Writing for Publication
PUBLISHING AND PRESENTING IN ENGLISH: THE EXPERIENCES OF SCHOLARS FROM BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Alma Jahić
University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
In order to exercise their membership in the international scientific community, scholars from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) need to publish research and give oral presentations in English. Although English language competence within the scientific community in BiH is still relatively low, some scholars do succeed in attaining professional recognition for their work in English beyond the borders of BiH. This paper investigates the experience of BiH scholars in publishing in international scientific journals and in giving oral presentations at conferences. The primary objective of the paper is to examine strategies BiH scholars use to assert their membership in the international scientific community through the use of English, the challenges they face during the process, and the type of support or recognition they receive from their domestic institutions. The inclusion of conference presentations in addition to publications is motivated by the tendency for conference presentations to be a stage in the process of publishing one’s work. Data for this study is collected through questionnaires and semistructured interviews with the BiH scholars who have experience with publishing and presenting their work in English in the fields of medicine, business, and electrical engineering; three disciplines which are relatively well integrated into the international scientific community.