It's undeniable that the centres of power in the world of academic publishing are still in the USA and Europe, and while getting published in a famous journal is not easy for anyone, it's almost impossible for a researcher who isn't attached to a big US/UK/Euro institution.

Of course, the Internet has opened up dozens of other possibilities for publishing, which is a very good thing. Although some will misuse this (see myprevious post), in time there should be a natural sorting of the possibilities as different models are tested. With the number of scientists working around the world, we can expect this to be a very diverse ecosystem, but hopefully there will be a place for some very strong and prestigious journals with universal recognition and very high standards -- and hopefully they will be open to any papers of sufficient quality, regardless of origin.

That, however, is in the future (I hope). The question for now is: what infrastructure is missing that would make it possible for a researcher whose first language is not English, who doesn't have strong institutional support, to submit a paper that can be fairly judged on its scientific merits? Peter Matthews believes that many papers can be substantially improved with basic editing help, which is one of the reasons this site was created; what other hurdles remain? I'd like to hear from you. Researchers of the world, what kind of help would be most useful to you?