Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.
JMIR Form Res. 2024 Sep 9;8:e53978. doi: 10.2196/53978.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the challenge of swiftly disseminating research findings to a global audience. Language barriers further exacerbated disparities in access to timely scientific information, particularly for non-English speaking communities. The majority of COVID-19 research was published in English, limiting accessibility for Spanish-speaking populations.
This paper aims to assess the reach and effectiveness of AccesoCovid.com, a platform designed to disseminate up-to-date COVID-19 research in both English and Spanish, addressing the language gap in scientific communication.
AccesoCovid.com was developed through a partnership between the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). The website's performance and user engagement were evaluated using Google Analytics over a span of 2 years. Key metrics included user language preference, geographical distribution, and site traffic. The website summarized and translated 1032 articles on various COVID-19 topics, such as "Pharmaceutical Interventions and Vaccines."
From February 2021 to February 2023, the platform attracted 57,000 users. Of the 43,000 unique new visitors, 84.2% (n=36,219) hailed from Spanish-speaking regions. The majority accessed the site organically through search engines, with 88.4% (n=38,000) of users arriving this way, while 5000 (11.6%) users accessed the site directly. Most users (n=30,894, 72.1%) preferred the Spanish version of the site. The website's most accessed category was "Pharmaceutical Interventions and Vaccines," followed by "Clinical Presentation and Management" and "Mental Health." Regarding language distribution, 72.1% (n=30,894) of users primarily used Spanish; 21.4% (n=9215) used English; and 6.7% (n=2891) spoke other languages, including Portuguese, Chinese, and German. Geographically, the website attracted visitors from 179 countries, with the highest visitor counts from Mexico (n=12,342, 28.7%), Spain (n=6405, 14.9%), the United States (n=4416, 10.3%), and Peru (n=3821, 8.9%).
AccesoCovid.com successfully bridged a critical language gap in the dissemination of COVID-19 research. Its success underscores the pressing need for multilingual scientific resources. The platform demonstrated significant user engagement and reach, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries. This highlights the potential for similar platforms to ensure equitable access to scientific knowledge across diverse linguistic communities. Future efforts should focus on expanding to other languages and conducting formal evaluations to enhance user satisfaction and impact.
COVID-19 大流行凸显了迅速向全球受众传播研究成果的挑战。语言障碍进一步加剧了非英语国家获取及时科学信息的差距。大多数 COVID-19 研究都是用英语发表的，限制了西班牙语国家的获取途径。
本文旨在评估 AccesoCovid.com 的影响力和效果，该平台旨在用英语和西班牙语传播最新的 COVID-19 研究，以解决科学传播中的语言障碍。
AccesoCovid.com 是由加州大学旧金山分校（UCSF）和墨西哥国立自治大学（UNAM）合作开发的。通过谷歌分析在两年的时间内对该网站的表现和用户参与度进行了评估。关键指标包括用户语言偏好、地理位置分布和网站流量。该网站总结并翻译了 1032 篇关于各种 COVID-19 主题的文章，如“药物干预和疫苗”。
从 2021 年 2 月到 2023 年 2 月，该平台吸引了 57000 名用户。在 43000 名独特的新访问者中，84.2%（n=36219）来自西班牙语地区。大多数人通过搜索引擎有机地访问该网站，其中 88.4%（n=38000）的用户以此方式访问，而 5000（11.6%）用户直接访问该网站。大多数用户（n=30894，72.1%）更喜欢西班牙语版本的网站。该网站最受欢迎的类别是“药物干预和疫苗”，其次是“临床表现和管理”和“心理健康”。关于语言分布，72.1%（n=30894）的用户主要使用西班牙语；21.4%（n=9215）使用英语；6.7%（n=2891）使用其他语言，包括葡萄牙语、汉语和德语。在地理上，该网站吸引了来自 179 个国家的访问者，其中访问量最高的国家是墨西哥（n=12342，28.7%）、西班牙（n=6405，14.9%）、美国（n=4416，10.3%）和秘鲁（n=3821，8.9%）。
AccesoCovid.com 成功地弥合了 COVID-19 研究传播中的关键语言差距。它的成功突显了对多语言科学资源的迫切需求。该平台表现出了显著的用户参与度和影响力，尤其是在西班牙语国家。这突显了类似平台在确保不同语言社区公平获取科学知识方面的潜力。未来的工作应重点扩大到其他语言，并进行正式评估，以提高用户满意度和影响力。
