Nature 417, 580 - 581 (2002); (fwd)

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Nature 417, 580 - 581 (2002);

"Oldest French journal says bienvenu to English papers
[PARIS] The langue de Moliere is set to play a more minor role in France's
oldest scientific journal. English will now be the preferred language for
articles published in Comptes Rendus, the proceedings of the French Academy
of Sciences.

The academy says that the move is part of a modernizing drive designed to
attract a wider international readership to its multidisciplinary journal,
which was founded in 1835. More editors and referees from outside France are
also being appointed.

English usage in science, or any area of French public life, is limited by
the government, which wants to preserve the country's national language.
International scientific conferences organized by public research agencies,
for example, must by law be in French or provide a simultaneous translation,
and scientific publications must provide at least an abstract in French."

Forwarded by Bernard Spolsky <spolsb at mail.biu.ac.il>