This article considers the limited reception of Espaces & Sociétés, as well as other French urban studies journals, in the English-speaking sociological and urban literature. There is a lack of data on the impact of citations from French journals in English-language publications and in international debates, which are often conducted in English. French articles are little-cited in international journals despite efforts to traduire abstracts, as well as the accessibility of free translation systems (e.g., Google traduire). A large number of French contributors publish in English-language journals but they do not communicate about French journals. A small number of 20th-century French theoreticians are among the most cited authors, but through the English translations of their writings. Collective strategies, such as indexing French-language journals in international databases, would be a more effective policy.
Keywords
- scientific communication
- France
- urban studies
- social science journals
- bibliometric analysis