Significance: Recognizing the Value of Research across National and Linguistic Boundaries

Abstract

Internationalization of educational publishing promises fresh perspectives and new solutions—but not if U.S.-based editors, reviewers and readers fail to recognize the significance of research conducted outside the United States. This essay explores the concept of “significance” in the context of peer review of journal articles, and explains why U.S.-based reviewers easily miss the social importance and the intellectual interest of research conducted elsewhere. It emphasizes several steps that can be taken to increase publication of the full global range of educational scholarship.