 -
Johnson, N. A., Sultana, R. N., Brown, W. J., Bauman, A. E. y Gill, T. (2023). La actividad física en la gestión de la obesidad en adultos: una ponencia de Exercise and Sport Science Australia. Pensar en Movimiento: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 21(2), e57055. https://doi.org/10.15517/pensarmov.v21i2.57055
» https://doi.org/10.15517/pensarmov.v21i2.57055
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(2)
This editorial has a Spanish version. Available in: Aragón-Vargas, L.F. (2023). Editorial: ¿Cuál es el idioma de la ciencia? Nuevas declaraciones de consenso en español. Pensar en Movimiento: Revista de Ciencias del Ejercicio y la Salud, 21(1), e57874. https://doi.org/10.15517/pensarmov.v21i2.57874
Publication Dates
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Date of issue
Jul-Dec 2023
History
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Received
03 Dec 2023 -
Accepted
04 Dec 2023