Available online 3 July 2025, 151984

Author links open overlay panel, Section snippetsLanguage as a barrier in nursing scholarship

The globalisation of academic publishing has firmly established English as the dominant language of scientific discourse. While this linguistic standardisation facilitates broad dissemination and shared understanding within scholarly communities, it simultaneously creates structural barriers for researchers whose primary language is not English (Amano et al., 2016). These barriers are especially pronounced in disciplines such as nursing, where the need to publish internationally is increasingly

The promise and limitations of AI tools

The increasing availability of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) tools has reshaped the academic writing process (Golan et al., 2023; Khalifa & Albadawy, 2024; Tang et al., 2024). Platforms such as Grammarly, DeepL Write, and ChatGPT now offer real-time feedback on grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, and even tone. These tools have become particularly attractive to non-native English speakers who may lack access to institutional writing support. Importantly, these

Common issues in translated nursing manuscripts

By analyzing some translated nursing manuscripts originally written in Mandarin, we found some recurring problems that AI is yet to fully resolve. These include incorrect article usage, inconsistent verb tenses, limited use of cohesive devices, and awkward phrasing resulting from direct translation. Literal translation often leads to semantic ambiguity or word-order distortions that compromise clarity. Furthermore, rhetorical elements such as signposting and transitions are frequently absent,

Strategies for building scholarly writing capacity

To build sustainable capacity for high-quality academic writing in nursing, a more comprehensive strategy is needed (Paltridge & Starfield, 2016). This strategy must include but extend beyond the use of AI. Academic writing workshops tailored for health sciences professionals have been shown to improve familiarity with publication expectations and to enhance skills in constructing scientific arguments (Dowse & Van Rensburg, 2015; Mckenna & Kyser, 2022). Such workshops are most effective when

Toward equity in global nursing scholarship

Beyond institutional and individual strategies, there is a need to reconceptualise language support as a matter of equity. The capacity to write in academic English should not be a gatekeeping criterion for publication (Ali & Watson, 2018; Amano et al., 2016; Gerrish et al., 2004; Selvi et al., 2024). Rather, journals and scholarly communities must recognise the structural disadvantages faced by non-native English-speaking scholars and take active steps to mitigate them. These steps may include

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Lu-Yen Anny Chen: Conceptualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Stephen McGhee: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of competing interest

None.

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