{"id":42531,"date":"2018-07-27T15:29:10","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T14:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=42531"},"modified":"2018-08-15T14:09:04","modified_gmt":"2018-08-15T13:09:04","slug":"amza-ali-overcoming-bias-against-research-from-low-income-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2018\/07\/27\/amza-ali-overcoming-bias-against-research-from-low-income-countries\/","title":{"rendered":"Amza Ali: Overcoming bias against research from lower income countries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Each of us is on a lifelong search for legitimacy and authenticity. Often this takes place through the lens of our career and vocation. I am a senior UK- and US-trained neurologist, and a business and management academic. I work in Jamaica<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2014<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">a developing country. Over the years I have had experiences which have made me question legitimacy and authenticity in the context of international academic medicine<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Physicians from developing countries not only have to cope with language differences, but also with concealed or even overt biases and, at times, limited expectations of academic capacity. \u00a0An insightful colleague once said to me that she felt that second-language differences impose the perception of a 15-point drop in IQ in most native listeners. Years ago at an international academic meeting, I personally experienced the pronounced loss of interest in my opinion once my conference ID tag was scrutinised and my academic &#8220;legitimacy&#8221; ascertained. On another occasion I was &#8220;complimented&#8221; for the quality of my English, \u201cother than my accent.\u201d The person complimenting me appeared unaware that English is the official language of Jamaica. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Language and accents can indeed create barriers. I have experienced the distressing insight of realising I myself have devalued a speaker from another developing country using English as his second-language, in part, I still hope, because of a difference of opinion. In an audience, I have found it a useful technique to close my eyes and listen. Content then supersedes other distractions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Similar issues also permeate academic writing and publishing. Reviewers for major journals have written dismissively of my work, submitted from an international academic institution, when clearly they had not properly read the article, perhaps having already mentally judged its worth by its origin. <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2017\/12\/05\/richard-smith-strong-evidence-of-bias-against-research-from-low-income-countries\/\">This tendency has been objectively studied<\/a>. A recent study showed s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">trong evidence of bias against research from lower income countries. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A senior colleague from a prestigious US institution was surprised how difficult it was to publish work when he chose to use his Jamaican honorary affiliation instead of his US academic address. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Perhaps reviewers of papers that originate from developing countries can try to adopt a different worldview, and to see a paper\u2019s potential relevance to those in different circumstances, and if needed, to guide the researcher towards a resubmission that has an even broader impact and also relevance to readers across the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Finally, accents and limited English grammar of colleagues from developing countries do not mean they are unintelligent. As native English-speakers how well do we speak <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">their<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> first languages? Treat people with respect and they will work strenuously with you towards mutual goals. In collaborating, recognise too that peoples\u2019 local circumstances and the confines they face are logistical not cognitive limitations. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Each of us is on a lifelong search for legitimacy and authenticity. Perhaps we may best find it by acknowledging these same needs in all our colleagues.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Amza Ali FRCP <\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is a neurologist at the Kingston Public Hospital and Senior Associate Lecturer in Neurology at The University of the West Indies, Jamaica. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Competing interests: <\/i><\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">None declared.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Each of us is on a lifelong search for legitimacy and authenticity. Often this takes place through the lens of our career and vocation. I am a senior UK- and [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2018\/07\/27\/amza-ali-overcoming-bias-against-research-from-low-income-countries\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-bloggers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Amza Ali: Overcoming bias against research from lower income countries - The BMJ<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2018\/07\/27\/amza-ali-overcoming-bias-against-research-from-low-income-countries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amza Ali: Overcoming bias against research from lower income countries - The BMJ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Each of us is on a lifelong search for legitimacy and authenticity. 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